Tunis: The economic empowerment of women is the strategic choice to increase their presence on the job market, said Minister of Women, Family, Children and the Elderly, Amel Belhaj Moussa, during an information day held by the ministry in partnership with the Tunisian Solidarity Bank (BTS) and the "Banque Nationale Agricole"(BNA) on the «Programme for the Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls and Success Stories.» Belhaj Moussa underlined that the ministry «is working very hard to make 2024, a year of economic empowerment par excellence,» calling for fighting against women's social and economic marginalization and all forms of discrimination as well as increase their employability. She pointed out that the ministry has developed an action plan to help women launch projects, support them, offer them training and encourage them market their products. She added that the goal of various programmes destined to women is to encourage them launch private initiatives and promote their leadership skills. This incl udes the national program for women's entrepreneurship and investment «Raidet 2022-2025», where more than 15,000 funding requests have been registered on the platform dedicated to this programme. The minister indicated that as of December 31, 2023, the Raidet Programme funded 3,679 women's projects and created 5,605 direct jobs, recalling that on February 23, an agreement was reached with the BTS to increase the funding ceiling from TND 150,000 to TND 200,000, in addition to financing women's agricultural development groups. Belhaj Moussa also spoke of other programmes, such as the Economic Empowerment Programme for Families in Specific Situations, the Economic Empowerment Programme for Student Mothers at Risk of Dropping out of School, and the National Programme «Samida» for the Economic Empowerment of Women Victims of Violence. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse