About Us
What is the Mwazwe Foundation?
The establishment of Mwazwe Foundation - Mwazwe Skills Initiative Support is rooted in the definition of our name "Mwazwe" which means "Help" among the Mambwe and the Lungu people of Mbala and Mpulungu in the Northern Province of Zambia. The name has been the pillar of commitment towards underprivileged girls and women. The inspiration towards transforming their lives has been informed by research and interaction with institutions that support women and girls.
Illiteracy in Zambia
According to a study conducted by Frank Masanta Jr, a community leader and founder of Sun spring charity school in Lusaka-Zambia titled, "If you want to reduce gender inequality, schools are a good place to start. Zambia is a good example". Illiteracy is more common among women than men. Only slightly more than a quarter of Zambian women (25.7%) reached secondary level school education. The men's share is twice as high (44.2%). According to UN data, women’s labour-market participation was 78.3% in 2015. The comparative figure for men was 95%. About 51% of the population is female, but women only hold less than 12% of the seats in parliament.
Affiliation with the Gender Community
We acknowledge the great leadership by the women’s movement in Zambia and we have taken the pleasure to join the ranks of the Non-Governmental Gender Coordinating Council (NGOCC) through their affiliate member: the Zambia Alliance of women (ZAW). We have also made a commitment to collaborate with FAWEZA and CAMFED as key players and actors in the education of women and girls in Zambia.
Affiliation with the Education Community
The desire to help spread education was our first step in seeking constructive collaboration with other key stakeholders. Part of our partnership agenda is to ensure that we actively contribute to the strengthening of non-state actors in the education sector especially the skills sector category. The process of formalising our participation through the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) structures and technical working groups has improved.
