Women Empowerment

Empowered women change communities…

Since the mid-90s, SAA has been helping women invest in themselves and working to create economic opportunities. The ‘women empowerment program’ provide suitable employment possibilities, vocational training (sewing, food processing...), small loans, small business training, mentoring support and awareness sessions on various topics (education, household financial management, gender-based violence, mental health, reproductive health…).

 

The sewing factory

In 2005, a sewing factory project was established. It incubates around 50 women each year. The first phase of this project consists of providing tailoring and embroidery training for the targeted women. In the second stage, the trained women are offered sewing machines to work in their own houses. The trained women fabricate kitchen household items aprons, potholders, kettle covers, customized gifts (embroidered towels, purses…). SAA provides all necessary tools, material and textiles. The association handles the sale of the fabricated products through online sale, annual events in addition to a network of friends.  Women who are now partners in this project receive a percentage of the sales revenues and they are allowed as well to use the sewing machines to provide tailoring and clothing repair services to their community and thus make extra money.

During all these phases, women beneficiaries are assisted by the association social workers.

 

Al Baraka Kitchen

In 2012, a healthy cooking project was established. Cooking seems to be the best task for targeted women to manage as they already do much of the care work of their families. This project builds on these women’s expertise and valorizes it. They are trained to prepare daily meals and package them in order to be sold as per a preset weekly menu. Culinary performance is monitored by a specialist for basic food preparation, hygiene and safety. SAA sells the meals and women beneficiaries receive a monthly salary in addition to rotating food rations.

After acquiring the needed experience, these women can cook from their home under social workers’ assistance and surveillance. Then, new beneficiaries can join the kitchen and receive the needed incubation.

On the other hand, the cooking project provides an immediate response to the needs and demands of community’s working mothers. Instead of preparing food to their families after long tiresome working day, they seem to be fully satisfied with the healthy and delicious meals, high quality products and affordable prices of the cooking projects.

 

The two projects offer flexible working hours so women can take care of their families and create a comfortable space where women can meet, speak out, and exchange experience.

To this day, hundreds of trained women (845 women in the sewing factory and 94 in the cooking project) have been empowered to lead and manage their income generating activities and change negative cultural attitudes towards women and girls. SAA has witnessed that financial independence rendered women more self-confident and more apt to provide greater care to their children, while being closely attentive to their needs.