YONECO has embarked on an exercise which is aimed at strengthening Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) in Rumphi district as a way of enhancing economic capacities of the youth and women.
Among other things, women’s dependency on men has greatly led to increases incidences of various forms of Gender Based Violence (GBV). On the other hand, young people easily fall prey to traffickers due to nonexistence of income generating activities. Further to this, boys and girls have failed to make appropriate decisions on issues that concern their Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH). Consequently, there have been increased cases of unattended pregnancies, child marriages as well as increased prevalence rate of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among the youth.
One of the groups which have been reached with the intervention is Taonga VSLA which is comprised of 15 women. The group was formed within Mlongoti community in the district.
The chairperson for the group expressed her optimism that members of the group will be able to enhance the economic welfare as the training made them aware of the importance of saving, investing as well as some basic business management skills.
