About 400 women graduated Tuesday after attending a three-month sustainable livelihood skills training in Torit Town of Eastern Equatoria State.

The women who were given start-up kits were trained by the Action for Recovery and Transformation organization (ART) in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, UNDP.

The training involved livestock husbandry, dry season agriculture, tailoring, salon, bakery, restaurant, food vendor, juice and fruit processing, small-scale businesses among others.

Wani Alex, the Head of Programs at ART urges the beneficiaries to remain strong in unity to resolve their challenges as groups to avoid failures.

“The skills gained here should not be lost. I will be happy to see the streets of Torit with skyscrapers for these women,” Alex said. “This training we have done is in groups so what I wanted to tell you is that you should be strong in groups and address challenges in the name of the group.” 

Some of the beneficiaries spoke to Radio Tamazuj and expressed their gratitude.

Joyce Amito, who received baking skills said, “Our lives will change. Women in our state have been suffering especially when getting food and high prices in the market. With this empowerment, the lives of women will surely change and we can cater to our needs. I urge women all over the state to join business so that we get our children to school." 

Paska Abang, trained in agribusiness says this is the first formal training she has received in business.

“I now know that business is something very good. I am cultivating groundnuts, dark green leaves, pumpkins and I sell them in the market to pay school fees for my children. We are even eating very well at home now,” she said.

Another trainee in electronics, Kaluma Florence said they have started earning from their business.

“Now this training is helping us a lot. In a day we raise like 4,000 or 5,000 SSPs from the community. We can now pay rent for the business premises and our group members can take loans and pay later as agreed," Florence added.

The Director-General for Commerce and Industry in the state ministry of finance, commerce, and public Service Stephen Ihude Oduho called on the women to work hard and produce locally made goods to be consumed in the state. 

“We need you to replace imported goods from Uganda and Kenya with goods from this country. If we do that no one will search for dollar, the main purpose of the dollar is to buy things from outside,” noted Ihude.

He urged Torit Municipal Council to avail land for the graduates to start their businesses. 

Hillary Lokudu, the chief executive officer for Torit Municipality appealed to the women to unite and use their newfound training to enhance the lives of the people of Torit.

About 800 women had enrolled in the program and only half of them managed to graduate.