JALINGO — The Canada Virtuous Women (CAVIWO), a non-profit organisation, has disclosed that it has empowered more than 200 women in Taraba State through various interventions aimed at improving livelihoods, promoting self-reliance and supporting vulnerable members of society.
The organisation made the disclosure during its two-day Virtuous Women Conference Nigeria 2026, held for widows, children and vulnerable persons at the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Secretariat in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
The conference brought together women and other beneficiaries for empowerment programmes, skills training, workshops, spiritual activities, medical services and recreational activities.
Speaking at the event, the Founder of CAVIWO, Pastor Mrs Adeline Ijang, said the organisation was established to empower women to become economically self-reliant and better positioned to support their families and contribute to the development of their communities.
Ijang said CAVIWO was particularly concerned about women who face economic and social challenges, including widows and vulnerable women, stressing that empowering them would have a wider impact on their children and communities.
“CAVIWO is a women-led organisation to empower women so that they can help their children and be able to build, cultivate their societies,” she said.
She also called on religious leaders across the country to work together and support initiatives capable of promoting unity, peace and national development.
“My call to religious leaders is to come together, support each other to build a united, undivided nation,” she added.
The Coordinator of CAVIWO, Pastor Helen Odogba, said the organisation’s empowerment programmes extend beyond skills acquisition to include agricultural support for women seeking to improve their livelihoods.
According to her, CAVIWO has provided farming tools and other forms of assistance to beneficiaries, while efforts are also being made to support women with access to farmlands to increase agricultural production.
“This vision is to empower young women, widows and children through skills acquisition, providing farming tools and get farmlands to boost their yield,” Odogba said.
Also speaking, the CAVIWO African Coordinator, Pastor Olga Stephen, disclosed that more than 200 women had so far benefited from the organisation’s interventions in Taraba State.
She explained that the beneficiaries were engaged in different economic activities, including farming, poultry production and fish farming.
“So far in Taraba State, we have empowered over 200 women. Some of them are into farming, some of them are into poultry, some of them are into fish farming and so on,” Stephen said.
She noted that the organisation’s approach was designed to give women practical means of generating income rather than relying solely on temporary assistance.
One of the beneficiaries, Halima Johnson Micah, expressed gratitude to CAVIWO for its support, particularly to widows who she said often face difficult economic and social circumstances after losing their spouses.
“The life of widowhood is somehow for us. By them assisting us to lift us up and giving us hope back in life. We are so much grateful,” she said.
The two-day conference featured a free medical outreach aimed at providing basic healthcare support to participants, as well as outdoor and recreational activities designed to promote social interaction and wellbeing.
Participants also took part in empowerment sessions, workshops and skills training intended to provide them with practical knowledge that could improve their economic prospects.
A barbecue session was also organised as part of the activities.
The organisers said the conference was part of CAVIWO’s broader commitment to supporting women, widows, children and other vulnerable members of society through empowerment, skills development, agricultural support and community-focused interventions.
They stressed that strengthening the capacity of vulnerable women to become economically productive would not only improve their individual livelihoods but also enhance the wellbeing of their families and contribute to community development across Taraba State.
