How to attract (married) young rural women? How to organize safe mobility for them? How to build trust for community to give permission for young women to participate?
Safe places but isolated – flexible, in own time but no participation in society.
Start under the flag of illiteracy in safe places like Musk for acceptance (Afghanistan/India). Women groups setting up business based on their own market research (Lebanon).
ICT Tools
Showcase, test hand made products of women in communities and on markets, select products with economic value and bring that in women led mobile kiosk supply chain for selling. (India)
Digital green for green decent jobs. Data base of skilled women, you could ask for a job interview. But also give order for production like substance bags for supermarket instead of the plastic ones.
Social responsibility for multinationals or big companies. (Nepal)
Flexible in Time and Out of the House
Identify the workload and time schedule of these young women and organize tailor made trainings & services girl groups that could fit in in their schedule. (See for example Sote Hub & Cool Farming)
Distribution network organized by a young women in Kenya with a social drive for women economic empowerment for household women to sell health care products house by house and they earn 20% of what they sell. She carefully identify the gaps and needs and organize a simple reliable structure without bureaucratic and corruption.
Creating Safe Spaces
Women-Only Markets: AK Pakistan
'Pop-up'/ virtual incubators: AIDOS’ providing incubatory services at participants houses and businesses, implementing partner offices, community centers, etc.
Community centers and houses of worship: IAM offering literacy and business training at mosques in Afghanistan.
Improving access
Local transport allowance: Enterprise Uganda providing local bus ticket fare so participants were not deterred by the distance.
Hiring women: As facilitators, trainers, bank agents, mentors, coaches, etc.
Group mentoring with male mentors can be done in groups, and in safe and public spaces (See for example Enterprise Uganda).
Gender sensitivity should be included in every component of the program, budgets and action plans should be developed to ensure it filters through all project activities (IFAD Promoting rural enterprise growth and development). Lessons from four projects in sub-Saharan Africa:
(https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/35168ae1- eeca-4b11-a703-303ae546d919)
Ensure financial literacy, youth and women-friendly access points (including women staff safe-spaces/offices) and services, and products that are relevant to the needs of young women entrepreneurs (See for example IFAD’s Rural Youth Economic Empowerment Program)
Acknowledging the interests of women participants and catering programs to meet their needs encourages increased participation. The Bangladesh Youth Employment Pilot noted that women participants were more interested in non-traditional employment roles. Resulting in a change of their programmatic approach, drawing in more women participation.
