Nambula Buchiro Women Group

• Facilitation of Partnerships

The Elavate Prize is an excellent opportunity for building networks and partnerships that are key for humanitarian operation and developing of a strong system capable of serving thousands and millions of marginalized and vulnerable widows globally.

• Funding and Fundraising visibility

The Elevate Prize will significantly enable The WApp Solution meet initial operational cost that include; Android, iOS design and serverside development, App store and google play submission and optimization. The Elevate Prize Funding is a great opportunity for visibility with potential donors and funding opportunities. 

• Technical security support and technological mentorship support

The Elevate Prize presents golden chance of meeting professional and/ technical team in Android and iOS development likely to support in feasible technical support and advise ensuring security risk management likely to affect development of Widows App.

• Role Models

Recognition of WApp Solution by The Elevate Prize will enable chances of
role models in balanced leadership where progressive widows are
recognized as role models in community contributing to gender-balance.

• Working platform to most marginalized and vulnerable widows globally

Will use part of Elevate Prize funding for supporting the most marginalized and vulnerable widows especially from most poorest countries.

Vision and purpose – Working toward opportunities that can change widows lives economically, mentally, physically, socially and spiritually by enabling them have access to resource management.

Supporting Nambula Buchiro Women Group – a widows community based organization in Busia County – Kenya. The CBO has 210 widows (30 sub groups with average of 7 members per group) 

Projected short term goals are;

• Promote, encourage and support integrated development activities among widows.
• Train and assist widows in acquiring entrepreneurship, managerial skills and equipping them with adequate information on starting small-scale business.
• Facilitate the initiation of community based projects that are acceptable, affordable and sustainable.
• Train widows in modern farming techniques, use of technology, health environment and culture farming planning.
• Train widows on networking skills, promoting online exchange programs that enhance product marketing services.
• Train widows on effective investment skills that promote proletariat investment to small scale holders.
• Train widows on the use of platform to promote their social welfare, advocacy and advance widows rights.

Anticipate long term goals include;

• Promote advance use of the WApp Solution technology including security features.
• Continuous training of widows in newly identified marginalized and un-reached communities on effective use of the WApp Solution in enhancing widows welfare.
• Enhance the use of WApp solution on promoting widows rights, advancing and ensuring safety and security of widows where WApp programme is already introduced.
• Enhance mutual understanding between all stake holders in the community based environmental education and community development projects.

Widows are among most vulnerable members of the society within our communities. Based on compilation of UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division) population data and analysis by Loomba Foundation in 2018, widows are over 258 million and currently over 14.8% languish in deep poverty. Whereas, social and legal protection systems discriminate against them, lifetime earnings and saving restricted. Forgetting that a widow on losing her spouse, she is involved with two struggles: in addition to overcoming her grief, she has to provide for herself and her family while surmounting enormous social and economic challenges.

WApp Solution is focused to solving:

• Technological Challenge – Lack of technological informative information among widows within communities, a major hindrance to development.
• Poor Agricultural and Farming Skills – Lack of knowledge and formal education among widows highly contributed to poor agricultural practices and farming methods.
• Poor micro-enterprise development and/ management Skills among widows contributing to high level of poverty.
• Lack of Community Based Projects and Community Networking.
• Lack of Community Development Skills and/ Connectivity – No provision and/ connectivity for widows within communities posing a major challenge for widows growth.
• Ignorance of Law  -  High level of ignorance of law on personal rights among widow.
• Illiteracy and lack of widows safety against cultural fundamentalism
• Poor Marketing Skills among widows. 
• Discrimination against widows

WApp Solution seek to bring together widows as a team working through identified small groups at a community level and sharing information on a single platform through a developed widows app and use of USSD support.

The WApp Solution is focused towards Widows online technological support, monitoring and evaluation of widow community based projects. A solution through which widows from different communities will be reached through a developed Widows App and use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD).

Through small managed widows groups of NOT more than seven (7) members, widows will be able to access either online or offline technological support through a developed widows App and use of USSD from any part of the community upon verification of widow(s) group through set-up security verification mechanism and registration protocols. As a group, the team will be able to access Widows App service through registered identification (password, user ID’s & link login). Services will be accessible globally, communities provided  a registered group has either;

• Smart phone to access Widows App on goggle drive or
• Any mobile phone that can be used to access USSD services.

Both services shall be made available online and offline for purposes of easy access by widows from remote communities. Services offered shall include;

• Agricultural products advertising/ marketing and/ selling
• Financial investment
• Legal support and/ advice
• Social welfare services including counseling
• Health services
• Education and/ Training services
• Emergency security support

The WApp solution highly targets on impacting community economic development as observed by UN Women that;

• Women economic empowerment is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality. Widows economic empowerment include their ability to participate equally in existing markets; access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time and meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels.
• Empowering women in the economy highly closes on gender gaps in the world of work which are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.
• Promoting the Economy. When more women work, economies grow. Widows economic empowerment shall boosts productivity, increasing economic diversification and income equality.
• Increasing women educational attainment contributes to women economic empowerment and more inclusive economic growth. Educating widows, up skilling over the life course – especially to keep pace with rapid technological and digital transformations are critical for widows well being, as well as their income-generating opportunities.

Not limited to but supporting Natural Resources Management Benefits that include;

• Technical and business skills for child widows to enhance their employment and entrepreneurship capacity.
• Access to business incubatory services - finance, entrepreneurial skills training and mentoring, advisory - and technical assistance for diversified businesses focusing on widows.