Kwithu Women's Group

Combating youth unemployment and improving access to education.

Over 60% of the population of Mzuzu, Malawi, live in unplanned settlements and 34% of families live on less than $1.25 a day. As a result, many children are unable to complete their education; less than one-in-five of children aged 14-17 are attending secondary school.

Kwithu Women’s Group is a vibrant community centre in Mzuzu’s Luwinga Ward that runs a programme to support vulnerable and HIV-affected children and families through programmes that focus on improving nutrition and access to education, enhancing women and youth empowerment and HIV awareness.

In response to the high youth unemployment rates in their community Kwithu used a previous grant from Egmont to establish an in-house certified vocational skills training programme.

Today, Egmont is supporting 360 young people who been unable to complete their education to train with Kwithu in bricklaying, carpentry, food production or tailoring, equipping them with the skills to set up their own businesses or get jobs locally and pursue financial independence.

In addition, with Egmont funding, Kwithu is also supporting 51 vulnerable children from their programme to attend secondary school and an additional 10 from their programme to undertake vocational skills training in areas currently not offered by Kwithu.