Union Bank partners JAN to impact over 300 girls

By Olorunfemi Adejuyigbe

As part of Junior Achievement Nigeria’s vision of inspiring and preparing the youth to succeed in a global economy and in alignment with Union Bank’s corporate sustainability impact strategy, the Bank in partnership with Junior Achievement Nigeria is set to implement the annual Leadership, Empowerment, Achievement and Development (LEAD) Camp for girls.

The LEAD Camp which kicks off July 25th, 2022 is a week-long programme designed to empower young girls to be high-achieving leaders in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal – Gender Equality.

This year’s edition which is the 21st anniversary marks the 8th year of partnership with the Bank and is the first time the camp will be held in a hybrid mode. 300 girls will be taken through activities like leadership workshops, empowerment/panel sessions covering: financial literacy, entrepreneurship, technology, creative arts and entertainment, and development sessions such as coding, understanding sexual abuse, and personal hygiene with leading women from the private and public sectors in Nigeria and project group mentors.

Speaking about this year’s edition, Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Foluso Gbadamosi said:

“The Junior Achievement Nigeria LEAD Camp is a transforming experience for girls. Having top women from different organisations impact our girls is not only inspiring but reassuring and a clear indication that young girls can aspire to be all they were created to be. Regardless of the career path they choose to take, they can be successful with the right guidance, mindset, skill sets and networks – this is what this program offers. We appreciate Union Bank for their continuous support in partnering with us for the LEAD Camp and we look forward to more years of inspiring girls and enabling a world of possibilities for them to thrive excellently.”

Also commenting on the Bank’s continued partnership with JAN Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem said:

“Union Bank is pleased to extend our long-standing partnership with Junior Achievement Nigeria for their LEAD Camp. As a Bank, we are committed to enabling success for the communities we serve and this partnership reinforces our commitment to the push for gender equality and our focus on supporting the girl child. We are proud to see the impact of the programme on the young girls across the country and we commend the efforts of the JAN team who work tirelessly to impact them.”

Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) is part of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAWW), the world’s largest and fastest-growing non-profit economic education organization with a 120-country network. Since its inception in 1999, JAN has reached over one million students in over 20,000 classrooms in all the 36 states across the country and the FCT through over 5000 volunteers. As part of a global network, JAN can leverage resources and expertise to deliver localized cutting-edge experiential programs built on JAWW’s three pillars of work Readiness, Entrepreneurship, and Financial literacy, to in- and out-of-school youths, ages 5 to 27, free of charge.

Established in 1917 and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc is one of Nigeria’s long-standing and most respected financial institutions. The Bank is a trusted and recognizable brand, with an extensive network of over 300 branches across Nigeria.

The Bank currently offers a variety of banking services to both individual and corporate clients including current, savings and deposit account services, funds transfer, foreign currency domiciliation, loans, overdrafts, equipment leasing and trade finance. The Bank also offers its customers convenient electronic banking channels and products including Online Banking, Mobile Banking, Debit Cards, ATMs and POS Systems.