MOZ 02 - SEWING A BETTER FUTURE
Project Location
The project is located in Nampula, known as the Capital of the North. Mozambique has a young and rapidly expanding population, which presents both challenges and opportunities for its long-term development. Nampula has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the region, despite progress made in recent years. School dropout rates are high, especially among girls, and access to education remains a challenge, especially at pre-school and upper primary school levels, where large enrollment disparities between boys and girls persist.
On the other hand, Mozambique is the second country in Southern Africa and the eleventh in the world with the highest rates of child marriage. The percentage of girls between 20 and 24 years old who are married before the age of 18 is 48.2% and approximately 14.3% of girls in the same age group are married before the age of 15.
As Comboni Missionary Sisters, one of our main objectives is the education of women and especially girls. With this project we want to give our contribution to the promotion of young women in the certainty that, as women, they have a key role to play in supporting the family and in the social development of the country.
Project description
This initiative was born from the desire to support some young women from poor backgrounds, many of whom come from dysfunctional families, who have not had the opportunity to undertake professional studies that would allow them to build a better future for their lives. A situation that often leads these girls to feel forced into early marriages that, in most cases, end in separation. Another situation they face is social inequality and gender disparity: for this reason we need to support and help women break the cycle of poverty.
Investing in women's empowerment means contributing to the elimination of poverty and inclusive economic growth in a context where social, economic and cultural constraints are latent. The project aims to support 10 vulnerable girls through a two-year training course in tailoring (cutting and sewing), encouraging them to create an income-generating activity that can make them independent over time.
Objectives
- To give these girls a chance of redemption by making them independent through learning a trade so that they can lead a dignified life
- To train professionally and provide entrepreneurial skills to the girls so that they are able to create work for themselves and become financially stable
Beneficiaries
Direct: a group of 10 girls
Indirect: their families and society in general
Referent sister of the project: sr Adriana Vinco
Project's costs