One of Rwanda’s principal goals of Vision 2020 is to decrease the population dependent on agricultural activities to about 50% by the year 2020. Taking into account the current population growth, this would mean creating 2.2 million jobs in the off-farm sector by 2020 as a means of reducing poverty and vulnerability of Rwanda’s population.

There is need to create more employment opportunities especially for those who are currently unemployed; those who are underemployed; and those who are classified as the working poor-the vulnerable groups.

Strive Foundation Rwanda’s flagship Women’s Economic Empowerment Program is a big focus of the organization’s programmatic activities that focus mainly on capacity building-allowing vulnerable women to help themselves out of poverty and extreme susceptibility. For Strive Foundation Rwanda, women empowerment is about making it possible for vulnerable women in the communities to participate fully in the society through creation of off-farm jobs to fight poverty.

Empowerment is important for every vulnerable woman regardless of age. They deserve to live a life that they choose and according to the terms that are right for them. Strive Foundation Rwanda believes that “When women are able to meaningfully participate in society their needs and rights will be heard and enforced. This means women’s safety and welfare will improve and their ability to be in control of their own lives will increase. This will have a flow on effect to children as their well-being is always naturally connected to the well-being of women.”

Program Vision and Mission statement

Our vision for women’s economic empowerment in Rwanda is to advance the lives of vulnerable women through improving access to equal economic opportunity. Our mission is to focus our efforts on promoting the social and economical development of Rwandan vulnerable women and girl’s to improve their rights protection, reduce gender based violence and advancing women’s economic status.

Program aims and objectives

Our aims for the women’s economic empowerment program are:

• To facilitate effective cooperative formation amongst vulnerable women through enhancing the skills and knowledge for cooperative management, sustainability, marketing and access to technology and services in order to enhance their economic opportunity
• To enhance the capacity of vulnerable women for entrepreneurship and the capitalization and management of income generating activities
• To improve access to business and financial services as well as SACCO for vulnerable women
• To improve the capabilities of vulnerable women to engage in formal cross border trade effectively within the East African Community market through training in business management, vocational skills and entrepreneurship.

Partners in Virtue

Since 2010, SFR has partnered with Human Help Network (Germany) to provide income generating activities, cooperative management training, skills and educational support to some of the most vulnerable women.

Currently Strive Foundation Rwanda supports vulnerable women in cooperatives that range in their productive capacities from bricklaying to fish farming, beekeeping, weaving and rice growing.

We also support and encourage cooperatives to initiate rotating credit; saving and credit fund, and in some cases, create emergency support funds. This ultimately contributes to the creation of collective economic security for vulnerable women and their families.