GRADUATION CEREMONY OF THE 3RD

PROMOTION OF STUDENTS OF THE

WOMEN'S SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP

TERMS OF REFERENCE

NOVEMBER 21

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1 PREAMBLE

Fairtrade is a global movement that tackles the injustices of conventional trade by helping small-
scale farmers and workers achieve better trading conditions.

Fairtrade's vision is a world in which all producers can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods,
realize their potential and decide their future.

Fairtrade Africa is a member organisation of Fairtrade International, the world's leading Fair-Trade
organisation. Fairtrade Africa (FTA) represents the network of Fairtrade certified producers and
workers in Africa. Fairtrade Africa, a member of the Fairtrade movement, is one of the three
producer networks of Fairtrade International and represents more than 1.5 million producers of
Fairtrade certified agricultural products in Africa and the Middle East.

In its current configuration, Fairtrade Africa operates in different types of agricultural value chains.
Fairtrade Africa is organized into four (4) regional networks including East and Central Africa;
Southern Africa; West Africa; Middle East and North Africa.

Established in 2005, FTA aims to effectively represent producers and workers within the
international Fairtrade system and provide them with services that contribute to improving their
livelihoods.

2 BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION

Women make up almost half of the cocoa workforce in West Africa and are involved in almost all
stages of cocoa production. In Côte d'Ivoire, women represent 68% of the active cocoa farming
workforce (as owners or workers). They are therefore essential to the sustainability of the entire
cocoa industry. Although cocoa is perceived as a male crop, in all cocoa-producing countries,
women play an essential role as cocoa producers in the cocoa fields, where they do almost half
of the work; in the cocoa farmers' homes, where they feed and support family members; and in
the cocoa farming communities that supply local markets. Despite this essential role that women
play in cocoa production, their needs as cocoa producers are not being met. Indeed, less than
5% of agricultural extension services reach women _ Only 15% of extension staff are women.
Women receive only 10% of loans to smallholders _ Women are 30-40% less likely than men to
have access to essential agricultural inputs

In addition, in the case of smallholder farms, women and girls often work as unpaid farm workers
on family farms and have little control over the income from the sale of cocoa. They represent a
large proportion of the often 'invisible' 'hidden' family workers and are therefore excluded from
labour force data and/or services. Furthermore, as women often do not have land titles, they
cannot always join producer organizations (POs) and access the services provided. When women
do join producer organizations or organizations that rely on hired labour, they are rarely in
leadership positions and their needs and voices are not heard.

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The Fairtrade Gender Strategy aims to close this gap and provide a clear direction and approach
to Fairtrade's overall gender work for the period 2016-2020. The Fairtrade Africa Women's School
of Leadership (WSOL) is part of this Gender Strategy, which aims to contribute to equal
opportunities and access to benefits for all (men and women).

The Women's School of Leadership (WSOL) is a training, mentoring and coaching Programme
whose main objective is to improve participants' basic leadership skills and application of human
rights provisions on gender issues in their own environment. Through the training, women will be
empowered to decide on their future through increased capacity to make decisions and take
action on themselves; take control and manage resources by being supported to actively
participate and voluntarily assume leadership roles in their POs and communities.

The Women's School of Leadership is a project developed by Fairtrade Africa, dedicated to

women and men from various Fairtrade certified producer organizations in cocoa producing
communities in Côte d'Ivoire. Since 2017, it has been helping to build the capacity of women and
men in a number of areas, covering topics such as personal development, gender, leadership,
income diversification, Project management, strategic negotiation, Financial management and
entrepreneurship.

After the success of the previous phases and with the aim of achieving a change of scale by
training a larger number of men and women in Fairtrade certified cocoa cooperatives, a new
phase of the Women's Leadership School is supported by the EQUITE 2 Programme funded by
the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Fond Français pour
l'environnement Mondial (FFME).

The Women's School of Leadership is part of the Equity 2 program’s component 1.4 and is one
of the main actions dedicated to the achievement of the program’s specific objective 5: "Ensuring
the promotion of gender equality and the integration of young people in Fair Trade supply
chains".

With the support of AFD, Max Havelaar France and Fairtrade Africa, two fair trade organizations,
began deploying the Women's School of Leadership in January 2021. The school aims to train
more than a hundred women leaders in cocoa-producing communities in Côte d'Ivoire by building
the capacities and empowering women from rural areas who are often marginalized.

Between 2021 and 2025, a total of 154 women and men from 14 Fairtrade certified cocoa
cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire will be trained. At the end of the course, they will be real relays of
knowledge and good practices aimed at reducing gender inequalities through training for several
thousand women in their respective communities.

