In West Africa, as part of our commitment to Fairtrade cocoa, we have been funding Fairtrade Africa’s Women’s School of Leadership since 2017. The Leadership School is a training, mentoring and coaching programme that supports women and men to maximise their own potential and voluntarily take on leadership roles in their producer organisations and communities. The students are trained to become ambassadors for women’s leadership and gender equality and the programme has led to students carrying out community awareness sessions, establishing gender committees within their producer organisations and setting up additional income-generating activities. Since 2017, the project has positively impacted thousands of members of the communities in Côte d’Ivoire.
“I was not aware of my value as a woman, I was not aware of my potential.”
KOUAME AYA BEATRICE, ECAKOOG, Graduate of the Women’s School of Leadership