Women and Girls Empowerment (WOGE)

The WOGE project is focusing on rural women between the ages of 16 - 55 years who are in the informal sector and are not in school or employment, and intends to equip 6000 women and young girls with skills to influence decisions related to their economic self-reliance. The multi-sectoral approach is designed to empower women and girls who have been marginalised from decision-making and economic opportunities, and addresses several livelihood challenges faced by women and girls. These include access to finance and trade, access to information on the existing legislations and policies and the working environment.

On the individual level, women and girls will develop knowledge, skills and confidence in life planning, with an emphasis on food security, property rights, water, employment, and trade. Resource centers will be set up in selected locations and awareness campaigns conducted to ensure that women access information they need to become economically self-reliant. The programme is introducing trade fairs so that women traders in the informal sector can access markets for their goods, while also working with women media associations to highlight women and girls' trade issues.

On the collective level, women's groups will be formed to conduct participatory rural appraisals and map out the impediments to economic self-reliance. Women's groups will be supported to carry out advocacy and civic education to hold decision-makers accountable and eliminate these barriers. At the structural level, activities will be designed to improve regulatory frameworks and business services that impact women and girls.

The WOGE project was launched in 15 selected districts of operation in the four implementing countries. Inception meetings were attended by district leaders, community leaders, change agents, youth leaders, women representatives, members of district technical teams, selected civil society representatives of organisations that work with youth and women, women leaders, and youth leaders. The purpose of the inception meetings was to introduce the WOGE project to the district leadership to ensure ownership, successful project implementation and sustainability. Key in the discussion was to agree on the space for the resource centre and the demonstration garden, which are among the major project outputs in each of the districts.

The project also has a WOGE newsletter and a WOGE Facebook page.

Economic empowerment

According to WOGE, women and girls suffer disproportionately from the burden of extreme poverty and therefore need specific programmes designed to empower them and improve their socio-economic status. Research in the region shows that investments in girls have a great impact on economic growth and the health and well-being of communities. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40% for a man. This means proactive measures that empower women and girls are urgently needed in order to make progress towards overall development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Eastern Africa.