NAWARA - Women Centers for Development in Rural Tunisia

In January 2011, the people of Tunisia protested, using slogans such as “Employment! Liberty! Dignity!” The Jasmin revolution started in the poorest, western regions of the country. The people demanded employment and a decent living. Despite this uprising, unemployment, poverty, regional inequalities, and high centralization of resources have increased since 2011. Women suffer more under economic deprivation, while advances in gender equality are linked with advances in development. Therefore, empowering women as economic actors who take part in production and consumption can contribute to the development of rural Tunisia. The project proposed to do that by positioning women as agents of change for their individual and collective good through rural development centres, offering educational and income-generating programmes for women. The educational programmes include literacy, entrepreneurship and living skills programmes, while the income-generation programme is centred around producing halfa products, clay products and biogas along with recycling. The first NARAWA centre in Sidi Smail will have all the machinery needed for the production of goods as well as a space for educational activities. The goal of the project is to have all production and educational programmes fully functional within three years.