EWB-SWE Announces Collaboration with Womengineer on the Day of the Girl Child

Today on International Day of the Girl Child, October 11, Engineers Without Borders Sweden are pleased to announce a new collaboration with Womengineer, an organization working to inspire more girls, women, and non-binary people to explore a career in engineering. 

This year's International Day of the Girl, under the theme "Digital generation. Our generation,” aims to shine a light on the need to widen the pathways for this generation of girls to become a generation of technologists. 

EWB-SWE to participate in Womengineer Day 2021 and IGEday 2022

Womengineer’s work is centered around two major events each year, Womenginee Day on November 19 and IGEday (Introduce a Girl to Engineering day) on March 25. EWB-SWE will take part in the next editions of both events. 

Womengineer Day 2021 is an online recruitment and networking event where female or non-binary engineering students and early-career engineers are introduced to companies and organizations operating in the engineering field. More information about the event and how you can register for it can be found here.  

IGEday is an annual event during which companies and organizations in the technology and engineering sectors open their doors during one day to young girls and non-binary people aged 13-19 years. Participants are provided insights into the engineering profession and advice on how to choose and apply for higher education in the field of engineering. IGEday 2022 will offer both physical and digital company visits, more information about the event can be found here. 

EWB-SWE strives to make the engineering field more inclusive and diverse 

At EWB-SWE we work to support and inspire young people and early career professionals to engage with technology and consider a career in engineering through our programs Inspire Youth. 

Beyond inspiring younger generations to enter the field of engineering, EWB-SWE also works to support people with an engineering background or passion who are new to Sweden through the Engineer to Engineer program. The program supports this group to navigate the Swedish labour market and land a job in the field of engineering. 

 "I strongly believe that greater equity will improve the practice of engineering. Engineering solutions should be designed for everyone. Therefore they cannot and should not be developed by a homogenous group. Collaborating with Womengineer and participating in Womengineer Day and IGEday is a great opportunity for us at EWB-SWE to further our work with making the engineering sector more inclusive and diverse," says Caroline Bastholm, Secretary General of EWB-SWE. 

EWB-SWE strengthens its long-standing partnership with Build Up Nepal

Today, we are pleased to announce that we are deepening our collaboration with our long-standing partner, Build Up Nepal, through a new initiative aimed at scaling the production of affordable, safe and eco-friendly bricks in Nepal. The three-year initiative is made possible by a new partnership between Engineers Without Borders Sweden (EWB-SWE), Build Up Nepal, and the Australian Government, supported by Business Partnerships Platforms (BPP.) 

Nepal is located in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, a matter that is made worse by the fact that over half of all buildings in the country do not meet safe housing standards. Build Up Nepal was founded after the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal, which cost over 9,000 lives and is estimated to have wounded more than 15,000 people. 

The organization aims to empower rural entrepreneurs and communities to build safe, affordable homes and resilient incomes. One way they do this is by providing rural entrepreneurs with brick-making machines, training, and support to start and build micro-construction companies.

EWB-SWE began working with the organization back in 2016 and the collaboration between the two organizations has grown over time. For more information about EWB-SWE’s work with Build Up Nepal, check out the project page.

Empowering vulnerable groups through inclusive training in brick-making 

In 2020 Build Up Nepal supported 65 micro, small, and medium enterprises and 20 communities, creating 348 jobs and building 272 houses. Having proven their model, they now need support to refine their approach further and find efficiencies to scale. 

Within the framework of EWB-SWE and Build Up Nepal existing collaboration, the two organizations now launch a new initiative with the Australian Government, supported by BPP. The new initiative aims to scale Build Up Nepal's operations through active collaboration between the partners. 

COVID-19 prompted a reverse migration of Nepali migrant workers from around the world. The flow of remittances has stopped, and unemployment and under-employment is on the rise. Meanwhile, the brick industry in Nepal is booming, creating a unique opportunity to create jobs for low-income families and support a green recovery from COVID-19. In the new initiative, a particular focus will be placed on empowering women, youths, returning migrants, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Climate-friendly construction

Build Up Nepal’s operating model improves the environmental impact of the construction industry in Nepal. No fuel or burning is required, and less cement usage means 39 percent less CO2 emissions. By strengthening local businesses, this initiative aims to replace five percent of carbon-intensive fired bricks with Build Up Nepal’s bricks by 2024, saving 10,305 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

“This vital partnership is perfectly in line with EWB-SWE’s operational and strategic goals. Over the next few years, we aim to deepen and expand our collaborations with our core partners, of which Build Up Nepal is one. I firmly believe that our organization can have a more positive and lasting impact in the communities where we work when we collaborate with others that complement our strengths and share our values – Build Up Nepal fits perfectly into this description,” says Caroline Bastholm, EWB-SWE Secretary-General.

