Empowering young women
15 November 2024
The three-year project equipping, supporting and empowering 30 marginalized young women (aged 16 to 25) through vocational training combined with mentoring has reached the end of the first six months since its launch in May 2024.
The comprehensive initiative has adopted a person-centered approach, focusing on enhancing young women's income-generating capacity, confidence, and sense of self, breaking the cycle of poverty for them and their families. 30 students from backgrounds of poverty were selected to benefit from the scholarships in vocational training in hospitality and industry at Yarani. These students, all in the first year of their studies, were selected based on their need combined with the commitment to learning demonstrated in the first term of their studies.
12 mentors at Yarani have completed training in the “ EMPath mentoring methodology" to be better equipped to support their students, exceeding the initial target of 10 mentors. The mentoring lead at Yarani has finished EMPath training and created a new mentoring strategy for this academic year. "
The Environmental Leadership Programme is proving particularly inspiring. Many Yarani students live in densely populated neighbourhoods where formal rubbish collection is limited or nonexistent. This lack of waste management leads to significant public health and environmental challenges, as open rubbish and litter accumulate in these communities. During rains, waste clogs drains, leading to flooding and creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which in turn increases the risk of disease. Food waste also adds to the problem, contributing to unsanitary conditions and pest issues. In response, Yarani has collaborated with students and researched safe, impactful environmental initiatives to develop an Environmental Leadership Club and a series of targeted workshops. These sessions, which have already begun, cover essential topics such as waste management, recycling, and food waste, along with sessions on leadership skills and teamwork. The club is student-led, with the young women taking charge to design and execute local environmental initiatives. This hands-on approach not only tackles pressing issues in their neighbourhoods but also builds the students' confidence and leadership skills. By early 2025, the students will roll out these initiatives, applying their training to create cleaner, healthier communities while growing as leaders.
