Congo/Social and economic integration: kits for disabled women

On April 16, women and girls with disabilities received kits to create income-generating activities with a view to their empowerment. The gesture came at the end of a training course on financial management tools organized by the town hall of Brazzaville's seventh arrondissement, Mfilou, in partnership with the US embassy.

Twelve of the twenty-five women trained were beneficiaries according to their requests. They received bags of rice, cassava flour, onion and garlic fillets, cartons of dairy products, laundry soap and detergents, parasols, a kneading trough and a large aluminum pot and bowl.

The training took place from February 7 to 12 in Brazzaville, as part of the project to support the socio-economic empowerment of young girls and women with disabilities who are victims of multi-faceted violence, financed by the US Embassy in Congo.

The overall cost of the project is 3.15 million FCFA over a ten-month period. The grant from the U.S. Embassy in Congo is 2.8 million FCFA and 350,000 CFA for the Observatoire handicap humanité (H20)," says Liloba.

The lessons focused on the five principles of financial management: transparency, rigor, traceability, security, the balance sheet or report as well as cash books, bank books, how to calculate the budget, profit and salarythe notion of savings as a secure means of development and fulfillment for disabled women.

The president of the Observatoire handicap humanité, Emmanuel Bati, presented the four pillars of his organization: disability, humanitarianism, development and violence against disabled women. He highlighted the problem of discrimination faced by disabled women on a daily basis. According to him, nearly 80% of disabled women are single-parent families with uneducated children, and 20% practise survival sex to send their children to school in order to meet primary needs.

Emmanuel Bati also outlined the outlook for the Observatoire Humanité Handicap: accompany the thirteen remaining beneficiaries to open savings accounts, accompany disabled women to also become wholesalers instead of remaining retailers, proceed with the evaluation and follow-up of the project with home visits.Djochs Pierre Nkaya, chief of staff to the mayor of Mfilou, testified to his hierarchy's commitment to this vulnerable group, and promised to invite them to the various activities if necessary.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com/