HARDA is pleased to announce that the women and youth of Wajir South will soon have access to financial resources to set up workshops for skills training and to start small business, courtesy of The Global Aid Foundation (GAF) and our local partner the Waso Resource Development Agency (WARDA).
The women and youth of Wajir South, an area in North Eastern Kenya bordering Somalia, have historically had a dependency on aid and charity, which is typically administered in a sporadic and ad hoc basis.
Statistics show that a staggering 74% of the population is unemployed, with women and the youth being the most affected. The main causes of this unemployment have been identified as poverty, perennial drought, insecurity, conflicts, high illiteracy levels and a lack of gainful and readily marketable skills. For women, this situation is aggravated by socio-cultural factors and other societal vulnerabilities, such as a high level of divorce.
A rise in social ills in Wajir South, including, substance abuse, crime, prostitution, violent extremism, and most recently youth for hire as militia in communal conflicts, is directly attributable to this lack of employment.
However, the residents of Wajir South are resourceful and enterprising and, when equipped with the right skills and financing, are capable of setting up their own cottage industries that would increase the available employment opportunities, provide them with a regular source of income and spur the local economy.
The Global Aid Foundation are financing this project with $30,000, which will fund a number of donkeys and carts needed to start a small transport business, and provide initial capital needed for the conduct of business to support this vulnerable community.