In Sokodé area - capital city of the Central Region and second Togolese town in term of demography with 100,000 inhabitants - 80% of people is employed in agriculture. Irrespective of the potential availability of cultivable lands, the territory is characterized by an effective scarcity of sown grounds; there are not workers due to their high wage and farmers are then forced to count on their families’ help causing, among other things, a low education rate (60%). Furthermore, as farmers do not have access to formal credit and due to unpredictability which characterize harvests, they borrow money at exorbitant interest they often repay in kind, which cause them to be in perpetual debt and experience famine when repaying money. The pilot project for supporting the self-promotion of 200 women of the rural communities in Kaboli, Mazada and Toukoudjou - eastern part of the Central Region, 50 km far from Sokodé - is carried out by GSI ITALIA in collaboration with OCDI – Organisation de la Charité pour un Développement Intégral – Caritas Togo. The general objective is to provide the 200 beneficiaries with the tools, both practical and theoretical, to establish a network of entrepreneurs in view of a future sustainable development and mutual support.

Thus, the programme is split into two specific objectives: a) credit and b) agricultural production.

 a) Credit. The specific objective is to provide the beneficiaries with easier access to credit therefore enhancing the management of economic activities and meeting their families’ needs.

The expected results are the following: 1. knowledge and consolidation of microcredit systems; 2. easier access to savings/credit. The main activities are as follows: 1. definition of credit policy; 2. study to identify the 200 beneficiary women (divided into 20 groups) which are already employed in agriculture and desire to turn their current job in their main business; 3. training on access to funds and on management of the credit cycle; 4. filling-in / evaluation of credit application; 5. repayments and monthly deductions.

b) Agricultural production. The specific objective is to make the beneficiaries entering the agricultural supply chain so that to increase their income. The expected results are the following: 1. better understanding of production management techniques applied to agriculture; 2. support and strengthening of the income-generating activities. The main activities are as follows: 1. analysis of the current agricultural production, identification of new facilities and study on their productivity; 2. training on production and financial management of income-generating activities; 3. establishment/strengthening of the 20 groups’ access to commercial markets. The target groups are: 200 rural women residing in Kabali, Mazada and Toukoudjou irrespective of their faith and social class. The final beneficiaries are: 2,000 members of the beneficiaries’ families.

The intervention has been planned on the ground of several meetings GSI ITALIA and AEDF - Association El Emane pour le Développement de la Femme - held with potential target groups, local associations and institutional subjects. From the meetings above, the potential beneficiaries asked for a strengthening of local NGOs’ skills in the fields of equal chances and man vs. women rights for the latter full social success.

Currently, in Morocco and particularly in the Marrakech region – the area chosen to carry out the action – women are not economically free and cannot access the opportunities men have; this background is confirmed by literature published by international institutions among which there is the Human Development Report by UNDP, which states that the Women’s Participation Index is equal to 0.318 (Morocco is 104th out of 109 countries which were analysed in 2009). If we consider the Marrakech Tanssift Al Haouz region, the index falls to 0.297.

The UNDP ends the report by stating that the inequalities in gender and relationships represent two of the main obstacles to the full development of Morocco and the Marrakech region more specifically. The general objective of the 2-year project is the socio-economic success of women within the Morocco society so that they can contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal no. 3. The specific objective is to strengthen local actors operating in the promotion of women’s rights in the 5 villages of the Oudaya – a Marrakech territory – though enhancing their skills and establishing a regional network.

The expected results are the following:

1. strengthening of knowledge of 15 local NGOs so that to guarantee the provision of services to discriminated/abused women;

2. improvement of their skills in performing public campaigns on gender issues;

3. improvement of their skills in promoting, implementing and monitoring small income-generating activities and informal microcredit systems; 4. establishment of a network to promote a future sustainability and replication of the achievements.

The main activities are as follows: - result no. 1 – training courses focused on provision of legal consultancy / psychological support to discriminated/abused women; provision of the services above through a polyvalent centre by AEDF; - result no. 2 – training courses on how to perform public campaign; organization of events in the 5 villages; - result no. 3 – training courses on the promotion of small income-generating activities and informal microcredit systems; identification of 20 groups which will benefit from technical training on both subjects; promotion, implementation and monitoring of the income-generating activities and informal microcredit systems by the target group; - result no. 4 – networking between the 15 local NGOs involved in the project; training courses on how to strengthen their skills in organizing/implementing public activities, research for financing, identification of new proposals, improvement of the intervention visibility in the territory and lobbying actions. The direct beneficiaries are: 150 members of 15 local NGOs; 1,800 abused/discriminated women who will receive the planned services; 500 women involved in training on income-generating activities and informal microcredit systems ; 5,000 inhabitants of the 5 villages who will take part in the public campaigns. The indirect beneficiaries are: at least 10,000 inhabitants of 5 villages in the Oudaya region.

The project, implemented by GSI ITALIA in collaboration with the local NGO El Hombre Sobre la Tierra, promotes food safety and craftsmanship/tourism in favour of Maya population residing in the Campeche state (Mexico); the activities are mainly carried out in the town of Calkini and in the nearby villages (the poorest ones) of S. Nicola, Santa Maria, Pucnachen, Tankuché, Chunhuás, Xkakoch, San Antonio Sahcabchén and Tepakán. The intervention is intended to improve living conditions of about 300 women - and the ones of their respective families - which are exposed to extreme poverty caused by their husbands' death, mainly due to alcohol abuse, and by the difficulties they encounter in finding a job or starting up a business so that to meet their needs in terms of food, health and education. Through the organization of training course, the programme is able to provide beneficiaries with practical and theoretical tools which may be used to enhance their food safety and generate income though small businesses in the agriculture, craftsmanship and tourism fields; as far as agriculture is concerned, the 300 target women involved learnt sustainable techniques and started up businesses that, through marketing in the Fair trade circuits, guarantee an income increase and a better economic diversification. They are also trained in the fields of savings, formal/informal credit and sale so that to acquire a better understanding of these processes and guarantee a progressive growth of their income. At this end of the 3-year project, the following outcomes are expected: 1. strengthening of food safety for 300 women and respective families through specific training and support to agricultural production of biological food; 2. an increase in average income as 150 women will be supported in agricultural production, 50 will be trained on services for sustainable tourism and will see their chances to get a job improved and 100 will make handmade products destined to be sold; 3. a higher self-esteem and more power when taking decisions for their families and communities.