On 9^th June 2009, SNV Rwanda and UNIFEM signed an agreement to strengthen gender equality and economic empowerment of women through public, private and civil society organisation partnerships. This agreement will focus on:

• promoting partnerships between relevant development partners, government ministries, private sector organisations, civil society organisations and women entrepreneurship, and their increased participation in the economy
• strengthening capacity of women entrepreneurs to access markets and add value to their product
• strengthening the technical capacity of women associations, civil society organisations and gender advocates to engage with Rwanda’s Economic Development Poverty Reduction Strategy
• providing financial support to conduct study on feminized poverty for the formulation and development of priority interventions

These activities will focus on the women in the beekeeping and coffee value chains in Rwanda.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Jean de Matha Ouedraogo, Country Director for SNV Rwanda and Ms. Josephine Odera, Regional Director for UNIFEM.  

The initiative is jointly funded on equal basis. SNV will provide technical advice while UNIFEM will provide direct funding amounting to US$ 94, 643. The initiative will be implemented over a period of 17 months starting from 30^th July 2009 to 30^th December 2010.