In Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa, a school and training programme is combating entrenched attitudes and gender stereotypes that confine women to low-paid unskilled labour, or worse. At the CFIAM, girls and young women, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, can train to be car mechanics, a trade that offers them the skills necessary to enable them to pursue independent lives and achieve a measure of socio-economic progress. The first CFIAM centre, where about 100 study motorcycle maintenance, was founded in Koudougou in 1997. Ouagadougou’s centre opened in 2002, and in 2016 a third opened its doors in Sabou. They are supported by ATTous-Yennenga, an organisation committed to showing Burkinabé society the potential contribution of young women toward the development of the country, especially when not confined to gender stereotypes. The centres offer courses in mechanics, automotive electricity, electronics and bodywork.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN