Women's Training Center
Rural Development and Entrepreneurship
Baghere, Senegal
Rural Development and Entrepreneurship
Baghere, Senegal
The project aims to promote the development of educational and entrepreneurial activities targeted at women’s associations in southern Senegal. It will feature a sustainable, internationally prestigious architecture, creating a safe and dynamic space where women can learn, engage, and build new opportunities for local development.
In a context where over 60% of women are illiterate and lack employment opportunities, the Center will serve as a platform for literacy courses, workshops, meetings, dialogues, and support services. It will be managed by local associations with institutional backing, promoting participatory and community governance.
The project will be realized using sustainable techniques and local materials, through a self-building process involving the beneficiary community, utilizing a unique architectural design.
Support the project
Create a space for dialogue where women can develop managerial and entrepreneurial skills to foster development.
Promote literacy courses, school recovery, and professional training to combat illiteracy and support workforce integration.
Provide a listening and assistance point for women victims of violence, facilitating access to medical, psychological, and legal services.
Promote dialogue and exchange to spread knowledge, raise awareness, and advocate for rights.
The project promotes rural development and rights protection through professional training, civic education, and the development of local entrepreneurship, with particular focus on women.
Located in a strategic area of the Sédhiou region, the center aims to be a reference hub for literacy, technical training, and empowerment, especially for the most vulnerable groups of the rural population.
With over 650 sqm of covered space, the infrastructure will host classrooms, practical workshop areas, support offices, and a large multifunctional space for events and community activities.
The architectural project for the Women's Training Center was conceived within the framework of the fundraising competition Kaira Looro Architecture Competition, a non-profit initiative aimed at selecting and realizing the best design among thousands of proposals from around the world.
The competition involved a prestigious international jury, composed of world-renowned architectural firms and prominent institutional representatives, including ONU Femmes Africa, the Senegalese Minister for Women, and the Women's Department of the African Union. The jury was chaired by the famous Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, honorary member of Balouo Salo. The winning project, selected and donated by architect Juan Pablo Lopez, was chosen for its architectural quality, sustainability, and adaptability to the local context.
Construction will take place in the Municipality of Baghere, Senegal, through a process of community participatory self-construction, which will make the construction site an occasion for training, inclusion, and local ownership of the project, as has already happened in other Balouo Salo projects, in order to foster ownership and self-sufficiency.
The design uses the Rammed Earth technique, of which Balouo Salo is a pioneer in Senegal with the project for the Center against child malnutrition. This technique will make the center’s architecture not only functional but also comfortable, thanks to very strong thermal and acoustic insulation capacity as well as air quality. The architecture thus also becomes a tool for raising awareness about the environment and respect for natural resources to promote sustainable development of villages, encouraging the spread of ecological technologies, adaptation to climate change, and improvement of quality of life.
Below are some renderings (virtual images) of the project.
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The Center will be managed by local associations and the community, which will organize multidisciplinary activities including:
- Creation of a project management committee;
- Development of entrepreneurial and training activities;
- Creation of a website for promoting activities and raising awareness;
- Formation of an outreach team for door-to-door visits, press releases, and diplomacy;
- Management of an emergency and assistance hotline;
- Organization of partnerships and fundraising with local and national entities;
- Training courses, remedial and reinforcement education;
- Creation of a radio program and assistance;
- Construction of a first aid, support, and protection system;
- Organization of specialist missions and seminars;
- Group sessions and analysis, team building, project solutions;
- Community awareness raising.
Strada N6, entrance Bakidioto
Municipality of Baghere
Sedhiou Region
Senegal, Africa
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