Mathari children fund plans to scale up our proven model for teenage mothers' economic empowerment through vocational and life skills training. Over the next three years, we plan to increase our beneficiaries from the current 60 to 120 annually. Our target beneficiaries hail from the Mathare informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Our transformative approach equips vulnerable teenage mothers with skills, resources, and chances for their economic independence.
Teenage pregnancy among girls aged 15-19 has been a key concern in Kenya, with an estimated one in five teenage girls being pregnant or having already given birth. Teenage mothers hailing from informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya are faced with financial constraints, rejection, and stigma due to the pregnancy. At a minor age, they have responsibilities to care for themselves and their babies This puts them at higher risk of early marriages, sexual exploitation, and gender-based violence.
The program proposes to equip 180 teenage mothers with vocational technical skills in garment making and cosmetology as well as life skills. After the training, teenage moms who will have attained working age will be connected to career prospects at the garment-making export processing zone (EPZ) and beauty sectors where MCFPanairobi has a memorandum of understanding. Teenage moms under the age of 18 will be given seed capital to start micro-enterprises in garment-making and cosmetology.
The project will train 180 teenage mothers on vocational-technical and life skills that will transition them from having little power, voice, and choice to having the abilities, resources, and opportunities toward their economic independence. This will enable them to take care of themselves and their babies. Further, the project will restore hope, dignity, and resilience that will contribute to building their agency as young women.
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