Since its proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, the International Day of Families has been celebrated every year in mid-May. It highlights the importance attached to the basic unit of society and identifies the problems faced by families worldwide. It is also an opportunity to highlight good practices of governments, NGOs and civil society in family policy.
One of the important topics addressed during this day is the emancipation of women in the home. This subject is particularly relevant in Africa, where the culture imposes on women a role that is still archaic: as the main labor force in the fields, they have to carry heavy loads (bundles of wood, water cans or baskets, piled on their heads) over long distances, on bad roads, often barefoot.
An effective solution to emancipate these women is found in the SfC (Saving for Change) trainings deployed by Morija in Chad and Burkina Faso for groups of women who are taught by facilitators to save regularly, to borrow from these savings funds and to repay their loans with interest. These EPC trainings create the possibility of emancipation by generating additional income that is indispensable to them, particularly for the schooling of girls.
