MONTREAL, March 8, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - In response to COVID-19, Montreal based Canada World Youth-Jeunesse Canada Monde (CWY-JCM) will partner with African Skills Hub to provide training and support to 10,000 young women and reach 51,000 indirect beneficiaries in Ghana and Senegal. The Women's Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Initiative (WELI), funded in part by Global Affairs Canada, will address the economic crisis and provide support to women and young girls, who are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Skills training combined with practicums will provide an opportunity for young women in the Northern and Eastern regions. In addition, young Canadian volunteers will provide peer support, entrepreneurship coaching and provide institutional capacity building to local partners, from a distance.
"We are delighted to support CWY-JCM's newest economic empowerment initiative for young women and girls in West Africa," said the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development. "This initiative aligns well with Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy and will address the unprecedented impacts of COVID-19 in the region."
Susan Handrigan, CEO of CWY-JCM says: "WELI is a truly innovative response to COVID-19 as it uniquely responds to the needs of the regions and will help build skills and capacity. Moreover, with 50 years of volunteering in country, we will now provide mentoring and expertise from a distance, further enabling local development in an innovative way."
"COVID-19 has threatened the survival of many women-led businesses but there is still much hope in building back better. There is recovery ahead and enormous alternative opportunities to diversify and do gender responsive programming in a new way" said Daniel Antwi, Executive Director, Africa Skills Hub.
CWY -JCM (est. 1971) is an INGO dedicated to the empowerment of young people. They collaborate with partners around the world to create transformative learning experiences. CWY-JCM focuses on youth engagement under four pillars 1) Sustainable Livelihoods & Entrepreneurship 2) Empowerment of young women and girls 3) Empowerment and experience of Indigenous Communities and 4) Environmental Sustainability. The organization is guided by the following UN Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality, Quality Education, Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities and Climate Action.
Africa Skills Hub is a youth INGO based in Accra, Ghana and working throughout the African continent to build skilled Africa youth as agents of change using social enterprise paradigm which involves the application of disruptive approaches to community and grassroots development.
SOURCE CWY-JCM
Julien Michel, 438-844-9786, [email protected]
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