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The project aims to achieve the sustainable inclusion and full recognition of the economic rights of 80 women living with a disability in arrondissement 8 of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
By breaking down the double discrimination linked to gender and disability, the project enables these women to escape isolation and extreme poverty. It secures their financial independence through appropriate access to training, credit and local markets. In addition to the direct economic impact, the project is having a lasting impact on the way the community sees things, and is engaging the local authorities to ensure that public policies systematically and sustainably include disability.
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Project objectives
The project aims to strengthen the financial autonomy of women with disabilities by offering them technical skills and adapted economic opportunities. It also aims to promote a more inclusive social, family and institutional environment, encouraging their economic participation and recognition of their productive capacities by communities and public authorities.
Our actions
- Participatory diagnostics to identify promising economic sectors adapted to different types of disability
- Inclusive technical, entrepreneurial and financial training (management, financial education, simplified accounting)
- Provision of installation kits, start-up grants and logistical support for mobility (tricycles) and communication (telephones)
- Negotiation of inclusive microfinance partnerships and creation of Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCAs)
- Support for marketing via local markets, trade fairs and introduction to digital marketing
- Public awareness campaigns to deconstruct disability stereotypes
- Advocacy and dialogue with municipal authorities to mainstream gender and disability in local budgets
Key figures
women with disabilities directly empowered
extended family members benefiting indirectly from higher incomes
technically strengthened local associations (155 members in total)
Our partners
Financial partner: Lord Michelham of Hellingly Foundation
Operational partners: Arrondissement 8 Town Hall (Social Services) - Vocational Training Department - Provincial Department for Women and Humanitarian Action - Support Fund for Women's Income-Generating Activities (FAARF) - Network of Burkina Faso Credit Unions (RCPB) - Pagba Béogo Yondo Association.
Find out about all the other projects carried out by Action Education in Africa in our latest issue. Activity Report
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