By Aminata S Kuyateh
In a significant step towards empowering women and addressing gender disparities, the Ministry of Gender is poised to validate the Small Grant Operations Manual for the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Plus (SWEDD+).
This initiative, bolstered by funding from the World Bank and technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), underscores a collaborative effort to implement sustainable development programs through various ministries, agencies and Women Enterprise Fund (WEF).
The validation process, which commenced recently, marks a crucial phase in the SWEDD+ project, designed to enhance economic opportunities and improve health and education outcomes for young women and adolescent girls. The project aims to address deep-rooted gender inequalities by promoting female empowerment and fostering socio-economic development across the Sahel region.
The World Bank’s financial backing highlights the international community’s commitment to addressing gender issues in The Gambia. The SWEDD+ project, part of a broader regional initiative, seeks to create an enabling environment where women can thrive economically and socially. This funding is expected to catalyze various programs aimed at skill development, entrepreneurship, and improved access to healthcare and education for women and girls.
The Small Grant Operations Manual, a pivotal component of the SWEDD+ project, outlines the procedures and guidelines for disbursing grants to grassroots organizations and community-based initiatives. These grants are intended to support projects that directly benefit women aged 15-24 years and adolescent girls, fostering local solutions to gender disparities.
Roheiatou Kah, PS at the Ministry of Gender, underscored the importance of the initiative. “The SWEDD+ project was conceived to positively impact the quality of life and socio-economic empowerment of adolescent girls and young women with focus on their sexual and reproductive health, education, economic empowerment, strengthening legal frameworks and capacity building to reduce their vulnerability and improve the demographic dividend”.
PS Kah urged the participants to scrutinize the purpose of the document with particular focus on prioritizing adolescent girls, young women with disabilities and those from vulnerable households.
Alpha Huma, project manager at WEF, disclosed that the SWEDD+ project in The Gambia has a value of $25 million but the sub-component to be implemented is $6 million to be distributed to adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years.
Mr Huma added that the five-year project targets 2000 individuals to benefit from the initiative. “Hopefully soon, we will go for a field visit to identify the girls that are supposed to benefit for 2024. Soon we will start to disburse for 2024”.
He stated that the beneficiary must be trained on entrepreneurship through the safe spaces that are under the Ministry of Youth and Sport and National Youth Council to be specific before they can benefit from the grant.
As the validation process gets underway, stakeholders expressed optimism about the potential impact of the SWEDD+ project. The initiative is seen as a critical step towards achieving gender equality and empowering women to contribute more significantly to the nation’s development.
