From the work that Challenges Uganda does with the Uganda Green Enterprise Finance Accelerator (UGEFA), it became clear that there was a low intake of women working in green businesses/companies. With this in mind, we partnered with SHORTLIST on The Women for Green Jobs project. Aimed at re-integrating women who have been out of work back into the job market and increasing the number of women working in the green energy sector.
The women took on internship-structured training that could help them be retained at the companies they are placed with and build on their skills to ensure they met the current job market demands - the project aimed at attaining the following objectives.
• Job creation for the participants.
• Businesses have a pull of talent that hasn’t been utilized before.
• Skills building for the participants to create their businesses.
• Employability skills transferred to enable participants to find work after placement.
A key part of this project was matching the career goals of the interns with the business goals. This approach aimed to boost motivation and engagement, enhance learning and skill development, improve retention rates, and elevate overall performance.
Overall, the project attracted and worked with 16 renewable energy sector companies, including
4 x solar companies
8 x companies under clean cooking
2 x under waste management
1 x under recycling
1 x company under forestry
In the below videos, we hear from participating companies and women who benefited from the project.
Key Achievements
Placements:
30 x two-month intern placements were offered in the green sector
Employability Knowledge andExpectation Alignment:
27 women interns reported improvedemployment-related knowledge and skills, making them job-ready.
One intern successfully applied the skills acquired through the internship to secure a job within 5 weeks after her placement ended.
18 participants expressed that the placement fully aligned with their career goals, interests, and aspirations.
Improved Perceptions:
11 businesses demonstrated improved perceptions regarding the abilities of women to run and manage their businesses. Demonstrating improved abilities to manage, train, and onboard women to support operating their businesses.
Jobs Created:
16 jobs (including self-employed) were created.
