As the world marks the International Women's Day on the 8th of March 2009, under the theme of "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls", we highlight women's empowerment efforts of re-insertion into the productive workforce in Burundi through projects supported by the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD).

 

Training in different skills has been encouraged by ACORD and many community based organisations, such as the Association pour la Promotion de la Fille Burundaise, working in Burundi to empower women and girls. The ACORD project has been empowering the women in three areas of competence include making leather products, fish preservation and processing and bread making.

 

Assessments done by ACORD have shown that at least 65 per cent of the women trained in the three areas have been able to successfully re-integrate into the economic mainstream and have remained viable through their contributions in supply of goods and services.

« My status within the home and community has dramatically transformed as my husband now respects me more. He has also learned to perceive me, not as an non-resourceful spouse who is unable to bring food and income into the home, but a strong partner and stakeholder in the household’s upkeep», said  one female trainee who has gained practical skills in leather handling for commercial production.

So far, at least 98 associations of women groups and joint action societies have been identified and supported. These groups have been successfully signed up with the Registrar of Societies and Associations and given official status, thanks to support and refereeing from the ACORD Burundi Area Programme. The number of individual members registered with different associations and community groups is  more than five thousand, of which almost 90 per cent are women.

Among these groups, many are seeing the benefits of better organisation and coordination that contributes towards better visibility, networking and faster implementation of their programmes. Training sessions conducted on relevant themes of management and project monitoring and evaluation have been ongoing and these have contributed towards improvements in performance.

The Buterere commune of Bujumbura Municipality has particularly witnessed transformations as four new associations have recently emerged and continued to grow. This commune is the most impoverished, marginalised and poorly equipped among the four communes of the Municipality. The Dushigikirane women’s group with 15 member associations is one of the grassroots outfits that have been formed to give women opportunities to learn new skills that can be economically advantageous. Others include the Constellation of Musaga Women’s Groups, CAFEM (Collectif des Associations de Femmes de Musaga) which boasts 23 associations in Musaga, the Constellation of Women’s Groups for Development, CAFED (Collectif des Femmes pour le Développement) from Kamenge commune with 16 member associations and the Kanyosha Women’s Group with 30 associations. The latter, previously struggling to stay afloat, mired by sustainability challenges has now been re-energised and is well functioning.

As the project continues to attract widespread acclamation, a total of 20 people (of which 18 are women) have received training in leather processing and developing commercial products. The trainees have been able to produce leather objects: bags, belts, key-holders, document holders and wallets. Working with leather to produce commercial objects had previously been a preserve for men but these women groups have suceeded in breaking new ground and demonstrating that women too can excel in traditionally male-dominated fields.

In addition, 30 women have received training on fish preservation using smoke and heat. Courses in bread making targeting more than 20 women at a time have been rolled out and will be given to enhance skills in bread manufacture and trade. This will enable the trainees to start income-generating activities and improve their purchasing power.

In addition to selecting individual areas of interest, the training offered has attracted more than 210 participants from women groups and associations and elaboration as well as management of micro-projects has also been guaranteed to build sustainability and allowing for long-term involvement and financial autonomy in project development.

Out of the associations identified at the onset and support onwards, 75 have already benefited from micro-financing by ACORD partners.

Local women especially in Bujumbura Municipality have felt the impact from support that they have received through the women’s groups. They are excited about inviting their friends to participate or themselves forming new community women’s groups in areas where more women need to be empowered through collective efforts. Most of the women now feel that their social status has improved, they are respected more and have more opportunities to better themselves.

Reports indicate that women in Burundi experience discrimination on the economic rights and empowerment fronts. As a result, they are denied rights to inheritance and cannot enjoy the rights of property ownership unless for very exceptional reasons. ACORD, informed through its research and partnerships, therefore serves to reverse the negative practice by giving women the necessary tools to drive their own development. For more information on ACORD in Burundi, go to http://www.acordinternational.org and click on Where We Work.