In Niger, many girls are disadvantaged from birth due to imposed cultural and social norms. They are often discouraged from pursuing higher education, especially in fields like science and technology, which are perceived as exclusively male professions. This limits their career opportunities and future prospects.

The MAFITA Initiative (meaning "solution" in the local language) was created to empower young women to engage in research and implementation of solutions based on their needs and the challenges they face.

Through MAFITA, innovative young women aged 14 to 24 are encouraged to develop solutions to improve education, employment, and civic engagement. MAFITA aims to inspire and equip these young women with brilliant ideas, but who lack the resources to bring them to fruition. MAFITA is an opportunity for Niger to showcase its talent, richness, and diversity through the creative and innovative spirit of these young women eager to work towards the development of their respective communities.

MAFITA thus targets gender equality and gives young women the chance to work for the well-being of their communities by developing high-impact social projects using a human-centered design approach.

The initiative is being implemented in Zinder, a region plagued by the most virulent problems that hinder youth development and the empowerment of girls and women, in particular.

MAFITA is a project of UNICEF Niger in collaboration with the Nigerien Ministry of Youth and the Impact Consortium, led by makesense Africa, JVE Niger, and STRAT-CORE Plus. Through this project, we hope to engage and empower young women in the target communities to address the challenges facing their respective communities.

We will achieve this through a human-centered approach and the implementation of projects co-created with local populations, focusing on:

• Developing an entrepreneurial spirit;

• Promoting the socio-economic integration of young women;

• Creating a better world by addressing the challenges of their communities;

• Encouraging civic engagement among young women through social entrepreneurship; and

• Having a positive impact on communities.

Join us on the MAFITA adventure to support the integration of young women by writing to raphael.dade@makesense.org.

We look forward to sharing more about the program and its activities with you soon.