With support from OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie), JA Mauritius has concluded the 2022 JA ITS TYME program in Mauritius and Rodrigues, with a total of 115 female entrepreneurs completing the program. ITS TYME, which stands for Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalized Entrepreneurs, enhances the ability of marginalized people to acquire business skills and use innovative thinking to expand and enhance their career options and livelihoods.
The Program helped women entrepreneurs in vulnerable situations to become financially independent. In Mauritius, collaborations with 4 different partners: Entreprendre au Féminin Ocean Indien (EFOI) Mauritius, Mouvement d’Aide à la Maternité (MAM), Caritas and Action Familiale ensured that the most marginalized women were reached. The program materials were made available in French and Mauritian Creole to facilitate understanding of the lessons and also to increase interaction with the participants. In Rodrigues, JA Mascareignes collaborated with the Commission on Women, Child Development and Family Welfare. JA ITS TYME empowered the beneficiaries to turn their skills into businesses by focusing on tradable skills.
A beneficiary of the program said, “I felt very comfortable with the facilitators and I thank everyone who supported us. As a female entrepreneur, the program has helped me to rediscover myself, increase my self-esteem and get to know myself better. I have also improved my communication skills and how I approach my customers in marketing my products. As a woman, I would like to encourage other women to take the opportunity to attend such trainings, as they help us to become independent and successful in everything we do.”
A study showed that empowering women should be a priority for local authorities and strongly emphasized the need for this intervention as a way to address the socio-economic issues resulting in family poverty. JA ITS TYME has enabled women in Mauritius and Rodrigues to gain the confidence to engage in entrepreneurship and thrive in business, as well as to move from being bystanders to agents of change in relation to inequality.
