By Brian Wasili

Mwanza, December 18, Mana: A joint delegation of the European Union (EU) and Ireland has expressed satisfaction with the progress registered by Mwanza District Council and its partners in the implementation of the Social Protection for Gender Empowerment and Resilience Gear project being supported by the EU and Ireland.

The delegation expressed their satisfaction through EU Head of Cooperation and Delegation, George Dura, during a joint visit with Irish Embassy and UNICEF to Mwanza District recently.

The visit was aimed at monitoring the project’s activities on provision of social protection and access to social services to vulnerable households and children which is being supported by UNICEF and implemented by FIND Your FEET in collaboration with Mwanza District Council.

“We are grateful and particularly pleased with what we have been told by district council officials during a courtesy call on their commitment and support provided towards implementation of the project in the district,” said Dura.

Dura said the delegation was further impressed by communities to notice that they were constantly engaged in multiple activities of the project such as training to acquire various skills, formation of village savings and loans (VSLs) groups, saying this will help transform people’s livelihoods in the district.

The project is being implemented in nine districts of Mwanza, Balaka, Chikwawa, Mulanje, Neno, Nsanje, Zomba, Ntcheu and Mzimba for three years until December 2026.

The project is expected to be expanded to other districts based on communities’ needs in a bid to transform livelihoods of the vulnerable households in those areas to desirable levels.

The project has two strategic objectives of resilience building that seeks to economically empower social cash transfer programme (SCTP) beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries through gender transformative VSL groups and access to social protection and services aimed at addressing gender based violence and sexual and reproductive health issues with linkages to SCTP.

Chairperson for Mwanza District Council, Emmanuel Kapawe, commended the project for the VSL component.

Kapawe observed that provision of cash transfers alone to the underprivileged could not be enough to change people’s livelihoods but the literacy skills provided could be helpful because they will be able to run businesses that could be sustainable and be economically empowered.

“What is happening here is impressive because the communities are giving testimonies of the positive impact on the basis that their life will improve and they will graduate from the current status so that other people could be enrolled into the project,” said Kapawe.

FIND Your FEET Programmes Manager, Sain Muskambo, attributed the successful implementation of the programme to the good working relationship existing between the organization and its partners.

In an interview Tipindule VSL group Chairperson, Patricia Kwalimba, said she is now able to provide her household with basic needs because she runs a small business which she started with money realized from savings as well as a soft loan.