Empowering female domestic workers in Nyarugenge District.

Rapid Urbanization in Rwanda created a broad range of off farm job opportunities for youths and households, resulting therefore in the increased needs by Rwandan households living in cities to outsource domestic works. Domestic Work has the largest share of the informal employment in Rwanda and does constitute an important source of employment to the youths and especially female workers as more than 65% of domestic workers in Rwanda are UNEDUCATED OR LESS EDUCATED YOUNG WOMEN/GIRLS AGED BETWEEN 15YEARS AND 24 YEARS, COMING FROM VERY POOR FAMILIES IN THE RURAL AREAS OF RWANDA.

The low education level of domestic workers, informality, lack of social protection and exclusion from the national labor code are the main factors that make FEMALE DOMESTIC WORKERS EXTREMELY VULNERABLE.

This project seeks to provide a holistic approach to the modern-day slavery and unbearable working conditions and social isolation that female domestic workers face by providing a vocational training to two hundreds (200) female domestic workers employed in households of Nyarugenge District, one of the three districts that make up Kigali City, the capital of Rwanda; creation of their solidarity and financial schemes or cooperatives to end their social isolation, create their voice and representation and finally providing mentorship and advocacy in order to make domestic work for female youths SAFER, MORE DECENT AND REWARDING.

The main expected outcomes from the successful execution of the present project are numerous including the following:

• At least ten (10) leisure and sport clubs for female domestic workers in Kigali are created to improve their mental and physical well-being;
• 200 female less educated young domestic workers will be equipped with market relevant vocational skills, basic communication skills, other work-relevant skills.
• At least ten (10) solidarity and savings schemes for female domestic workers in Kigali are created to end their isolation and improve their financial well-being through group savings;
• At least a hundred seventy-five (175) trained female domestic workers register with Public Long-term savings national schemes such as EJO HEZA for retirement/old age or Rwanda National Investment Trust;
• At least a hundred seventy-five (175) trained female domestic workers open up bank accounts with local community financial institutions;
• Increased knowledge among trained female domestic workers on savings and the importance of working with local community financial institutions;
• Increased knowledge among trained female domestic workers on sexual and reproductive health;
• Collection of up-to-date information on the horrible working conditions that domestic workers in Rwanda are exposed to every day to serve as a basis for raising awareness and advocacy to government policy makers, i.e. working time, salary cuts, rest hours, paid leaves, occupational diseases and accidents, etc;
• Collection of up-to-date information on the characteristics of female domestic workers in Rwanda (Average Age, Educational Level, family economic categories, etc.);
• Collection of objective information on the average monthly wages of domestic workers in Rwanda;
• Collection of objective information on reasons that cause domestic workers in Rwanda to leave their families of origin and/or drop out of schools;
• Collection of objective information on the nature of abuses and harassment that female domestic workers in Rwanda are subjected to;
• Created solidarity and savings schemes for female domestic workers are well structured, functioning with strong leaderships through our mentorship programs.

The total costs for the present project are estimated at forty nine thousand USD ($49,000) and its duration is twelve (12) months. The total costs are broken down into four main categories of expenses: OPERATING COSTS $25,727 - TRAINING COSTS $15,588 - ADVOCACY COSTS $5,725 as well as CONTINGENCIES COST(4%) $ 1,960.