Project Overview:

The densely populated slums of Lusaka face chronic shortages of essential public services including sanitation, electricity, and healthcare. Unemployment, particularly among youth, remains a persistent crisis—currently estimated at around 31%. These harsh socio-economic conditions contribute to a high incidence of violence, particularly in communities where individuals experience physical, sexual, economic, and psychological abuse, often driven by extreme poverty and systemic neglect. In 2022 alone, the Anti-Violence Unit—established in 2019 at Kanyama’s only public hospital—assisted 1,726 survivors, reflecting a 33% increase from the previous year. Yet, many survivors remain economically dependent on their abusers due to a lack of viable income-generating opportunities.To address this economic dependency, the ULEMU Empowerment Club was launched in 2019 as an extension of the Anti-Violence Unit. It provided survivors and community members with skills in handmade costume jewelry. While this initiative created a pathway for some income generation, the narrow scope of training and limited market access have prevented participants from achieving sustainable financial independence. Efforts to expand this program into more market-relevant digital and professional skills have been hindered by two major barriers: a lack of capital investment and frequent power outages, which often last several hours a day and disrupt both training and daily life.