2019-2023
OPENING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FOR WOMEN
© Buildher
2019-2023
Buildher
Buildher is a Kenyan social enterprise that trains disadvantaged young women in construction and crucial life skills, boosting their career prospects and helping them to achieve financial independence. By introducing a qualified female workforce into the male-dominated construction industry, Buildher is challenging traditional gender bias within the sector.
CHALLENGE
© Solidaridad/Annemarieke van den Broek
ACTION
Buildher’s pilot programme trains disadvantaged young women living in Nairobi’s informal settlements to become qualified construction workers.
To ensure a truly transformative outcome, the training curriculum integrates technical and critical life skills, placing special emphasis on building confidence and leadership. The participants also receive education about health and wellbeing topics, such as sexual and reproductive health, mental health, nutritional support and physical conditioning.
Buildher supports the graduates through a network of construction employer partners, helping them secure fairly paid employment opportunities as carpenters, joiners, painters and plasterers.
We funded Buildher between 2019 and 2023 to refine its training curriculum and strengthen its placement strategy.
IMPACT
WOMEN TRAINED
and equipped to build careers in construction (2019-2023)
GRADUATES ACCREDITED
by the National Industrial Training Authority (in 2021-2022)
AVERAGE DAILY INCOME
after 4-months from the completion of Buildher training
20 Apr 2021
Entering a man’s world
“My advice to everybody is that no one is incapable of doing something”. Cecilia, winner of The Artisan of the Year Award 2020, uses these words to explain what happens when women cross path with Buildher, a Kenyan social enterprise that fosters the entry of marginalised women in the construction industry.
