PROJECT PROPOSAL

Project Name: Rural Empowerment Initiative for Women and Youth

Location of the projet implementation : Musanze District in Cyuve Sector
Period of implementation : 12 Months
Project proposed budget : $ 20,000.00 USD

1. PROJECT SUMMARY
The Rwandan government is dedicated to promoting gender equality and women’s economic
empowerment. As a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the government has implemented various institutional
and policy measures to advance these objectives. Examples include the 2003 Rwandan
Constitution; the Revised National Gender Policy 2020; and policies addressing gender-based
violence. Furthermore, the government has demonstrated an increasing commitment to
supporting the social and economic empowerment of women and fostering gender equality
through continuous policy reviews, reassessment of priorities, allocation of sufficient financial
resources, promotion of women’s and youth participation in politics, and economic activities.
The first National Strategy for Transformation (2017-2024) incorporates a comprehensive
system of monitoring and evaluation at national, provincial, district and sector levels to assess
the government’s socio-economic performance in alignment with Rwanda’s long term
development goals outlined in Rwanda Vision 2020 and Vision 2050. National Strategy for
Transformation (NST) and vision 2050 are geared towards accelerating economic growth, with
the primary objective of propelling Rwanda towards upper middle-income status by 2035.
Financial inclusion is identified as one of the five key priority areas in achieving the National
Strategy for Transformation (NST1), which aims to generate over 1,500,000 jobs, equivalent to
214,000 jobs annually. It serves as a pivotal component in transitioning from Vision 2020 to
Vision 2050. Women are expected to play a significant role in realizing this vision; however, they
encounter challenges such as:
 low financial literacy skills
 limited financial capacities
 restricted access to loan from microfinance institutions or banks
 inadequate entrepreneurship and business management skills for income-generation
and food security.
Moreover, there are other challenges that hinder women and girls from actively participating in
sustainable development. These challenges include a lack understanding of the gender equality
concepts, such as gender sensitivity and resistance to behavior change, as well as societal
norms, power dynamics, and economic factors that restrict women from engaging in economic
activities.
Therefore, this project aims to create 100 jobs and build the capacity of 70 women and 30 out of
school youths by providing them with equal economic opportunities and autonomy. It also seeks
to promote gender equality and equity in Musanze District, particularly in our intervention sector
(Cyuve).
2. NEEDS ASSESSMENT

During the development of this project proposal, we conducted a quick assessment with local
authorities. additionally, the data used was sourced from National Institute of Statistics in
Rwanda (NISR) through Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey 2019-20 Final Report.

Financial inclusion gap

In Rwanda, there is a significant financial inclusion gap, particularly among women. Farmers in
Rwanda are predominantly women, comprising 78.8% of the farming population. Of these
women, 66.4% are engaged in subsistence agriculture, with 52% relying on it as their primary
source of income. A notable 24% of adult females in Rwanda solely depend on the informal
financial sector, while 14% (approximately 462,000 individuals) are financially excluded.
This exclusion, coupled with women limited financial capacities and skills, hampers their ability
to contribute to economic transformation, which is crucial for sustainable livelihood growth and
poverty reduction.
Women in Rwanda often lack the necessary capacities to engage with financial institutions, with
76% of women not owning a bankaccount due to insufficient or irregular income.
Women’s control over their cash earnings: only 23% of currently married women with cash
earnings report making decisions independently on how their earnings are utilized, while 67%
make such decisions jointly with their husbands. A mere 9% state that these decisions are
primarily made by their husbands. Additionally, 12% of married women earn more than their
husbands, 58% earn less, and 26% earn approximately the same amount. Four percent of
married women indicate that their husbands have no earnings. The proportion of women who
make joint decisions with their husband has remained relatively stable, ranging 66% to 67%
between 2010 to 2019-2020.
Ownership and use of bank accounts and mobile phones: 21% of women have a bank
account that they use, while 48% own a mobile phone. Among women who own a mobile
phone, 80% use it for financial transactions.

Gaps in the youth in Rwanda have identified

The definition of youth in Rwanda youth was initially individuals aged from 14 to 35 years before
2015. However, the new national youth policy has revised the youth age range to be 16 to 30
years. The Government of Rwanda has prioritized job creation and self-employment for the
youth. The total youth population in 2016/17 was 3,165,000, with the youth population (16-30
years) accounting for 26.6% of the total population of Rwanda. Approximately 85% of the
population aged 16-30 years are literate, with literacy rates varying from 71.6% in the lowest
quintile to 93% in the highest quintile.
The overall, proportion of youth who are employed is 77.2%, with 16% being students. The
proportion of youth actively seeking work seven days before the survey was higher for females
(3.5%), compared to males (1.9%).
The majority of youth in wage work are employed in private sector (97.6%), while only a small
percentage (2%) work in the public sector. Additionally, a significant proportion of young people
work in agriculture, forestry and fishing as their main occupation (62.2%). The second common
source of main jobs both male and female youth is in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor
vehicles and motorcycles (10.2%).
To address youth unemployment, it is essential to encourage them to explore income-
generating opportunities in other sectors such as livestock, farming or running small businesses.

