FOCUS AREA
Economic Empowerment
Everyone has the right to a self-determined life
All people should have the opportunity to develop skills, find sustainable jobs, start businesses and earn a living.
Ten percent of the world’s population live in extreme poverty. Struggling to survive every day, these people live on a daily income of less than $1.90.
Through our initiatives, many people in East Africa get a chance to escape poverty and to become part of an emerging middle class.
With a sustainable and growing income, families can afford a better living standard. They can also contribute to a socially inclusive and economically thriving local community.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Our engagement is organized into two initiatives:
Enterprise development
Together with our partners, we run professional training and coaching models for people in rural areas of Eastern Africa to establish profitable and sustainable farming businesses. While the program initially teaches basic skills for running a small enterprise, it also organizes farming businesses into larger co-operative structures in order to reap greater economic benefits. The initiative also drives advocacy for infrastructure investments by local governments as well as public investments in farming education.
Vocational training
We are developing a vocational training system in construction-related jobs which will equip the young generation with skills required for the market. Through new public-private partnerships between local companies and their associations, as well as training institutions and their regulators, we are providing practical education needed in the construction industry. This should lead to projects having a ‘lighthouse effect’ and achieving systemic educational change in East African countries.
Read more about our projects
Entrepreneur training, Kenya and Tanzania
My future in Bosnia
Decentralized nurse training, Zambia
TAKING CONTROL OF ONE’S OWN DESTINY
“When you have knowledge and skills, you can lead an independent life.”
If you want to learn more about how the Hilti Foundation is helping families in rural East Africa to create economic success by themselves, or how younger generations living in cities can develop professional skills needed by the market, please follow our story of Economic Empowerment.