2021 Half-year review

Summertime is here and we are already halfway through the year!
We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate our achievements so far by sharing our 2021 half-year review video 🎉 We are proud of our achievements and our focus will remain on empowering the communities we engage in. We are looking forward to the next half year of 2021, which promises lots of exciting news and developments.

Empowering communities in challenging times

We are pleased to release our 2020 Annual Report, Empowering Communities in Challenging Times, reflecting our achievements over the past year and our continued commitment to deliver humanitarian engineering in these unprecedented times.

COVID-19 and gender equality

The pandemic has exacerbated existing gender inequalities in almost all areas of life, and the hard-won achievements of past decades are at risk of being rolled back. During the pandemic, women’s unpaid workloads have risen, gender-based violence has increased, and access to sexual and reproductive health have become compromised. A recent UN report revealed that the pandemic will push 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, most of whom will be women and girls. The fight for gender equality is an ongoing struggle for men and women worldwide.

As an organisation with an engineering focus, our projects often concern construction, water access or energy availability. Through consciously selecting, planning, and implementing projects, we can advance gender equality. By engaging in projects that improve female education in areas where it has a low priority or by addressing work areas that are predominantly women's responsibility, we can contribute to advancements. As an organisation with equal gender distribution among volunteers and in the steering group, we can inspire other women to enter the male-dominated engineering sector. Diversity among engineers will result in a variety of identified engineering problems to solve and proposed engineering solutions.
Caroline Bastholm, Secretary-General Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Improving education for girls

One of EWB-SWE’s focus areas is education. In many of EWB-SWE’s international educational projects, there is a specific focus on girls' education. EWB-SWE has worked together with the Tanzanian aid organisation Mavuno Project for over ten years to improve the educational situation in Karagwe and Kyerwa. Currently, an extension of a girl's secondary school is being built. Some of the girls are orphans or come from impoverished families. The boarding school enables them to reach a high-level education and reduces the risk of being forced into early marriage.

"I got to know a girl whose father did not think it was worth to educate his 13-year-old daughter, and she was at risk of being forced into early marriage. Today, the girl is living at the boarding school and studies very hard with a dream to become a lawyer to help girls and women protect their rights", says Marianne Grauers, Vice President at Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Girls at the Mavuno secondary school Using the new computers

Bringing digitalisation to Mavuno Secondary School for Girls

Access to computers and technology is very limited among the population of north-western Tanzania, especially among girls. Computers and internet access provide access to knowledge and are a significant part of improving education. In January 2020, EWB-SWE implemented the project Computer for Schools at the Mavuno Secondary School for Girls. The aim was to increase the accessibility and interests in technology. The roughly 400 girls at the school can now gain computer literacy, access information, practice programming, and more. 

"In the countries where EWB-SWE works, women and girls suffer from unequal access to technology. There is a clear global trend towards digitalisation, with everything from the job market and politics to media and news moving to digital platforms. Unequal access to those platforms will have devastating effects on the move towards gender equality", says Christian Naccache, Head of Digitalisation Competence Group at Engineers Without Borders Sweden

Sanitary facilities and Water access

EWB-SWE engage in the design and construction of sanitary facilities at schools. Apart from being a toilet and a place to wash your hands, these facilities provide a safe and hygienic place to change sanitary pads and thereby enable girls to attend school when having their menstruation.

By engaging in water access and cooking projects, we target work that is predominantly women’s responsibility. In Chonyonyo, women walk for several hours to reach natural water sources. By bringing clean water to Chonyonyo and Rukole, the women can avoid the long walk that sometimes puts them at risk.

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Locally inspire girls to pursue a career in technology

Sweden currently has a shortage of engineers, a profession that historically has been a very male-dominated group. Inspire Youth is one of the EWB-SWEs initiatives that, through workshops, study aid and school visits, aim to inform and inspire children to seek an education in engineering or technology. During the autumn, Inspire Youth and the creative meeting place Agora in Skäggetorp, Linköping started holding coder dojos, where young girls could test programming. CoderDojos focus on improving the severe shortage of women in technology by engaging girls in tech-related activities to incite interest in technology. Furthermore, it challenges the social stigma among young women and computer sciences. 

“By introducing programming in a fun and interactive way, we can show young girls that programming can be both powerful and creative”, says Alice Paulsen, Head of Inspire Youth at Engineers Without Borders Linköping