Empowering women in German-African municipal partnerships

"Above all, women have to stick together, speak with one voice and collaborate. That's important. Having said that, women are all set. Hand in hand, let's go!" – With this plea for female solidarity, Councillor Clemencia Hanases, Deputy Mayor of Windhoek, Namibia, responded to the question of what still needs to be improved when it comes to empowering girls and women. This solidarity was very much in evidence at the Partnership Conference between municipalities from Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa in Giessen – in the voices of the participants, both female and male, but above all in the reports from the partnership projects. These demonstrated how German and African municipalities are working together to identify measures that will improve the situation of girls and (young) women and enable them to lead self-determined lives and participate in decision-making.

The partnership projects are addressing various issues: they are improving framework conditions, creating access to education, providing resources for professional development and empowering girls and women to act with agency. We present two of these projects here and also provide an insight into the other topics of discussion at the partnership conference.

The partnership between the county of Giessen in Germany and Mubende in Uganda is taking a strategic approach to empowering young women. Even before the two municipalities took up the issue, there were initiatives in Mubende: the municipal administration was committed to providing counselling and psychosocial support, coordinated cooperation with the police in juvenile criminal cases and organised measures to encourage participation in continuing vocational training. The partnership with Giessen has made it possible to further systematise, professionalise and expand this engagement and to work collaboratively on support concepts.

But let's set the scene first: girls and young women are a particularly vulnerable group in Mubende, a city with 120,000 inhabitants. Its location on a transit route to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo makes it a popular stopover for long-distance lorry drivers. It is a hive of informal economy activity, with girls and young women being exposed to prostitution and exploitation, including organ trafficking. This situation is indicative of a fundamental problem with school dropout rates in Uganda, as confirmed by the project partners: only 53 per cent of girls in the country complete primary education. Less than 30 per cent go on to secondary school. Poverty, early marriage, but also, for example, a lack of support with menstrual hygiene are cited as causes. The consequences in Mubende are a range of gender-specific threats, juvenile delinquency, an immensely high rate of teenage pregnancies (over 17 per cent of first visits to antenatal clinics are by young women under the age of 20) and the resulting risks for infants and children.

Since March 2025, a new position – created through the BMZ-funded Experts Fund for Municipal Partnerships Worldwide – has been strengthening efforts to improve the situation. The first task of the experienced expert, who has a good network in Mubende, was to conduct a thorough initial analysis, including a survey of young parents, local leaders and service providers. Moving forward, the project is now aiming to establish and expand a comprehensive support network for girls and young women. This will include training for social service employees on youth-friendly and trauma-sensitive support, awareness campaigns to change public perception and, above all, extensive networking with schools, health centres, criminal authorities, civil society organisations and religious leaders.

The assignment of an expert to Mubende is combined with a Partnership Projects for Sustainable Local Development (Nakopa) project. Both the county of Giessen and Mubende have established what is known as a maker space, i.e. creative and learning centres for girls and young women. These centres offer opportunities to strengthen independence and creativity and provide space for informal exchange, peer counselling and professional development. The county of Giessen has gained experience with innovative learning spaces through this. The two municipalities are continuing to develop their services through mutual exchange.

The county of Giessen and Mubende – alongside the City of Giessen and its partner municipality Swakopmund in Namibia – were host municipalities for the 6th Partnership Conference between municipalities from Germany and Sub-Saharan Africa, which took place from 8 to 11 September 2025 in Giessen. You can find out more about this co-operative partnership in our article on the host partnerships, which we link to below.

The starting point for the partner municipalities of Assié-Koumassi, Ivory Coast, and Nalbach in Germany is somewhat different, as these are rather small, rural municipalities. However, the commitment to empowering women is no less strong. By constructing a daycare centre in Assié-Koumassi, the partners are working to close the gap in childcare provision for children aged between two and a half and five years old. This will give mothers the freedom to take up employment and achieve economic independence. One focus is on young (teenage) mothers, among others. The children themselves, especially girls, who are often left to fend for themselves due to the precarious situation of many families and mothers, will benefit from qualified care and early childhood education, healthy nutrition and a reliable transition to primary school. When the daycare centre opens in January 2026, it will provide 150 childcare places as well as various jobs for women from the municipality.

The local population has been closely involved in the development of the project idea and its implementation. The project is being funded by the Small Projects Fund of the Service Agency Communities in One World. Government agencies will assume responsibility for the centre's ongoing and maintenance costs so that parents' contributions to childcare can be kept as low as possible.

Furthermore, the partner municipalities are planning a centre for women similar to the Giessen and Mubende maker spaces. Already during the COVID-19 pandemic, the partners were able to transport equipment for a sewing workshop to Assié-Koumassi. This will now be expanded and offer further training opportunities for women.

As part of COVID-19 aid provision, equipment for a maternity and postnatal ward and a photovoltaic installation for the hospital in Assié-Koumassi were also delivered. These have not only improved medical care for pregnant women, women in labour and new mothers, but above all created dignified conditions for this sensitive phase of life.

Assié-Koumassi and Nalbach have been partners since 2018, but there had already been close ties and engagement at a personal level prior to this. Nalbach Municipality's participation in the Municipalities for Global Sustainability ("Global Nachhaltige Kommune") programme ultimately led to cooperation between the two municipalities at the administrative level as well.

The picture already painted through the presentations by the selected municipalities was made even clearer by the subsequent discussion among the participants at the partnership conference: empowering girls and women is complex and usually requires multidimensional approaches. One area of action with multiple references is women's reproductive rights. The needs here relate to the education of young women themselves as well as access to contraceptives and preventive healthcare services. However, social perceptions, gender roles and images, cultural and religious aspects, practices and stigmas also have to be addressed.

The same applies to the issue of violence against women. In many municipalities, connections with young men's lack of employment and prospects or women's economic dependence must also be taken into account. The workshop participants therefore discussed the need to provide support systems for boys and young men as well.

In order to develop and implement effective measures to empower girls and young women, municipal partnerships must therefore conduct a thorough analysis of the respective contexts. Giessen and Mubende carried out a systematic initial analysis for this purpose. In Nalbach and Assié-Koumassi, individual micro-projects have contributed to a more complete understanding. In both cases, the partnership framework has helped to make progress for girls and (young) women.