By Stephen V. Lansana
The Bo District Council Chairman, representative of the Paramount Chief of Kakua Chiefdom and senior government officials have on Friday, September 27, 2024, commended BRAC Sierra Leone for sponsoring the Accelerating Impact for Young Women (AIM) TVET Graduation and Asset Transfer Ceremony with the theme: “Empowering Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) with the Right Skills for Sustainable Growth”. The event was held in Bo District.
The Graduation and asset/start-up kits transfer ceremony brought together 82 graduands who acquired technical skills in tailoring, catering, and hairdressing from four TVET institutions: Haikai Vocational Center, Growth Center, Catholic Vocational Training Institutes (CVTI) in Kenema, and Women And Youths Strengthening (WAYS) in Bo.
Representatives from the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs, private sector, Bo District Council Chairman, TVET Institutes, local authorities, parents, and the Local council representatives, were among the attendees.
The project which is aligned with the Government’s big five game changer agenda, is implemented in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, through the Accelerating Impact For Young Women (AIM) program, which aims to provide social and economic employment to adolescent girls and young women. The project targets women and girls between the ages of 12 – 35.
The Development Planning Officer of Bo District Council who doubles as the chairperson of the ceremony, Madam Elfrida Bockarie commended BRAC for implementing this project in the country.
“It’s not all NGOs that can undertake this type of project. This is the work of the district councils,” she said, adding that BRAC is complimenting the effort of the government in promoting TVET education and women empowerment in the districts.
She disclosed that several Sierra Leoneans, particularly women have benefited from programmes supported by BRAC.
She encouraged the graduands to collaborate with their colleagues.
The Country Director of BRAC, Adolphus B. W. Doe explained that BRAC began working in Sierra Leone in 2008 on health, education, agriculture, livestock, and youth empowerment programmes. “We are presently operating in all five regions across the country with both our Micro-Finance entity focusing on women’s economic empowerment and the NGO focusing on improving the living standards of people living in vulnerable situations through our humanitarian interventions.”
He said that in 2021, BRAC in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, launched the Accelerating Impact for Young Women (AIM) program, which is in line with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National
Development Plan and the Feed Salone Program of the Government, noting that the project is currently implemented in seven countries in Africa targeting adolescent girls and women.
He said that the AIM program in Sierra Leone is geared towards equipping 156,500 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), with appropriate entrepreneurship, employability, and life-skills training, as well as the provision of tools to start and scale their businesses. “The six-year program will operate across seven African countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya – and applies BRAC’s globally-recognized, evidence-based approaches using microfinance, youth empowerment, agriculture, and skills development to improve lives and livelihoods.”
He said that the objectives of programme are to foster the agency and voice of adolescent women and girls to act on their aspirations, enable them to engage in sustainable livelihoods and create an enabling environment for them to engage in advocacy.
He pointed out that the above objectives are to be met under three main pillars which include Social Empowerment, Economic Empowerment, and Evidence-Based Advocacy for an enabling Environment.
The Acting Principal of Catholic Technical Vocational Institute (CTVI), Mr. Mohamed Combey appealed to the beneficiaries to make good use of the kits given to them.
He commended BRAC for capacitating the women and girls in Kenema.
Representing the Paramount Chief of Kakua Chiefdom, the Section Speaker North-Ward, Kakua Chiefdom Bo, Chief Sulaiman S. Ndaloma appreciated BRAC for helping their young girls and women to achieve this milestone.
He said the skills will not only enhance their careers but also increase the respect earned in society.
Head of Growth Center, Madam Kadiatu Fellie explained the history of Growth Center, adding that they have provided several TEC-VOC trainings for women and girls in the rural areas in solar installations, masonry, tailoring, hairdressing and catering, etc.
She appealed to the graduands to be job creators.
She thanked BRAC and all those that have supported the project.
District Council Chairman, Bo, Mr Victor Korseh Hindowa appreciated BRAC and Mastercard Foundation, adding that what BRAC has done is what the councils should be doing in their various districts.
He said that the Bo District Council is committed to supporting the initiative to ensure that it is more sustainable. “My Council is ready to give its full support to BRAC.”
The Director of Policy, Development and Strategic Planning of the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ibrahim Kamara, said that the Ministry is satisfied with the project BRAC is implementing.
“Building the skills and providing livelihood support to women will help to reduce gender-based violence against women and girls,” he said. He encouraged the graduands to transfer the skills acquired to other women and girls.
He highlighted the commitment made by the government in promoting women and girls in the country through the enactment of laws and policies.
In her testimony, a guaduand who acquired skills in Hairdressing at CVTI in Kenema, Theresa Kamara explained that before her encountering BRAC, she was disappointed by her partner, but after the intervention of BRAC she has acquired skills in hairdressing, public speaking, customer services and financial management.
She thanked BRAC for its support in changing her story.
Many of the graduates are youths in their early 20s who had dropped out of the formal system.
The ceremony was climaxed with the certification and handing over of the start-up kits to the graduands.