Yemoja networks

Yemoja, especially venerated in Senegal, is the African goddess of the sea and fishermen. The Yemoja networks project works in the fishing world to strengthen women’s leadership in the management of fishing cooperatives in Senegal, a sector organized as family businesses where the gender division of labour prevents women from obtaining full independence.

The Women for Africa Foundation, together with ASPEGI, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Gipuzkoa, will work with Yayi Bayam Diouf, the first fisherwoman from the village of Thiaroye-sur-Mer in Senegal, to strengthen her professionalism and leadership. Diouf runs the Vocational Training Center for women and young people, where she trains fisherwomen. The Provincial government of Gipuzkoa (Diputación de Guipuzkoa) sponsors this project.

The initiative is designed with the ambition of fostering women’s leadership and active participation in the fishing sector and improving the performance of the Thiaroye sur mer fisherwomen’s cooperative. The program is based on the exchange of knowledge and good practices between the women of the center and the fishing sector of the Basque province. Among other activities, training sessions will be held in leadership-coaching, mentoring, human rights and gender violence, as well as in new techniques for the production, transformation and packaging of fishery products. A credit unit will also be set up and materials for fishing operations will be purchased. In addition, communication strategies will be developed with community radio stations, the human rights committee, and the Association of Senegalese Jurists to raise awareness of women’s rights, especially those of fisherwomen, and of the project.

The project will be developed in the last quarter of 2019 and will include a preliminary needs identification phase in the field followed by the implementation of the action plan in Gipuzkoa.