Purple Innovation trains over 40 GBV survivors for self reliance.

There is hope that over 40 women alleged to have survived from Gender Based violence from T/A Chindi in Mzimba will now become self reliant through an entrepreneurship training initiative they have recently gone through in the district.

The development has transpired following a Purple Innovation for Women and Girls (PIWG) day long meeting the organization held with the victims in one of the areas it is implementing it’s project of late aimed at curbing the malpractice.

Speaking in an interview after one of the meetings they conducted with the gender based violence victims in Mzimba south, the project officer for PIWG Rhodah Ng’ambi said they are training women on how to write business proposals that would be ideal to solicit funds from the donor community which could later on be used as financial resources to start small scaled business and being able to refund after 6months then also benefitting other associations with the same finances.

She said, “we are eager to offer them 700 thousand kwacha if at all their business plan is convincing, that’s why we are equipping them with business plans and how they can run their business in their respective entrepreneurship hubs”.

Making her sentiments, one of the beneficiaries Towera Chipeta describe the training as significant since they lack entrepreneurship skills and knowledge as a result their business will likely be elevated.

‘Whatever we have been trained of today is essential to us because it will assist us to develop a good business proposal in order to obtain funds and this will make our business grow as far as profit making is concerned.” Explained Chipeta.

On the other hand, Mzimba District Gender Officer Naomi Mwale commended PIWG for training GBV survivors on how to run their own businesses saying that the initiative will contribute towards the women in sustaining their families.

Mwale said, “these women are very lucky because PIWG is providing them with finances for entrepreneurship in which the money will instill them in Traditional Authority (TA) thereby benefiting other GBV survivors.”

“It is a seed money that all women entrepreneurs who are GBV survivors will benefit from, and it is a good development that they will receive almost 700 thousand kwacha this time around “she further explained.

Meanwhile, PIWG is one of the NGO’s that is currently being funded by the Spotlight Initiative in the move to curbing GBV in Mzimba district of TA Chindi and Nkhatabay in TA Kabunduli ,under a two year Wukani End Violence against Girls Project with support from the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund through UN Women in Malawi.