KBF throws weight to support women empowerment

TANZANIA: The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) has awarded 200,000 Euros (over 560m/-) to Her Initiative organisation in recognition of its efforts to unlock women’s economic potential, tackle youth unemployment crisis and accelerate economic and social development in the sub-Saharan Africa.

The KBF Africa Prize recognises African organisations working to drive African-led solutions to the challenges facing the continent and to sustainably improve the lives of Africans.

“The selection committee was highly impressed with Her Initiative’s combined approach to advancing women’s rights and financial independence.

The organisation is a highly deserving recipient of this year’s Prize and we look forward to seeing what the team achieves in the years to come,” said Mr Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, The KBF Africa Prize Selection Committee’ s Chairman.

Tanzania has made significant progress on women’s empowerment and women’s rights but a number of women still live in poverty and many don’t have access to the resources they need to shape their future and participate in economic development.

As a youth-first and women-led organisation, Her Initiative offers a range of innovative and holistic programmes which equip young women with the education, skills and resources needed to enter the job market or run their own businesses.

Since its execution in 2019, the NGO has reached over 15,000 young women and girls through its programmes, including supporting over 200 women to launch businesses and enabling 2,805 more to digitalise their businesses.

Additionally, with the support from KBF , the organisation aims to expand its programmes in the country and across East Africa to reach out to 100,000 more women in the next five years.

He Initiative’s Founder and Executive Director Ms Lydia Moyo said gender-based violence, underage marriage and HIV are just a few examples of the problems that hinder the women from developing both socially and economically.

“We are supporting young women to build their financial resilience in six regions in the country but with the KBF Africa Prize we will be able to scale our work to help so many more women to achieve their dreams in Tanzania and beyond,” she said.

Several past laureates, including Dr Denis Mukwege, Elman Peace and Grameen Bank, have since been awarded and shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 2023-2024 Africa Prize will be presented to Her Initiative at an awards ceremony today at the Royal Palace of Laeken in Brussels.

The organisation was selected from a pool of more than 400 applicants by an independent committee of 12 international experts, including past winners of the KBF Africa Prize.