Gender equality and equity gap

Sustainable Development Goal Report 2022 emphasizes that recovering from COVID-19
involves advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. A key aspect of this
goal is ensuring that the allocation and spending of finances consider gender equality and
equity. The National Gender Policy aims to promote gender equality and prevent and respond to
gender-based violence (GBV).

The 2018-2024 MUSANZE District Development Strategy [DDS] identifies challenges such as
GBV hindering women’s participation in economic activities, which our proposed project aims to
address.

The report indicates that 30% of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older have
experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in
the previous 12 months, with specific breakdowns of physical violence at 19.7%, Sexual
violence at 10.3% and psychological or emotional violence at 23.6%. This data pertains to
women aged 15-49 who have ever been in a union.

Attitudes toward wife beating: According to the data, 50% of women and 18% of men agree
that a husband is justified in beating his wife in at least one of five specified circumstances.
Additionally, 65% of women and 39% of men justify wife beating in at least one of seven
specified circumstances. It is noteworthy that agreement with wife beating has significantly
decreased over time.

Participation in decision making: The statistics show that 68% of currently married women
participate in three specified household decisions, which include their own health care,
household purchases, and visits to their family or relatives. Conversely, 6% of women are not
involved in any of these decisions.

Reproductive health: The data indicates that contraceptive use and antenatal care, delivery
assistance, postnatal care, and child survival indicators are all higher among women with higher
levels of education.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJET

3. PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

In Musanze, 90% women and girls are employed in the informal sector, agriculture and small
businesses. Their significant presence in the informal economy results in low productivity,
meager earnings, and vulnerability to exploitation. This project aims to enhance their economic
empowerment, thereby benefiting their households and communities. Through this initiative,
beneficiaries will have access to microloan to develop their entrepreneurship skills, resiliency
and enhance their families’ self-sufficient. Additionally, it is expected to create over 100 jobs
opportunities.

According to Finscope gender and financial inclusion 2020, Rwanda in 2020 estimated
 total adult population (16 years and older) to be just over 7 million, of which 56% are
female (about 3.9 million)
 74% of women (2,9 million) in Rwanda mainly reside in rural areas
 53% of women (1,9 million) are relatively young- under 40 years of age
 75% Rwandan women/girls rely on low and irregular sources of income.
This initiative will address the identified priorities and work towards preventing all forms of GBV
by awareness campaigns on gender equality within the community, even after the project
concludes.
The project will achieve this by providing beneficiaries with training and expertise in financial
literacy and income-generating activity management, engaging them in horticulture and small
livestock farming, and facilitating their connection to the market. The primary objective of the
project is to enhance the livelihoods of the beneficiaries and improve their access to financial
products or services.
This project aims to contribute to the 5th and 8th Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It is
intended to promote gender equality and equity, as well as decent work and economic growth.
The project will provide women and girls with access to resources, skills, and networks to help
them achieve financial independence and contribute to economic growth within their
communities. In brief, it seeks to enhance the business environment for women and promote
gender equality and equity through public awareness campaigns on GBV Prevention and
Response. This will involve engaging men, local government authorities, opinion leaders, and
community-based structures to bring about a mindset change and promote positive masculinity,
fostering an environment free of discrimination and abuse.
The project is designed to offer young women and youth opportunities to participate in economic
and socio-cultural activities and contribute to community life. Additionally, it aims to facilitate
young women’s access to banking services and provide them with skills in areas such as
human rights and leadership to further promote gender equality and empower youth.

4. Project Direct beneficiaries :

 70 women vulnerable women

 30 youths out of school

5. Indirect beneficiaries include :

 Members of direct beneficiaries

 Individuals in the intervention area and the surrounding community
 30 Local leaders
 OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

6. The overall objective of the projet

The goal of the project is to promote financial inclusion for 70 Women and 30 youth who will be
organized into 5 VSLAs (voluntary saving and loan associations). The project aims to enhance
skills, productivity and income potential of today and tomorrow’s underserved women and youth
in rural areas, both in the present and future. This will be achieved by testing cost-effective and
scalable market-based solutions to strengthen micro-entrepreneurship opportunities and enable
them to improve their lives and that of their families.

