As time goes by, a number of problems surrounding reproductive health in Tanzania keep cropping up.
But from recent developments, challenges facing women as far as issues of maternal and reproductive health are concerned, can now be transformed into investment opportunities for the youth in Tanzania.
The Non-Government Organization of Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) is hatching a new and youth-oriented project aimed at empowering young women entrepreneurs to foster the creation of innovative businesses to that effect.
The DSW Project Manager, Winnie Muine explained here that they are launching the accelerator project known as ‘Power,’ in Tanzania, which is an acronym for ‘Providing Opportunities to Women in Entrepreneurship and Reproductive health.’
It is kicking off with a pilot project comprising 12 girls aged between 18 and 30 years.
This first cohort of participants has been picked from Dar-es-salaam City.
The candidates are getting trained on issues related to safe reproductive health and then eventually expected to come up with inventions and business plans for projects that will positively influence the supply and demand of family planning and sexual and reproductive health.
“We are also involving entrepreneurs who after going through the outputs from the youth, can bankroll the proposed projects to enable the youth to benefit from the initiatives while at the same time solving problems associated with reproductive health,” Muine added.
The DSW Power Project Coordinator, Peter Ally said the initiative will run for one year but in the end will touch and transform young women in Tanzania.
The first group picked from Dar-es-salaam region are being trained in Arusha, to come up with business ideas that will also solve problems related to reproductive health.
“There are those who have come up with special herbal ointments that help to relieve pain during the menstrual cycle; others have devised special nutrition formulas to help expectant or newly delivered women to regain blood and other vitamins as well as boost energy,” Ally explained.
The youth get trained for eight days then placed under a special incubation program for mentorship, after which they can come up with ideas, projects and business plans to demonstrate what they have been learning throughout the period.
One of the beneficiaries, Faustina Munisi from Dar-es-salaam, said they expect to be able to reduce or totally eradicate all diseases related to reproductive health.
“And as we solve these problems, we are also creating employment opportunities for the youth as well as educating the local communities,” stated Faustina.
On her part, Doreen Urio, another trainee, points out diseases and challenges arising from reproductive health are on the increase in Tanzania and it is high time the youth start taking the initiatives to address the problems.
POWER is a transformative initiative that aims to empower women entrepreneurs and foster the creation of innovative businesses that will positively influence the supply and demand of family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights information, services, and products.
By focusing on the intersection of entrepreneurship and start-up growth, reproductive health, and technology, the project is already achieving remarkable success even in its pilot phase, creating ambitious plans for further expansion.
The Power Project also aligns with Tanzania’s Vision 2025, which addresses key socio-economic and health challenges.