By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Community Links & Human Empowerment Initiative, CLHEI, in partnership with the Gender Advocacy for Justice Initiative, GAJI, has flagged off the 2022 CLHEI Volunteer Week with the training of 109 youths on volunteerism.

The activity which is themed, 2022 CLHEI Volunteers Week: Understanding the Concept of Volunteering and Leveraging Opportunities in the Development Sector is scheduled to hold from July 25 to August 5, 2022.

Speaking on the programme in Makurdi, the Executive Director of CLHEI, Dr. Helen Teghtegh disclosed that the organisation had over the years maintained a culture of Volunteering. “Most of her Human Resource Capital were developed through volunteering.

“This responds to the deep need of developing new working skills especially in the development sector. This has responded to the issue of unemployment especially among the young population in Nigeria.

“Therefore this year CLHEI in partnership with GAJI flagged off the 2022 CLHEI Volunteer Week in Makurdi the Benue State capital scheduled to hold from 25th July – 05 August, 2022.

“The programme affords CLHEI/GAJI the opportunity to engage youths as major drivers of change to build and lead solutions to a social challenge in their communities and present them volunteering opportunities in service to humanity.

“Out of 109 persons registered, 88 participants have attended the two highly interactive and engaging sessions conducted so far.”

Some of the participants, Mr. Francis Paul and Ms. Deborah Jegede in their separate remarks lauded the initiators of the programme.

They both expressed excitment about the new knowledge gained on volunteerism saying they looked forward to serving in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps and communities in the coming week in the areas of Education in Emergencies and Water Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, interventions.