The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) announced on Wednesday that it has launched an environmentally friendly project named the "Organic Coal Producing System" to support underprivileged women in South Sudan. The project aims to assist women who have to walk for miles to collect wood for household use.
As a part of the project, a training process called "Training for Disadvantaged Women on Coal Briquette Production from Organic Waste" started in the Hai-Referendum region of the country's capital, Juba.
The project's goal is to teach women how to use organic waste like seeds and fruit peels to manufacture charcoal briquettes by drying them in the sun, grinding, mixing and combining them. The excess briquettes will be sold in marketplaces to sustain the livelihoods of the women. As part of the efforts, women were given 220 heating insulators, cookers, grinders, mixers and mold-pressing machines.
At the opening of the project, Martin Masongole, manager of the Lulu Care Women's Association Program, an organization that supports women and girls in Eastern Equatoria, expressed her grief on the recent earthquakes in Türkiye.
Masongole praised Türkiye for its countless efforts to empower women in South Sudan.
In South Sudan, women and children generally have to walk long distances at dawn to find wood, causing security issues and a decrease in forest areas. Besides, the risk of lung diseases increases in women and children who are exposed to wood and traditional coal smoke over long periods of time.
TIKA's project seeks to not only provide financial assistance to women but also improve their health by providing heat-insulated stoves that allow for healthier cooking conditions.
