Progressive women emancipation organisation Empowered Women has scored a first after it partnered international education network Unicaf towards better access to tertiary education.
Speaking at the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing event for the two partner organisations, Empowered Women founder and director Sibonokuhle Buhlungu said she was humbled by the pledge.
“The old age saying education is key remains relevant to this day and I want to thank Unicaf for honouring us by pledging to support our members’ education with up to 80% scholarship facilities covering professional certificates all the way to PhD level,” she said.
“There is no better way to break the poverty cycle than through educating women. Women are family builders and indeed community as well as nation builders. Once equipped with the right enablers and in this case a sound education, they will go all the way to empower their families and also empower communities.”
Buhlungu said her organisation had done all it could to empower women through raising awareness on social issues like gender justice and equality as well as helping them kickstart their businesses and livelihoods projects but the scholarship facility from Unicaf was a big high for them.
“Its kudos to our partners from Unicaf for this gesture and I encourage all our members to take up this offer and make it count. Its cheers to a new generation of empowered and indeed educated women,” Buhlungu said.
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Buhlungu’s sentiments were echoed by Unicaf marketing manager Zimbabwe Shimiron Nyaude who said they have a clear mission to ensure equal access to education for all including marginalised women.
“Unicaf boasts of the most generous open to all scholarship in the world and we are proud to partner with Empowered Women as we bring the best education facility to all including our women,” he said.
“We will make sure this partnership works and bring value to all that enlist for this facility. The key objective is to provide quality education all over and we hope this gesture contributes to the overall good being championed by Empowered Women in Zimbabwe and beyond.”
With headquarters in Europe, Unicaf is expanding throughout Africa via a growing network of university campuses and learning centers to facilitate blended and open learning options.
Unicaf currently has a physical presence in 12 countries and has plans to expand to five additional countries within the next two years.
Unicaf, through its partner universities offers Bachelor, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in partnership with UK, US and African universities.
It has developed a scholarship programme that has awarded more than $100 million worth of scholarships, enabling thousands of qualified students to study for internationally recognised degrees at a fraction of the cost and positively transform their lives.