Rural Women at the Heart of New Enterprise Drive
A month-long Women’s Livelihood Accelerated Training Program opened this week in Juba, promising 280 rural entrepreneurs the tools and capital to turn ideas into income.
Run by peace-building NGO WHITAKER with Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and Skinny Dipped backing, the initiative carries the banner ‘Empowering Rural Women through Training and Business Support’.
Curriculum Blends Skills and Seed Capital
Participants study business planning, marketing, budget control and proposal writing before pitching ventures to a grant committee.
Those presenting viable concepts receive cash injections meant to launch or expand micro-enterprises in agriculture, retail or services.
Partners Stress Innovation and Digital Jump
SDC program manager Larissa Beutler urged women to ‘go beyond traditional models and explore digital systems that open new markets’.
Deputy Country Director Gama Hassan told trainees that diligence, punctuality and curiosity would magnify the benefits of WHITAKER’s mentorship long after certificates are awarded.
Government Pledges Ongoing Backing
Central Equatoria’s Trade Minister Stephen Lado called female empowerment ‘an economic necessity’ and signaled support for a future Women Enterprise Centre to broaden access to finance.
Governor adviser Mariam Aguli Alex highlighted women’s centrality to national recovery, urging graduates to reinvest profits locally.
Cohort Three: Scaling Impact Across Central Equatoria
The third intake gathers women from Terekeka, Juba and Torit, including entrepreneurs with disabilities, reinforcing the program’s inclusive ethos.
Graduates will join earlier cohorts who already report stronger household incomes and greater decision-making power, according to WHITAKER.
With donor partnerships secured and state officials on board, organizers aim to replicate the model across South Sudan’s ten states in the coming years.