Women into Work
Gender equality and the empowerment of women are integral to all aspects of our work in ensuring that young people in Africa have the opportunity to work and thrive.
Build It has a strong track record of promoting the participation of women in our courses. Yet our recent Impact Studies show that our female graduates take longer to find work. They are also less likely to be employed and tend to earn less than their male counterparts.
Our new Women into Work Programme will ensure a significant gender shift in our Training into Work Programme. It will focus on economically empowering disadvantaged young Zambian women.
It is in line with Zambia’s Seventh National Development Plan for education. It also strongly supports the Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals): 1. End Poverty, 4. Quality Education, 5. Gender Equality and 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth.
“My friends laughed saying that bricklaying courses were only done by males!! I trained hard. Now that I am working, I am able to save. I am saving to open up a business that can sustain myself and my family.”
Prudence Chisunka
Our main areas of focus will be to:
- Increase the number of young women completing our Training into Work programme to 50% of total by 2024
- Increase access and support for more young women through improved recruitment methods, focused Life Skills training and tailored career progression support
- Develop female focused skills courses to increase both entrepreneurial and formal employment income
- Increase number of employers supporting women with work placements, equal pay and career progression
- Support female friendly and safe workplaces
We will also work to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women are actively addressed at an organisational level.
This means as an organisation we will:
- Create a workplace where gender equality and the empowerment of women are actively promoted
- Strengthen institutional knowledge, capacity and effectiveness
- Implement gender equality and women’s empowerment across all programming areas
To find out more about our Women into Work programme and how you can get involved, please contact Christine Cartland, Head of Strategic Partnerships via christine@builditinternational.org
