Strengthening the economic and social resilience of women and girls in Hurungwe, Rushinga Districts

General

The project will support women and girls in Hurungwe and Rushinga to adequately cope with environmental and climate change induced shocks (droughts, land degradation etc), promoting food security, increasing their capacity to earn incomes, access to education, access relevant markets and other support institutions to create socio-economic opportunities. The action will also work towards long lasting social behaviour change and transformation of negative gender norms, reducing gender-based violence, and enabling women and girls to thrive economically and socially. The project will seek to address the following: 1, The deep rooted cultural and religious practices that render women and girls as subjects 2, Climate induced migration- where households move to Mozambique in search of water and fertile fields for agriculture and in so doing, they leave women and girls vulnerable to abuse. 3. Poor education- Girls and other school children walk long distances to schools, forcing a majority of the dropping out of school making room for early marriages. 4. Limited Livelihood options for women and girls, as women and girls are often excluded from mainstream economic activities such as livestock production, t is male dominated because goat production is viable in Rushinga. 5.Limited Access to Water for Domestic and Productive this has forced Women and girls to walk long distances to alternative water sources or wait in long queues. In addition, due to frequent breakdowns of boreholes, the main sources of water, over 60% of the households in Rushinga have witnessed incidences of violence at water points. 6. Food insecurity-Food insecurity is mainly a result of poor rainfall and poor quality of agricultural land and part of the fairly fertile land is unusable because of landmines and is only now gradually becoming available for crop and livestock production as Halo Trust demines the area.