The anticipated impact of this project is to empower women and youth with financial literacy and
entrepreneurship skills, providing them with access to suitable financial products and services to
enhance their yields. By strengthening their business and entrepreneurial skills, the targeted
women & youth will be able to establish connections with off-takers and access more rewarding/
lucrative markets. Socially, the targeted women will improve household nutrition, hea and
livelihoods, while also gaining self-confidence and self-esteem within the community. This
empowerment will enable them to take on more leadership responsibilities in their communities,
sharing their success stories.

This project will also raise awareness on the significance of gender equality and women's
empowerment, as well as promote social and behavior changes that support gender equality.
The project will play a significant role in preventing and combating Gender Based Violence
(GBV) against women and girls by enhancing women’s economic activities and providing them
with support services. Furthermore, it will enhance women's participation and leadership in
decision-making processes at all levels.

7. Specific objective of the projet

 Objective 1: Enhance the income of vulnerable women and marginalized youth by

empowering them to build a diverse range of assets and achieve their full potential.
 Objective 2: Foster positive attitudes and behavior towards gender equality and enhance
efforts in preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV).
Output 1.1
1.1: Provided financial literacy, organizational, managerial and entrepreneurial skills of 70
vulnerable women and 30 youth, enabling them to successfully initiate, expand, and diversify
their small businesses.
Critical activities
 Activity 1.1.1: Conducting a meeting with local authorities in Musanze district to
introduce the project and establish a collaborative framework.

 Activity 1.1.2: Conducting identification and selection of beneficiaries in 6 cells of Cyuve

sector

 Activity 1.1.3: Screening of 70 women & 30 youth to be direct project beneficiaries and
discuss their priorities.
  Activity 1.1.4: Conducting the training of 100 beneficiaries on financial literacy,
organizational, managerial & entrepreneurial skills and cooperative/ VSLAs management
 Activity 1.1.5: Grouping beneficiaries with the same interest into 5 VSLAs to begin to
learn financial accountability
 Activity 1.1.6: Conducting monitoring, follow up and coaching economic activities of 70
women & 30 youth supported
Output 1.2
1.2. Women & youth are linked to formal financial service providers for appropriate and
affordable financial services/products.
Critical activities
 Activity 1.2.1: Assessment of linkage readiness among the groups
 Activity 1.2.2: Opening SACCO (local co-operative)accounts by the groups and
providing them with the financial support
 Activity 1.2.3: Provide start-up capital as micro credit small loans (cash injection) to
start and run their small business and link them to markets for sustainability
 Activity 1.2.4: Convening regular dialogues between different stakeholders around
supporting access to formal financial services for saving groups
 Activity 1.2.5: Conducting follow up, mentorship and coaching

Output 2.1
2.1: Women and girls, men and boys at community level are mobilized in favor of respectful
relationships, gender equality and safety in public spaces

Critical activities
 Activity 2.1.1: Conducting a 2-days training of 30 local leaders on the prevention
&response of GBV and gender equality

 Activity 2.1.2: Raising awareness on GBV prevention & response, family planning in the
community in collaboration with local leaders using men existing platforms such as
community meetings (Inteko z’abaturage), family evening (Umugoroba w’ababyeyi) and
community works (Umuganda)
 Activity 2.1.3: Conduct advocacy meeting to enhance gender responsive business
environment and other issues affecting women in business
 Activity 2.1.4: Providing psychological support and legal aid services to people in needs
especially vulnerable women and youth

Expected Project Results

The capacity building of women and youth on financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills will
results in increased of livelihood conditions and linkage to financial services and potential
market. Some of the tangible results include:
 5 groups (VSLAs) will be created and supported to operate as business clusters
 70 women and 30 youth will be empowered to develop agribusiness enterprises in
horticulture and small livestock value chains and small businesses
 70 women and 30 youth’s entrepreneurs will develop competitive business with potential to
create at least 40 employments (jobs) to others.
 70 women and 30 youth will have operational accounts and linked with financial services
and investment facilities (MFI’s and banks, BDF).

