Working alongside UN Women, governments and communities in its diamond producing countries of Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa, De Beers will invest $3 million to advance the prospects of women and girls by addressing key priority areas.
In Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, the programs will focus on accelerating the growth of women-owned micro-enterprises to enhance the capacity of women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, increase their income and create sustainable jobs for themselves and their communities. The capacity-building model will be specifically tailored for each country to support women micro-entrepreneurs with business and life skills to enable them to realize their potential and contribute to the economic growth of their communities.
In Canada, De Beers and UN Women will work with, among others, the University of Waterloo to provide scholarships and mentoring to young women and girls from underprivileged communities who want to pursue studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