In 2020-2021, for this first edition under the Equity 2 Programme, the school is targeting 43 women
and 17 men within 07 Fairtrade certified producer organizations (POs) spread over the South-
West and South-East zones of Côte d'Ivoire in order to strengthen women's participation and
leadership in the management of their communities, their organizations and their households.

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 Distribution of beneficiaries in the 07 Producer Organizations involved in the project

Articulation of the implementation stages of the 2020-2021 phase of the Project

In order to present and share the experiences, testimonies and lessons learned from this phase
and to celebrate the success of these women and men in becoming gender ambassadors,
Fairtrade Africa is organizing a workshop to commemorate the third edition of the Fairtrade Africa
Women's School of Leadership Graduation Ceremony from Thursday 09 to Friday 10 December
at Hotel Belle Côte, Riviera Palmeraie, Abidjan.

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These terms of reference outline the activities that will be carried out during this important
workshop.

3 OBJECTIVES

3.1 Overall objective

The overall objective of this ceremony is to present the immediate results of the 1st phase of
implementation of the Women's School of Leadership under the Equity 2 Programme and to
celebrate the beneficiaries (Potential Gender Ambassadors) through the awarding of diplomas
marking the end of their learning process.

3.2 Specific objectives

Specifically, this will involve:

- Introduce the project's beneficiaries and stakeholders;

- Share the results and achievements according to the Women's School of Leadership
approach;
- Presenting and defending the income-generating activities projects in summary;
- Strengthen the level of support of gender actors;
- Promote gender through the transformative Women's School of Leadership Programme;
- To award diplomas to the valiant beneficiaries of this phase of the Women's School of
Leadership.

4 EXPECTED RESULTS
At the end of the workshop, the following results are expected:
- The beneficiaries and stakeholders of the project are presented;
- The results and achievements of the Women's School of Leadership approach are shared;
- Ideas for income-generating activities are presented by the students and receive
encouragement and support from stakeholders;
- The Fairtrade gender approach is promoted through the transformative Fairtrade
Women's School of Leadership Programme;
- Graduation certificates are awarded to the beneficiaries of the third edition of the Women's
School of Leadership.

5 METHODOLOGY

The ceremony will take place in two phases over 2 days, the ceremony will be in a semi face-to-
face format and online connection to allow stakeholders who cannot travel to participate online.

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NB: Please send us a notification email for the choice of the online participation
format as soon as you receive these terms of reference so that the online link can
be sent to you in response to your feedback.

Phase 1: Learning Day / Thursday 09 December 2021

This phase will bring together all the participants, in particular the beneficiaries of the Women's
School of Leadership; representatives of partner cooperatives; and actors involved in the
promotion of gender in Côte d'Ivoire. In order to facilitate understanding, the workshop will be
facilitated in a participatory manner and different approaches will be used (presentations
followed by exchanges, discussions, testimonies of the participants, presentations of the training
modules through role plays).

Phase 2: Official graduation ceremony/ Friday 10 December 2021

This phase will celebrate the success of the beneficiaries of the Women's Leadership School
and will result in the awarding of training diplomas to the beneficiaries of the Women's School of
Leadership.

6 VENUE AND DATE

The ceremony will be held on 09 & 10 December 2021, from 09H to 16H, at the Hotel Belle
Cote, located in Cocody Riviera palmeraie.

Hotel Belle Côte Abidjan

27 22 5 02760

https://maps.app.goo.gl/P4zKLhAKX4cnR55D7

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7 PARTICIPANTS
The people expected to attend this workshop are representatives of implementing partner
structures, donors, agro-industries and cooperatives related to the activity and the intervention
area.

7.1 Fairtrade Participants

- Interim Executive Director of Fairtrade International
- Executive Director of Fairtrade Africa
- Fairtrade Africa Programme Director
- Head of the Fairtrade Africa West Region;
- Women's School of Leadership and Equity 2 Programme Team
- Cocoa Programme Team ;

7.2 Invited Organizations

Organizations Attendees
Ministry of Women, Family and Children 3
Ministry of Solidarity and the Fight against Poverty 3
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 3
Minister for Employment and Social Protection 3
Minister of National Education and Literacy 3
State Secretariat for Women's Empowerment 3
Conseil du Café-Cacao, 3
ONU Femmes CI 2
Embassy of France 2
AFD 2
CEF 2
AVSF 2
International Cocoa Organization 2
World Cocoa Foundation 2
CARE Intenational 1
GIZ/ GISCO 2
SOLIDARIDAD 1
Save the Children, 1
International Cocoa Initiative 1
FIRCA 1
AGENCE Emploi Jeunes 1
PPPP, 1
Fairtrade International 1
RICE 1
TOUTON 1

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BEYOND BEANS 1
BLOMMER 2
CARGILL, 2
OLAM, 1
Barry Callebaut 1
Soleil d'Afrique 1
SUCDEN 1
NESTLE 2
ZAMACOM 1

Projet MOCA de CNFA (Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture) 2

GEPALEF (Genre Parité et Leadership Féminin) 2

K’ORIGIN 2
SEPHIS 1
FLISADD 1
CAMAYE 22
CAYAWA 22
CAKF 12
ECAMOM 18
ECAKOOG 26
CPSL 18
YEYASSO 18
TOTAL 203

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 8 FORWARD AGENDA

09 and 10 December 2021

Hôtel Belle Côte, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

DAY 1 : 09 December

SCHEDULE ACTIVITIES RESPONDENTS

08:00 - 09:00am Arrival and installation of guests Organizing Committee

09:00 - 09:30 am Session 1 : Presentation :

Objectives - (Moderator Divine)

- Presentation and Objectives of the day 5’

- Presentation of the FTA team and guests 5’

Opening ceremony
- Madeline Muga
- Welcome_ 5' Impact and Strategy
- Presentation of the Fairtrade Africa Director
Network 10’
- Journey of the Fairtrade Africa Women's - Gender Focal Point Anne
School of Leadership since the 1st edition Marie Yao
10’

09 :30 - 09 :45 Session 2 : Presentation of the study on - (Moderator Noelle)

gender inequalities in the project areas

- Presentation of the study on gender Berenice Debrimou

inequalities in the project areas 15’
09 :50 - 10 :45am Session 3: Sharing the results and (Moderator Mireille)
achievements of the project
- Restitution of the themes taught by the
students Project beneficiaries
Table 1, 20’
Table 2,20’
Table 3,20’
10 :45 - 11:00am Coffee-Break

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11:00 – 12 :35 am Session 3: Sharing the results and (Moderator Noelle)
achievements of the project (continuation and
end)
Table 4,20’ Gender sensitive beneficiaries

- Presentation of the project results (results -

challenges and lessons learnt and Project team
recommendations) 20’

- Testimony of representatives of 02 POs

beneficiaries of the programme on the
support of the project in the implementation ECAMOM & ECAKOOG
of the gender strategy 20’

- Testimony of the students on the direct 09 Project beneficiaries

effects of the project 20’
12 :35 – 02 :00pm Lunch-Break

02:00 – 03:00PM Session 4: Reflections and contributions Invited Gender Actors

from different stakeholders 60’
CARE – MARS - WCF-
- - Intervention of gender actors SOLIDARIDAD- GIZ-
- - Sharing of experiences BLOMMER-FIRCA – CESAAP-
- - Questions and reflections on the themes K’ ORIGINS

03:00 – 03:30PM Session 4: Intervention of technical partners

and other project stakeholders 30’
NFOs Representative ( Laurie/
- Intervention of NFOs Sam)

Emillie DUROCHAT (CEF)

- Intervention of CEF/ AVSF

03:30 – 03:45PM Coffee-Break

Session 5: End of the Day

- Summary of stakeholders' interventions
02:45 – 04:15PM and presentation on next steps 10' Noelle and Divine

- Evaluation of the day 10' Noelle

Kouamé Benjamin
- Closing remarks 15'

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 DAY 2 : 10 December

SCHEDULE ACTIVITIES RESPONDENTS

08 :30 - 09 :00 AM - Arrival and installation of participants 30’ Organising Committee

09 00 - 09 :15 - Welcome by the President of the Organizing Madeline Muga

AM Committee 5’
- Summary of the work of the 1st Day 10’ Anne Marie Yao

09 15 - 09 :40 - Speech by the CEO of Fairtrade - Docteur Nyagoy

AM International 7'
- Speech of Chairman of Fairtrade Africa 5' - Benjamin Kouamé

09 :40 - 10 :15 AM - Presentation of income-generating projects Participants (7)

35’

10 :15 - 10 :30 AM Coffee-Break

10 30 – 11 :00 - Speech by the AFD 5’ Emmanuel Debroise

AM - Video of Coop UK 5’
COOP UK
Entertainment 5'

11 :00 - 12 :50 AM - - Ceremony for the awarding of training All

diplomas 90’
- - Speech by the Patron of the Ceremony 5'. Mrs Nasseneba Touré/ Patron
- - Baptism of the third promotion 15'

12 :50 – 01 :00 AM - - Word of thanks from the beneficiaries Beneficiaries

- - Presentation of gifts
- - Family photos All

01:00 – 02:00 PM Lunch and departure of participants

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