STRATEGIES WHICH WILL BE USED TO ACHIEVE RUSULTS

 Reinforcing existing Family Evening Discussions (Umugoroba w’Umuryango) and other

community platforms to prevent GBV and mitigate teenagers’ pregnancies;
 Education and awareness-raising: Conducting workshops and other educational
activities to raise awareness about GBV and gender equality.
 Community mobilization: Mobilizing community members to take action against GBV
and promote gender equality through community events, rallies, and other public events.
 Capacity-building: Building the capacity of local leaders and community members to
respond to GBV and promote gender equality through training, mentorship, and other
capacity-building activities.
 Engaging men and boys: Engaging men and boys in efforts to prevent GBV and
promote gender equality through workshops, peer education, and other activities.
 Economic empowerment: Supporting women's and youth economic empowerment
through training, access to resources, and other initiatives that increase their economic
autonomy and reduce their vulnerability to GBV.
 Raising public awareness: the campaign activities to raise awareness about GBV and
promote gender equality include radio programs, and community dialogues.
Environment and climate change
Apart from the business-related skills and knowledge that we transfer to our project
beneficiaries, we envisage a range of activities aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability in
homes, schools, communities and in their own areas of work. These activities shall involve
sensitizing women on the importance of environmental protection, more particularly on planting
fruit trees, sensitizing other members of their respective communities, members of their own
families and their fellow business ladies and gentlemen.

8. Indicators to measure the impact of the project

 70 hundred women and 30 youth are empowered to live lives free of GBV, and will be
lifted out of poverty,
 2000 community members are aware of gender equality and equity and their attitudes
are transformed,
 70 women and 30 youths’ economic capacity is strengthened and have stable and
decent jobs are linked up to markets.
9. Specific Indicators

 5 farmer groups will be created and supported to operate as agribusiness clusters

 70 women and 30 youth will be empowered to develop small business enterprises and in
small livestock value chains
 40 additional jobs will be created
 100 vulnerable people will be provided with psychological support and legal aid services
 30 local leaders will be trained on prevention & response of GBV and gender equality

10. Implementation mechanisms

This project will be implemented in one year divided in 6 stages: 1) recruitment/identification in

the first month; 2) assessment of women & youth interests and resources in the first month; 3)
training to beneficiaries in the second month; 4) connecting them to a workforce opportunity, for
more productivity in third month, 5) provision of start-up capital/ cash injection in the third month
6) mentoring, coaching and monitoring and evaluation for the last months.
PREFER will lead the identification of beneficiaries in collaboration with local leaders. 70 women
and 30 youth will be selected in Cyuve sector of Musanze District and will be grouped into 5
VSLAs composed of 20 persons each group.

Before starting the training, we will conduct quick assessment to identify the key sectors offering
promising livelihood opportunities such as horticulture, small livestock and business (as well as
saturated markets), constraints in agriculture and those existing in businesses and trades, and
possibilities for creating new and upgrading existing micro-enterprises. After assessment
PREFER will update its modules which will be used during the training.

PREFER will provide a combination of skills needed to start and grow a business, including
financial literacy, business skills, and behavioral as well as life skills, among others. Those are
the component which will be covered during the training:
1.financial literacy workshops and training sessions for the 70 vulnerable women and 30 youth.
2.training on organizational skills to help them effectively manage their businesses.
3.managerial training to enhance their decision-making and operational capabilities.
4. entrepreneurship training to help them develop innovative business ideas and strategies.

After providing the training, PREFER will provide cash injection to 5 VSLAs to boost their
business, each group will be provided with the increment of two million (2,000,000) Rwandan
francs which will be used by the members of VSLA and refund it after one year without interest
in order to be used by other vulnerable women and youth in the next year. The stage also
includes coaching.

The final stage is monitoring and evaluation [M&E]. M&E will be largely conducted after stages
5.

1. Viability and sustainability of the project

PREFER as a community-based organization working at grassroots level, having good

collaboration and partnership with sector officials authorities in implementation of various project
we have implemented will help us identify right beneficiaries. After providing training we will
establish 5 VSLAs where each will be composed by 20 indivuduals. Together with Umurenge
Sacco those VSLAs will open account and start saving by themselves. After PREFER will
cooperate with Sacco to provide microloan to VSLAs where each group will be provided
2,000,000 million Rwanda francs as credit which will be refunded after one year with zero
interest. Additionally, we will conduct follow up and mentoring the economic activities done by
beneficiaries each month.
The direct project beneficiaries will receive financial education training, this allowing them to be
linked to formal financial institution. The proposed intervention will help women increase their
household’s income and will highly contribute to families’ improved livelihood including health,
nutrition, children education, clothes and housing. Levels of malnutrition will be reduced in rural
areas and women and youth will be more confidence and take up more leadership roles in their
groups and community.

Thus, those are approaches which will render the project sustainable, even after the funding.

DETAILED PROPOSED BUDGET