Social Care Youth Initiative

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The project is for rural out of school girls and adolescent mothers to strengthen their abilities to improve their living conditions through creating women’ agricultural cooperatives with educational workshops

Standings & Awards

116 out of 591 in Africa
33 out of 179 in Poverty
89 out of 574 in Pilot
132 out of 992 in Charitable
342 out of 4003 Overall

3

VOTES

Actors for change

Improved life of rural women through income activities and awareness prevention of their health barriers.

The Rwanda genocide of 1994 was a tragic period of history as most are aware, causing close to one million of death with over 99.9% of the population especially females being witnessed to violence and death. This has led to many social problems with the young population today. Due to immense poverty and lack of knowledge of other alternatives, many girls who drop out of schools are more often involved in sexual practices with much older partners who impregnate them and leave them with children. This situation has led many girls into street in night and sex work where they are repetitively raped. The context of violence, poverty, commercial sex and lack of social support jeopardized those women's improved quality of life.

The project is for these groups of people that are vulnerable to violence, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, poverty and isolation due to their social status and for them having to support their households, a reliable source of income is crucial. However, as highlighted by several studies, there is a lack of formal work opportunity for rural girls and women in Rwanda that would allow them to obtain a stable income.

The project empowers the beneficiaries to take a leading role in prevention and management of all the above mentioned issues for their own advancement and security as well as for the community. Empowering women through initiating income generation activities compiled with awareness raising on HIV, malnutrition, poverty and women’s rights provides them with knowledge and skills required for their increased participation in prevention and response to those major critical issues for the women’s improved quality of life and participation.

Through the project, access to land has been an interest and patient capital for community gardens, seeds and tree seedlings for family home gardens, technical assistance in sustainable agriculture and nutrition, and market linkages. Through 10 cooperatives of 30 members the project has facilitated the creation of community gardens of vegetables (eggplants, tomatoes, beets, cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, red onion, spinach, squash, and sweet peppers) as a tool to stabilize income to meet their basic needs. The cooperatives use the marshland made available by local government to create the community gardens and facilitate their integration into the labor market in order to improve the quality of life for their families.

Roadmap to Success Optional (1 - 3 minutes to upload)

Roadmap to Success:

roadmap_to_success.pdf

Sponsors, Investors, and Supporters

FIVE PROJECT QUESTIONS Required (60 - 90 minutes)

1. What is your innovation?

The project ends the particular vulnerability of the rural out of school girls and adolescent mothers and their children to the vicious cycles of HIV/AIDS, poverty, malnutrition and addressing the connections between poverty and the failure to protect their land rights. Access to land, jobs and financial resources increase earning power and raise household incomes. Enhancing women’s control in decision-making, gender equality also translates into better prospects and greater well-being.

2. Who gains the most?

Rural women are the one who gain the most. They are exposed to risk factors including rape, unwanted babies and HIV/AIDS and with few job opportunities; they end up being idle and hence vulnerable to drug and substance abuse and in transactional and commercial sex. Without a source of livelihood and sometimes infected with HIV and with a child to rise, the girls are inevitably turning to sex work. Beneficiaries fulfil lives with knowledge, health skills and economic opportunities.

3. Who pays?

The project runs with a financial support from King Baudouin Foundation and we are used to get technical support from the Ministry of health and PSI.

4. What is your success?

12 months: Each cooperative member will be able to use her own skills to provide her family with required health information and violence would be eradicated. 3years: Income generating activities are running to ensure access to food and income,long after the initial investment. Each cooperative will buy a cow and the milk supply will be additional meal to breastfeeding for mothers 5 years: Human values and well-beings are respectful and where reign economic independence of women on men.

5. How will you do it?

The project activities are participatory in their character, using Participatory community Appraisal and Participatory Learning and Action as major tools. 1. Contacts with local leaders 2. Creation of women cooperatives 3. Teaching sessions with the cooperatives about health issues. 4. Assisting each cooperative to develop and implement a project on income generation 5. Establishment of partnerships between cooperatives and microfinance institutions.