Empow’Her Enables CSO Empowerment in West Africa

By: Melissa Seemann and Sophie Husser

On 10, 11 and 12 June, Empow’Her hosted a seminar at its Abidjan offices for representatives of the ten West African associations it supports under FON’s “Project Incubation“ programme. Four associations from Burkina Faso, two from Guinea, two from Niger and two from Côte d’Ivoire took part in the seminar, marking a key stage in their support.

The “Project Incubation” programme, run by Empow’Her, a member of the FON consortium, involves building the capacity of CSOs to use an entrepreneurial approach to develop an income-generating project that will contribute to the sustainability of their activities.

Since February, Empow’Her has been offering training to associations to help them create self-financing activities, thereby strengthening their economic model. The training sessions, which began by webinars, ended with face-to-face modules on the business plan and pitch, with practical exercises.

On the programme:

• Business plan and pitch training
• Meetings with committed social entrepreneurs Stéphane Kobena and Hami Kante
• Presentation of the Akwaba Mousso holistic care centre,
• A World Café workshop with the Empow’Her Côte d’Ivoire ecosystem on financing the fight against GBV.

Empow’Her took advantage of the visit of the associations to bring together its Abidjan ecosystem for a collective intelligence workshop on the theme of financing the fight against gender-based violence. Around thirty people attended, including coaches, representatives of town halls and feminist CSOs, and the discussions were particularly rich. Among the issues raised were the need for more networking, the need to collaborate with the State and local authorities, but also with businesses.

The CSO representatives who came to Abidjan appreciated these three days, which enabled them to connect with other organisations fighting the same battles in the sub-region. The participants exchanged a great deal about their challenges and the issues at stake, as well as the good practices they had already been able to put in place. Some associations also planned to work together on common issues.

FON is a powerful initiative dedicated to empowering feminist movements around the world. The incubation projects run by Empow’Her are part of this initiative.

This first cohort was a pilot project for the program. Empow’Her will continue the program for the duration of the FON project. Click  here to learn more about “project incubation” and to register for the next cohort.

Download the full report on the World Cafe workshop held on the second day of the meeting, in French only.