Throughout the month of March, in celebration of International Women's Day, La Guilde's Microprojects division wishes to highlight partner associations that drive initiatives aimed at strengthening women's empowerment and promoting better equality. among all. To begin this series, we chose to present the project carried out between the French association SOLINFO and two Ivorian NGOs: Flamboyants and AJVCI.
We conducted an interview with Edouard, president of SOLINFO, Jack, director of Flamboyants and various participants of the Alpha Couture initiative. This microproject, funded by La Guilde in 2021, took place in a very sensitive area in the north of Côte d'Ivoire, on the border with Burkina Faso and Mali. They tell : “We are in the border area where, unfortunately, there is a lot of informal economy because the borders are porous. There are many dangers linked to poverty, especially for young girls. This informal economy causes illegal economic exchanges, the biggest trace of which is illegal gold panning. It also causes dangers linked to prostitution, the work of young girls exploited by gold miners as well as by various quasi-mafia systems which can exist between these borders. The Flamboyants and the Association of Young Visionaries of Côte d'Ivoire (AJVCI) have mobilized to promote a solution which consists of, on the one hand, raising the level of French, that is to say, making young girls literate and women and on the other hand teach them a profession, sewing, which aims at the autonomy of young girls. It’s a full-scale test that we conducted during a first edition.”
28 young women from Doropo and Kanakono were able to benefit from literacy and sewing training: “In the morning, we had literacy classes and in the evening, sewing classes. We also had machines to learn the technique.” In addition, some of them have in turn become sewing supervisors for the following promotions: “I became an instructor. I am very happy to supervise the girls who participate in the Alpha Couture project”.
Thanks to this initiative, many positive results have been observed, mainly with regard to the fight against poverty, early marriages, social and community cohesion, and more broadly on better socio-professional integration of women: “In the long term, the first impact is the fight against poverty. We will have lifted at least 80% of these 14 girls out of poverty. We are really in an area with a gold panning system, with very present prostitution. Before this program, they could engage in these illicit activities. Today, they have learned a professional background which will provide a certain social insurance for the future.
It must be said that our objective has also been achieved in terms of early marriage. Girls from a certain age are considered adults and given cultural principles, they are married more often and more easily. […] On this subject, during the first promotion, we faced painful difficulties: a young girl got married, with contraceptive advice to prevent her from getting pregnant. However, 8 months later, she found herself pregnant. It was really painful for us.
We also had support from the community because we developed, at a given period, canteens, to be able to let the young girls have something to eat at lunchtime. It is in these canteens that the community itself brought either a little yam, rice, or oil to support this training. For us it was very important. This showed the support of parents for this project and it really helped us all.
Today, these 14 young girls have created a community living environment even though they barely knew each other initially. Other girls come from surrounding villages and are here to this day. This creates a whole, a real force. In a word, it strengthens the bonds of social cohesion at the community level.”
Through this project, the Les Flamboyants association was awarded the Prize for Best Community Development Promoter by the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, in 2023: “Doropo is 650 km from Abidjan where we are landlocked. We were far from Abidjan. But through this little project, the local authorities really had to first recognize our efforts. We were identified as the best organization regionally. And we continued at the national level, where we emerged victorious receiving the Best Community Development Promoter Award, awarded by the Head of State, on September 11, 2023. For us, it is truly the apotheosis. For us, it is really the recognition of everything that has been done, that these are projects that are not known to others but through these activities, today, we have been recognized by our State, by the leader of State, by the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire".
Jack, president of the Les Flamboyants association concludes: “14 girls is not much compared to hundreds of girls who have needs. It looks like it’s a drop of water in the sea, but we think that drops of water, when they fall drop by drop, they are capable of piercing rocks.”
