Women’s empowerment has been pointed out as an indispensable condition to reduce poverty also, in providing women especially the widows with rights and opportunities equal to those that men have enjoyed so far. Despite its significance, the issue cannot be said to be solved easily, because there are many factors that prevent its progress. Although women make up half of the world population, their participation in various activities is not the same as men. Without the participation of women in the development process, society as a whole cannot be said to develop sufficiently. Nevertheless, due to gender discrimination against women especially widows, women tend to be granted an inferior status in nearly every aspect of life
In this regard, the Mirian Pat Foundation choose to consider widows in our society as they are often left out in the issue of women’s empowerment , especially for economic development. For this purpose, the foundation took its empowerment scheme through self-income generating activities to Widows of Mararaba community in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The essence of the gesture was to alleviate the sufferings of vulnerable women (Especially Widows) in the society, to enable them survive the harsh economic conditions. We do this to build the capacity of widows, and to encourage them to actively contribute to the society.
