SSD 32 - POVERTY ALLEVIATION THROUGH EMPOWERING WOMEN
Project Location
South Sudan is the youngest country of the world: it got independence from Sudan after almost 50 years of war and is still grappling with widespread violence and injustice. Women are the most affected. The project is implemented in Juba, the Capital City of South Sudan. Many people have flocked to the town due to insecurity in the surrounding rural areas, where farming was their main livelihood.
In the past, women had tried to survive on petty trade of food items, but in 2024 the high inflation rate curbed many activities. Numerous women have resorted to begging; now their children are out of school and often they also beg on the streets.
Project description
Juba city hosts many restaurants and hotels, afforded by UN and international NGOs staff. The project has a training and a marketing component: the former ensures that women learn how to produce quality soap for washing dishes, the second enables them to sell their product to restaurants and hotels. To this end the women will be mentored by two female university students. To test the activities, the project starts with 10 women with limited formal education, and will continue in Year 2 with 20 more. Many of them are mothers.
The project covers the initial costs of training in soap production, and part of the costs of raw material and transport. The female students mentoring the women will receive an allowance, which will contribute to their university fees. The pilot group of 10 women should complete the project in 12 months and become able to run their own business in smaller groups, so that they can feed their family and send the children to school.
Soap production does not need any expensive infrastructure so that, after the phase of training, women could work on their own premises. The evaluation of the pilot group will help fine-tuning the activities of 20 women in Year two.
Objectives
- Offer job opportunities to a group of women through training in the production and sale of soap.
- Make women independent and able to send their children to school
Beneficiaries
Direct: 30 women
Indirect: families for a total of approximately 120 people
Referent sister: sr Paola Moggi
Project's costs