NGO empowers women with skills

The Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare has applauded EngenderHealth Malawi for empowering young women through training in various vocation skills.

The ministry’s principal gender and development officer, Chimwemwe Grace Kussein, said this on Friday during the launch of the Women Empowerment Intervention programme by EngenderHealth Malawi at Macoha Kamuzu Vocational Training Centre in Chiradzulu.

The programme aims at empowering young women with economic empowerment opportunities and vocational skills such as tailoring and design, carpentry and bricklaying to mitigate their vulnerability to gender-based violence.

“Economic empowerment of women is, therefore, a key structural intervention towards reducing gender inequality and gender-based violence among young women.

“Malawi government has, therefore, placed gender equality and the economic empowerment of women at the centre of its development agenda,” said Kussein.

EngenderHealth Malawi executive director Chisomo Kaufulu Kumwenda said the programme targets 734 young women in Mzimba, Kasungu, Blantyre and Chiradzulu districts.

“Our aim as EngenderHealth Malawi is to uplift the lives of young women aged between 18 and 30 with vocational training skills to facilitate their pathway to economic empowerment.

“We have deliberate efforts to ensure that a minimum of 10 percent of beneficiaries in each district should constitute young women with disabilities,” she said.

Traditional Authority (T/A) Likoswe challenged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously to change their lives for the better.

“You have not come here to eat and play, but make a better life when you go home,” he said.