To the vulnerable and rural people of Calabar, August is a month they will never forget in their lives. It was the day a non-governmental organisation, CUSO International put smiles on their faces.
The organisation, through its Global Affairs Canada project which is implemented by CUSO International headquartered in Canada, has no less than 20 development Country Partners across African countries.
For CUSO, its systemic focus is to address high rates of sexual violence “experienced by women and girls.” At the same time, it attempts to ensure greater financial inclusion for women, and equal access to employment, capital market, digital technology as well as business development services.
Furthermore, CUSO sought to improve opportunities for technical and vocational training for women and increased control over environmental resources for women and girls.

26, 000 lives impacted directly, 100, 000
Between 2020 and 2024, over 26,000 lives have been touched directly through Implementing Partners while more than 10,000 persons were, according to the Project Coordinator, touched indirectly.
She said: “Partners under economic resilience were eleven while partners under environmental and climate change action were seven. Direct beneficiaries were 26,623 and indirect beneficiaries were 100, 000.
According to Mrs. Praise Amougo, Programme Officer of SHARE, it has an improved support for local women’s organisations and movements “that advance women’s rights,” as one of its core objectives.
Again, the SHARE project catered for improved women’s rights and access to decent work across sectors, “strengthened women’s leadership and decision making in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, resilience-building and sustainable natural resource management,” she said
Amougo added, “SHARE project reduced negative impacts/effects of environmental degradation on vulnerable women and girls and improved access to justice for women and girls,” among others.

Beneficiaries speak
The project which started in 2000 unfortunately came to an end a fortnight ago. Unfortunately because while it lasted, rural women were able to learn how to independently depend on themselves, while at the same time, strengthening local NGOs to upscale their knowledge and productivity.
For instance, a young girl who simply gave her name as Gedoni from Cross River said she enrolled in a programme where CUSO, with support from Global Affairs Canada through Gender and Development Action (GADA), a Non-governmental partner of CUSO International, made her to learn how to make soap and detergent and later trained young girls on the products, who also started their businesses to earn income.
For Esther Oguntade, who resides in Ogoja, the cultivation of mushroom business, made possible with support from Global Affairs Canada in the SHARE project, gave her a livelihood.
According to her, the experience she had before GAC came to her rescue was depressing enough for her to quit the world quietly. However, the SHARE project revived her and today, she’s sharing her transformation from the experiences she received in mushroom cultivation, courtesy of the SHARING organisers and its partner.
Oguntade further revealed more of her predicament before the SHARE project came to her aid: “I have six children. My husband abandoned me and my children and I did not have any hope of getting anything. But SHARE project gave me a livelihood. Currently, I have been planting mushrooms and getting the benefits because of the training that I got from the SHARE project.”

Dream fulfilled by many
However, that the SHARE project has come and gone was a dream fulfilled to some and a dream yet to be fulfilled in others. For Blessing Alims, a female who is currently the Students Union President in the University of Calabar, her dream was made possible by advocacy, resilience and gender equality and the underlying theme and objectives of SHARE, which empowered her with the needed resources to stand shoulders tall with her fellow competitors.
The termination of the project will no doubt have a telling effect on local Non-governmental Organisations that were partners with CUSO, but it is hoped that in the last four years that the Canadian funded Partner was in operation, a lot was learnt and sustainability of the values and lessons learnt will be the hallmark of those Implementing Partners who benefited from the experiences of the Canadians and whose capacity are imagined to exceed the advent of SHARE’s era.

Hope of making a returning
In any case, one can take solace in the optimism of the Head of Programme, Anglophone Africa, Mr Khalid Subira Kumbuka, who assured that although SHARE project was winding down its activities in Nigeria, there could be a reconsideration with time. The Implementing Partners, the beneficiaries and the state government, all look forward to that time.

CUSO stemmed tide of crimes
Their relocation to the state did not only task state resources, but also increased the rate of crime and criminal activities in the state. The presence of Global Affairs Canada in partnership with CUSO International in the last four years actually stemmed the tide of crime and ensured its escalation was restricted to mere stealing and not robbery.
As it stands now, the termination of the SHARE project is most likely to affect both the Implementing Partners and the beneficiaries in more ways than one. First, the Implementing Partners, though have benefitted from the project as they were able to tap from the experiences of their Canadian mentors, still have gaps they ought to fill.
For instance, Implementing Partners will have to reduce their engagement with beneficiaries and this will, in turn, reduce the financial strength of those who have benefited, thus stalling their contributions to community efforts.
Besides, there could be uncompleted projects earlier embarked upon by the Implementing Partners which may not have run their course. On the part of beneficiaries, the sudden termination of SHARE may have setback on their dream of learning and passing the knowledge to others and thus, stopping their passion to step down such knowledge to others.