General

We Effect has applied for support from Sida for the implementation of the regional development project "Sustainable Cotton for Women and Youth Empowerment in Southern Africa" (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbawe). With reference to the Strategy for Sweden's Regional Development Cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa 2016-2021 and the prioritized strategy objective "Improved conditions, especially for women and young people, for productive employment with decent working conditions", Sida will make a decision to finance the first phase of the project (2019-2021) with a budget of SEK 28,150,000. The plan is to finance also the final years of the project (Phase 2) via a later decision on support for 2022 and 2023 of SEK 16,850,000. The total budget for the four-year intervention is SEK 45,000,000. The specific project objective is women, men and youth cotton farmers have increased incomes and sustainable livelihoods in targeted communities in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe through the creation of 55,000 decent jobs (of which at least 50% are women). It is expected that this goal be achieved through strengthened capacity of partner organizations and ginning companies to implement a certified cotton standard scheme and create decent jobs for women and youth; improved volume of certified seed cotton/lint and cotton value addition products supplied by smallholder women and youth cotton farmers entering local, regional and international markets; and targeted women and youth smallholder cotton farmers have increased resilience to climate change through the adoption of sustainable agricultural land management practices. The project begins with a six-month inception phase during which several studies are carried out in order to design and plan the project in detail including studies on cotton certification and market analysis, environment and social impact, conflict sensitivity approach, gender and power analysis, and on detecting constraints affecting women and youth smallholder cotton farmers. The studies form the basis for the final design of the project implementation phase. The project is implemented by We Effect in close cooperation with identified regional and national cotton producer organizations who, through advocacy, promote improved political conditions for environmentally and economically sustainable cotton production and increased trade. Sida will enter into an agreement with We Effect who in turn will forward funds to Eastern and Southern African Cotton Organization (ESACO).

Objectives

The project objective is women, men and youth cotton farmers have increased incomes and sustainable livelihoods in targeted communities in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe through the creation of 55,000 decent jobs.

General

The program aims to improve food and nutritional security for families and communities in 7 micro-watersheds of Jalapa and Chiquimula in the Dry Corridor of Guatemala, through the improvement of sustainable use of natural resources (forest, soil), integrated water management and increased resilience capacities for climate change adaptation. The implementation includes promoting and improving governance, gender equality and water security with special emphasis in women and children. The indigenous groups in the area are Ch´ortí´ in Chiquimula and Pocomán in Jalapa. FAO will be the lead agency, working in coordination in field with UNICEF, UNDP and WHO. The Dry corridor is a portion of land in Guatemala affected by reduced precipitation, weak soil and low yields located at the rural area. The program. At the end of the intervention the joint program is expected to: 1. Improve communitarian food systems, food and nutritional security, biodiversity, resilience and climate change adaptation through strengthened knowledge in agriculture good practices, nutrition, sustainable use and management of natural resources and the promotion of gender equality. 2. Families, community organizations strengthened as right holders and Municipalities with improved capacities as public servants and duty bearers to jointly identify needs to plan gray and green water infrastructure for water management, health, land use planning, municipal development plans and disaster risk prevention to improve food availability/production, food security, resilience, climate change adaptation and women participation and decision making. 3. Strengthened capacities at ministries and municipal officials, members of the development councils, food security and nutrition commissions and National Coordinator for risk disaster prevention - CONRED coordinators, to perform their legal responsibilities as duty bearers, activate public policy in territories and improve dialogue with right holders to design and present investment proposals for development councils for food security and nutrition, water security, climate change adaptation and resilience.

Objectives

The program aims to improve the food security and nutrition of families and communities in 7 micro-watersheds of Jalapa and Chiquimula in the Dry Corridor of Guatemala. The improvements will be achieved through the promotion of sustainable use of natural resources (water, forest, and soil), integrated water management and increased resilience capacities for climate change adaptation. The implementation includes the promotion and improvement of local governance, gender equality and water security with special emphasis in women and children. The indigenous groups in the area are Ch´ortí´ in Chiquimula and Pocomán in Jalapa. FAO is lead agency, working in coordination in field with UNICEF, UNDP and WHO.

General

The Government of Uganda has made significant progress in developing legal frameworks, policies and programmes which respect, protect and promote human rights and empowerment of women and girls. Progress, however, often remains at the policy level with implementation on the ground lacking behind due to inadequate capacity or priority in government institutions. As a result, women in Uganda continue to be marginalized and experience discrimination in in all spheres of life. Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) constitutes another major obstacle to gender equality as well as to more overall development goals. Women have poor access to reproductive resources, and especially access to land and land tenure are areas of discrimination. Consequently, women struggle to access financial services including loans due to lack of collateral. Although 76% of Ugandan women are active in the labor market, women tend to concentrate in feminized occupations, clustering in low-value chains, part-time or informal employment. Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains another main obstacle to the empowerment of women with the prevalence and social acceptance of VAWG consistently high. In addition, the link between WEE and VAWG is becoming increasingly apparent in Uganda. A great part of the violence reported at household level is economically motivated, with peaks around harvest periods. In response to the above situation analysis, the development intervention will provide core support to UN Women Uganda to implement the first three years (2016-2018) of its Strategic Note 2016-2020 with a total contribution of 66.5 M SEK (22 % of the total 5 year Strategic Note budget, 36% of the budget for the three years covered by the Agreement). In line with UN Women’s Global Strategic Plan, the development intervention targets six programmatic result areas: 1) Women lead and participate in decision making at all levels; 2) Women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development, 3) Women and girls live a life free from violence, 4) Peace and security and humanitarian action are shaped by women’s leadership and participation, 5) Governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments and priorities, and 6) Global normative and policy framework for gender equality and women’s empowerment strengthened and implemented. In addition, the development intervention has a seventh result area on organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Objectives

The overall aim of the proposed development intervention is that “Women are empowered to lead, participate in, influence and contribute to national development.”To achieve this aim, the development intervention defines six result areas: 1) Women lead and participate in decision making at all levels. 2) Women, especially the poorest and most excluded, are economically empowered and benefit from development. 3) Women and girls live a life free from violence. 4) Peace and security and humanitarian action are shaped by women leadership and participation. 5) Governance and national planning fully reflect accountability for gender equality commitments and priorities. 6) Normative and policy framework for gender equality and women's empowerment strengthened and implemented.