Panafrican News Agency

COVID-19: UNDP, Congo sign deal to revive women's income-generating activities

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Congolese Ministry for Integration of Women in Development on Tuesday signed an agreement in Brazzaville to support women, whose Income generating activities collapsed during containment of the coronavirus pandemic.


The agreement was concluded by Minister Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, and UNDP Resident Representative Maleye Diop.


"The project will involve 100 women from the districts of Brazzaville in its pilot phase," said Arlette Baku, director general for the integration of women in development.

 

During two months of confinement, women entrepreneurs in the informal sector found themselves in heightened vulnerability, she said, explaining that the just signed agreement aims to pull these women out of this predicament by reviving their activities.


The UNDP official said, "this initiative is a way to support the Congolese government in the response to COVID-19 and in the process of reversing the related consequences."

 

It pilot phase which begins in Brazzaville could be extended to other departments of the country, he said.


Mikolo appealed to beneficiaries of the project to make good use of the funding that will be made available to them to revive their income-generating activities. "The management of funds will depend on the continuation of this support," said  Mikolo.


The Congolese government plans to support the informal sector, which was badly damaged during the confinement period, making the actors of this sector more vulnerable.


The Congolese government's initiative does not prevent partners from making their contribution to get out of the rut. It is therefore in this sense that the agreement between the UNDP and the government is registered, through the minister in charge of the Integration of Women in Development.
-0- PANA MB / BEH/KND/AR 30June2020