South Africa Women’s Empowerment

In partnership with Zimele, the lives of 700 women in South Africa are being changed. Zimele’s mission is to empower women living in abject poverty with the skills, resources, and support networks to start their own businesses and social service projects to sustain themselves and strengthen their communities.

Three phases of community development are designed to bring holistic transformation in the lives of the women and their communities. In the first phase, women work in small groups to build their life, business, and management skills to successfully operate their own businesses. In the second phase, women pool their resources and work together to address critical community needs by starting larger scale business projects, such as community agriculture and craft marketplaces, and social service projects that serve marginalized populations, such as orphaned children and HIV/AIDS victims. In the third phase, women create a conglomerate to advocate for social, economic, and healthcare reforms in their communities such as equal rights for women and greater access to clinical care.

Through this proven community development program model, Zimele is creating long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty that can be replicated and scaled in communities throughout South Africa.

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