UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office Establishes New HeForShe Project in Eswatini

The Swaziland Network of Young Positives, supported by UN Women, recently implemented a new HeForShe project in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini. The project supports thirty Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) with a focus on economic empowerment. The project focuses on developing financial independence for AGYW and supports their peers with education and awareness on comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) and gender equality.

The project has already trained the AGYW on entrepreneurship and business management and has assisted them in developing their business plans. In addition, the AGYW are provided with seed capital of E5,700.00 per person to set up their businesses.

The project offers a comprehensive gender equality component where thirty Gender Champions have been trained to pioneer gender equality in dialogues with boys and men at the community level and in local bars.

The project has been implemented in three constituencies in Shiselweni Region and aims at ensuring that AGYW are empowered holistically and financially and can make informed decisions. The community leaders from the three constituencies fully support the initiative as they face high numbers of teenage pregnancies as well as high incidences of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and intimate partner violence.

As the project is being implemented, the UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office looks forward to seeing a decrease in GBV cases, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections with zero new infections. The team also looks forward to navigating the cultural norms where women and girls are not expected to speak on issues that pertain to them. Additionally, the team is eager to see an increase in the number of AGYW who are financially independent and run successful businesses.