Belgium, agency launch €25 million programme to empower Kigoma girls
What you need to know:
- The programme aims to empower young people, especially young women, to thrive in a protective and gender-equal environment, to acquire education and skills, and to pursue decent work opportunities
Dar es Salaam. The Kingdom of Belgium and Enabel Belgian Development Agency have launched the ‘Wezesha Binti’ programme (Empower the Girl) worth 25 million euros.
The five-year programme, running from 2023 to 2027, will focus on empowering girls in Tanzania’s Kigoma region.
Speaking at the programme's opening event in Dar es Salaam, this Tuesday, a Belgian ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Peter Huyghebaert, revealed that Wezesha Binti is an integrated holistic intervention focusing on girls and young women with a flexible and innovative approach.
“This programme aims to empower young people, especially young women, to thrive in a protective and gender-equal environment, to acquire education and skills, and to pursue decent work opportunities,” he said.
He said its mutually reinforcing result domains aim at empowering girls and young women aged 14 to 29 years old in targeted districts of Kigoma through multiple learning pathways to enjoy decent, green employment, offering increased access to entrepreneurship.
He said: “our event happens during the ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV)’ as a sign of supporting the movement in the country. As we all know, this is a worldwide issue, affecting every country with no exception. Violence in all its forms is the degradation most intimately felt by a woman.”
However, the programme's opening event was accompanied by the screening of the film ‘Ndoto ya Samira’ (Samira's Dream), a film that showed the main character's real life, especially how she struggled to find education due to the various obstacles in her community.
"When I started making this film seven years ago, I went through many challenges, including being isolated in the community where I lived in Nungwi, Zanzibar. But after the completion of this film, its impact on my community has grown and erased the criticisms I received; instead, these days, I only receive compliments about how this film empowers girls to fight for their dreams," said Samira.
For his part, the director of the film, Mr Nino Tropiano, added, "Samira's calmness and understanding made this film complete on time and show in a wide way how girls are challenged in fighting for their dreams."
