Current Projects

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A core area of focus for Women’s Organisation for Rural Development (WORD) is the promotion of sustainable agriculture among farming communities to create sustainable livelihoods, improve soil health and the environment and contribute to the overall wellbeing of all living things. 

The project, which is planned to last for 12 months, will reach 50 Dalit women living across five villages in Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu. Participants will attend training in sustainable horticulture methods utilising indigenous crops. They will attend intensive training sessions, field demonstrations and farmer field schools. Indigenous seeds will be distributed include okra, aubergine, chilies, gourds and greens. They will also be provided with organic farm inputs including herbal pesticides, crop tonics and fertiliser. There will also be seed collection sessions so that farmers can create their own seed banks for future use and to share with other farmers. 

The participants of this project already own small plots of land, around a quarter of an acre which will enable them to implement the training in sustainable agriculture they have received effectively. For many participants, this land is being underutilized to raise cattle or other grazers rather than grow profitable crops. This project will empower the women to invest in the health of the soil to cultivate a sustainable income from their land. 

Women’s Organisation for Rural Development (WORD) was founded in 1991 by group of social workers who were followers of Mahatma Gandi and Vinoba Bhave, pioneers of the Bhoodan Movement to distribute excess land owned by landowners to the landless labourers. WORD focuses on women empowerment, enabling women to become socially and economically empowered.

WORD strive to empower small and marginal farmers with economic aid, sustainable and eco-friendly agricultural techniques and practices. Encouraging farmers to collect, preserve, store seeds, especially indigenous seeds, and share seeds and expertise with fellow farmers. Enabling grassroots women, adolescents, youth to acquire employable individuals in future and create them as micro level business entrepreneurs. Ending all age-old practices, customs against women, children.

 Through a behaviour change approach, EMAC strives to empower vulnerable women and young girls to make informed choices about their sexual reproductive health, and address gender-based violence such as female genital mutilation (FGM), aiming to create a supportive and informed community. 

The project has three main aims:

· To increase awareness of both FGM and gender-based violence through community engagement. 

· To increase access to sexual and reproductive health services.

· To improve psychosocial support services. 

The project aims to initiate changes in attitude, beliefs, and practices surrounding sexual and reproductive health at individual and community level through a comprehensive cross-generational approach; targeting traditional community leaders and elders, midwives and healthcare workers as well as Traditional Birth Attendants, and school champions who will receive peer-to-peer training. Through a cross-generational approach that reinforces the same messaging through multiple outreach programmes, EMAC will create lasting change in attitudes in the community. The aim of implementing this approach is not only to change the behaviours but also to ensure the individual and communities reached sustain the positive behaviours and advocate for them to other individuals and communities. 

There will be 130 participants reached over the 12-month project cycle. 

EMAC envisions an empowered community focusing on supporting rural poor women socially and economically, to be able to attain respect and participate in decision making at different levels. EMAC fights for rights of girls and women in rural areas denied by multiple forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and stigma. Women and girls are denied access to sexual reproductive health Rights. To address these issues EMAC has been working with gender-based violence-police desk and traditional leaders to address Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, early pregnancy and improving access to sexual reproductive health in Simanjiro District since 2013. EMAC works with school children and women in the community to advocate for proper Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).

ACWW last funded EMAC in 2019 awarding a grant of £4,600 for their project Introducing an Alternative Rite of Passage to Combat Female Genital Mutilation in Tanzania which also tackled the issue of FGM in Simanjiro District. The project created structures that enabled young girls and women to access rights and make informed decisions concerning their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. The project goal was to create awareness to nomadic communities through capacity building to peer educators who became the champions of the project, community and religious leaders, Morans (young Maasai men), TBAs and police officers from GBV desk. The involvement of traditional leaders known as Laigwanan led to the initiation of Alternative Rights of Passage ceremonies without subjecting young girls to genital cutting. 

The Dodoma region in Tanzania faces a critical issue with high school-dropout rates, with 13,208 primary and 8,846 secondary school girls dropping out in 2022 (Basic Education Data, 2022). Traditionally, girls who became pregnant or were truant were barred from continuing their education. However, the new Tanzania 2022 School Dropout Re-entry Guideline now allows these girls to re-enroll. Despite this policy shift, significant barriers to re-enrolment persist.

This project addresses the challenge of school dropouts due to adolescent pregnancy and truancy in Kondoa district. It aims to facilitate the re-entry of these girls into the education system and provide alternative pathways, including vocational education and skills training. The project will conduct monthly awareness-raising campaigns to encourage school re-entry for out-of-school girls in Kondoa District. It will implement a School and Community Partnership strategy to identify dropouts and facilitate their return to education. The vocational education and skills training for beneficiaries will act as an alternative pathway for those less likely to respond well to their return to formal education and will be supported by financial literacy training, access to start-up capital, and loans including local government interest-free loans available for women and girls. By tackling these barriers, the project seeks to empower adolescent girls and young women, improve their educational and economic opportunities, and contribute to overall community development.

The main aims of the project are:

- To empower women and young girls for economic independence

- To promote access to quality education

- To promote and improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in communities

- To advocate for women and girls’ rights in the context of gender-based violence

- To promote and enhance community knowledge, understanding and appreciation of nature, encouraging active participation in environmental conservation. 

Reaching the Unreached Tanzania is dedicated to addressing public health issues, particularly sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues, and promoting access to justice in Tanzania. The organisation was established in 2014 by a group of passionate public health specialists to make a tangible impact on the lives of at-risk populations particularly adolescent girls and young women. They aim to create change by translating their public health knowledge into practical solutions.

This project follows the previously funded “Strengthening Skills of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Advocates for SRHR”. Implemented in 2021, the goal was to improve comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) information and services to adolescent girls and young women in Iringa and Dodoma regions in Tanzania. 

The project's primary focus was on strengthening the capacity of adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years to take frontline positions in campaigning and advocating for their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. The initiative encompassed comprehensive training including continuous mentorship and skills-building sessions supplemented by ongoing guidance and skill development sessions, all aimed at facilitating the empowerment of adolescent girls and young women to lead SRHR advocacy and campaign initiatives in their respective communities to address different barriers for them to access SRHR services and information.