Botswana: The Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, in partnership with De Beers Group and United Nations Women, has launched a three-year extension of the Accelerated Women Owned Micro-Enterprise (AWOME) phase III and the rebranding of the programme to ‘ENTREPRENEUR’ at an event held at Royal Aria in Tlokweng.
The AWOME programme aims to equip low-income women entrepreneurs with business skills that contribute to managing their enterprises in three 3 countries: Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.
While officiating, Neo Masisi appreciated MYSC’s role as the custodian of gender programmes in continuing to help women take thorough charge of economic development and sustainability.
The First Lady appreciated De Beers Group and the (UN) Women for helping the Government of Botswana in achieving its mandate of empowering women. ‘”AWOME has proven to be a game changer in enhancing women’s active participation in our economies”, said First Lady.
For his part, Minister Rakgare pointed out that the AWOME project in Botswana has benefitted 621 against a target of 500 women in 5 remote areas of Okavango, Kweneng and Rolong. He added that the programme has created employment for about 200 individuals.
Rakgare further noted that in a bid to ensure the successful rollout of AWOME, the Government of Botswana contributed three hundred and ten thousand US Dollars (USD310,000), which is three point five million Pula (BWP3, 500,000) towards capacity building initiatives.
The Namibian Deputy Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Bernadette Maria Jagger, said that Namibia has been a home of AWOME since its inception in 2018 and that they are committed to the economic empowerment of women in all spheres.
Furthermore, she congratulated 2 AWOME master class trainers in Botswana for their outstanding performance, which led to their certification as international labour master trainers.
Since 2017, the AWOME programme has supported almost 2,500 women entrepreneurs of micro-enterprises in Botswana, South Africa, and Namibia in growing and formalizing their businesses.
In attendance were the First Lady of Botswana, Neo Jane Masisi; the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare; Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Annah Mokgethi; senior government officials and delegates from Nambia and South Africa.