This project supports poverty relief by empowering and educating women and girls in the community of Photu, in particular the villages Libru and Nera. Lack of education negatively affects the life chances of women and girls in all areas – access to (reproductive) health care, (forced) child marriage, trafficking – and thus education will enable the female population of these communities to lead more empowered lives. This will also promote better livelihoods.
100 women will attend literacy classes where they not only learn to read and write and basic numeracy skills, but also gain more confidence and independence. Empowerment workshops for all 203 teenagers in the two villages will focus on the rights of women and girls. Information on legal, medical and social issues will increase knowledge, but also strengthen the confidence of the girls and improve their chances in education. By involving the male youths as well as opinion leaders in the community (politicians, teachers) as well as parents increases knowledge about and awareness of gender equality, which will reduce the social exclusion women are affected by, which diminishes their life chances.
In addition, the schools of the community will be supported with material to improve the learning environment, e.g. furniture, teaching material etc., and the schools’ teachers will be trained in gender-sensitive and inclusive teaching methods.
In order to increase awareness of gender justice in the community, too, an education expert will work closely with elected representatives and other opinion leaders in the villages.
The target communities are located in Mugu district in north-western Nepal, one of the most remote and disadvantaged regions of the country. Even within this region, Photu is extremely difficult to reach and particularly disadvantaged according to all indicators.
This project is partly funded by the City of Vienna who we would like to thank for their support!
