18/05/2015
The SWEET Africa Foundation:
SOCIETY FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING
(SWEET) AFRICA FOUNDATION
AN INITIATIVE OF THE IKRA EDUCATION TRAINING CENTRE (IETC) TANZANIA
“Putting Women at the Heart of the Post 2015 Development Agenda”
SWEET Africa Foundation works towards the realisation of a just, equitable and sustainable society for women and other Most Vulnerable Groups (MVGs) across the continent of Africa.
SWEET Africa Foundation Vision:
We strive for Sustainable Development of women as individuals or groups, consciousness, economic solidarity, social/cultural justice and environmental balance in Africa and world wide.
SWEET Africa Foundation Mission:
At SWEET Africa Foundation we empower, educate and train women and other MVGs to be champions of sustainable development in different spheres of life. We provide a platform, where new and innovative ideas , knowledge, skills and experience, meets a fertile ground for research, education, training and development. Through our collaboration with high education institutions and other partners across Africa and worldwide, we combine training, research, education and practical approaches, to develop curious and creative minds that can reflect and act to shape the world for today and tomorrow.
The Goals of SWEET Africa Foundation:
To foster awareness and concern about economic, social, cultural and political interdependence of women at all levels across Africa
To provide every women with the opportunities to acquire knowledge, values, attributes, commitments and skills needed for sustainable livelihoods and development of their families and communities
To create new patterns of behaviour of women as individuals or groups and societies towards empowerment, self reliance, peace building and sustainable development.
The Objectives of SWEET Africa Foundation:
Awareness: To assist women as groups or individuals, acquire an awareness and sensibility towards sustainable livelihoods and development of their families and communities
Knowledge: To assist women as groups or individuals, gain a variety of experience in and acquire basic understanding for self reliance, empowerment, peace building and sustainable development
Attitudes: To assist women as groups or individuals, acquire set of values and feelings of concern for participating and developing projects and programmes for self reliance, empowerment and peace building.
Skills: To assist women as groups or individuals, acquire the skills necessary for self reliance, empowerment, peace building and sustainable development.
Participation: To assist women as groups or individuals with an opportunity to be actively and responsibly involve in self reliance, empowerment, peace building and sustainable development projects and programmes.
The Core Areas of SWEET Africa Foundation:
Training, Education and Capacity Building (TEC): Promoting the development of curricula derived from best practices of ecological and sustainable livelihoods/living.
Model Ecological Communities and Training Centre (MET): Model ecological communities provide holistic designs for urban, rural and peri-urban communities for sustainable livelihoods and living environment. Training centres provide sustainability education, training, learning and research.
Water –Food-Energy Nexus (WFE): We promote women and African communities that are self -reliant , independent and enjoy an abundance of Water, Food and Energy for total environmental , social, cultural and economic security of their families and communities
Natural Resource Management (NRM): We promote water, food and energy autonomy, reforestation, regeneration /restoration of natural resources, healthy soils and mutually beneficial relationship between humans and their environment.
Cultural Heritage Promotion (CHP): Africa is the cradle of mankind and civilization. Through the Salama PanAfrican Institute for Culture and Education (SPICE), we strive to promote profoundly the diversity of tangible and intangible assets of Africa’s rich cultural heritage.
Healing, Reconciliation and Conflict Management (HRC): The basis of SWEET Africa Foundation values lies is the very essence of the success of women led authentic, healing, reconciliation and conflict management programs/projects at all levels in their communities and countries.
Advocacy Policy and Practice (APP): We promote women led policies and practices that will make for a more just, sustainable and equitable society for all.
Green Entrepreneurship, Ethical Business and Fair Trade (GET): Under the GET Program and the SWEET Fair, we seek to assure self-reliant and women led interdependent communities by providing a progressive ecological business model through green entrepreneurship, ethical business and fair trade.
SWEET Africa Foundation: How did it begin?
While serving as the President for Women International Coalition Organisation (WICO) Africa in 2005, based in her home country Cameroon, Ms Rosemary Olive Mbone Enie, a Geologist and Gender Ambassador for the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) the Netherlands, initiated and introduced the Society of Women Empowerment and Training (SWEET) as a Project of WICO Africa. In December 2007 she was invited to speak at the International Day for People with Disability at Cambridge City Council UK, to share the work she has been doing with Women and other Most Vulnerable Groups (MVGs). After her presentation there was an interest by some participants for her to establish the SWEET Foundation in the UK. On her return to Africa she established the SWEET Africa Foundation in Ghana 2008, Liberia 2009 and Tanzania 2011 as a project of the Ikra Education Training Centre (IETC) Tanzania where she now serves as the Executive Director for IETC Tanzania.
Ms Rosemary Olive Mbone Enie has 24 years experience working in the African Water, Sanitation Hygiene, Environmental Education and Management Sectors. She also has 19 years experience in Gender and Development and 15 years experience following the International Climate Change Negotiations. She has initiated several community, national and Pan African projects and programs. Ms Mbone Enie sits as an International Advisory Board Member for the Women Earth Alliance (WEA) USA, Women Earth and Climate Caucus (WECC) /Women Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International and Climate Change Network (CCN) Nigeria just to name a few.
In April 2015 she was appointed the President for Women in Leadership International (WILI) Africa. Rosemary is a member of several local, national and international organisations and also serves as the Childhood Ambassador for the Global Childhood Decade (2012- 2022). She has travelled widely across Africa, Europe, North America and Asia and has presented and published over 40 policy and research papers covering the fields of Geology, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Environmental Education/Management, Tourism, Climate Change etc.