Empowering AGYW in economic situation
Hawa is on her own salon
Hawa Athumani Kiduda
Social Protection and Economic Empowerment help to reduce the risk of HIV infections, early marriages, early pregnancies and gender based violence among AGYW by providing structural friendly services to in school AGYW and livelihood training programs to out of school AGYW.
Social Protection and Economic Empowerment help to reduce the risk of HIV infections, early marriages, early pregnancies and gender based violence among AGYW by providing structural friendly services to in school AGYW and livelihood training programs to out of school AGYW.
One of the key strategies of TIMIZA MALENGO PLUS program is to empower out of school Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) on layered approaches that holistically address vulnerability to HIV infection. Structural HIV prevention intervention programs like livelihood training and business development support are among the core services implemented to improve AGYW socio-economic status so as to reduce new HIV infections by 85% in 2023.
I would like to share the success story of one out of school new peer educator from the city council of Dodoma who has succeeded in starting a small business by investing her training and monthly allowances savings. Dodoma city council is one of the newly added councils in 2021/23 TIMIZA MALENGO PLUS program.
Hawa Athumani Kiduda is a 22 years old peer educator living at Ipagala ward in Dodoma. She completed her ordinary level education in 2018 but she could not proceed further due economic constraints. She was jobless from then until when she was enrolled in the program in 2021.
Hawa is serving her client
She has succeeded to establish her own hair dressing salon in early August 2021 with a capital of TZS 220,000/= which she accumulated from saving her training and monthly allowances. She spent TZS 100,000/= to build a wooden frame for her salon at a Centre where she pays TZS 20,000/= for land rent on monthly basis and remaining TZS 100,000/= on equipment and goods for her saloon. She makes an average net profit of TZS 60,000/= per month.
Hawa’s hair dressing salon
She has prospered to generate her own income to cover some of her personal and family expenses which she could not afford before. However, she uses her saloon as a catchment area where she gets to educate her clients (peers) on HIV prevention, condom distribution and mobile HTS services.
In spite of the fact that we expect to implement IGA in the future, Hawa decided to establish her business earlier from her savings and she hopes to develop and expand her business further after receiving seed money grant of TZS 250,000/= post IGA training
