Examples of projects MIF have previously supported
Previous Projects
TOOLS FOR LIFE
The Tools4Life programme was developed in partnership with Positive Women with assistance from Women in Construction.
The project brought together from the UK who had undergone training in carpentry and women in Swaziland who had identified a market in their communities for wood products. It created an environment for all of these women to learn, grow and ultimately improved the opportunities available to them in their countries.
Positive Women worked with local partners, including the Manzini Industrial Training Centre who provided the workshop facility, tool set and timber procurement.
The Pilot project exceeded expectations and has not only provided an incredible platform for the Swazi Carpenters to create a viable business and the UK Women to gain skills, experience and confidence, but it has challenged the believes of the local community we worked with in Swaziland as to what women can do.
Positive Women
I am excited to participate in Positive Women’s Tools 4 Life project because carpentry is a lifelong skill that I can teach my children and grandchildren to earn an income. It is something that no one can take away from me.
Nellie Mlangeni, 57, Swaziland, Participant in Tools for Life Project
Peace Direct
In partnership with Peace Direct the McConnell International Foundation has supported the development of Youth Peace Clubs in Burundi, following a successful pilot run by local NGO, Action for Peace and Development.
McConnell International Found tion raised funds through Live Below the Line 2013 to establish youth peace clubs across Burundi, engaging both students and young people in dialogue, and teaching them the skills they need to find non-violent means of resolving disagreements. The peace clubs were also a place where young people could develop their own practical ideas for how to achieve a more peaceful, tolerant and democratic society in Burundi. Participants trained to be peace activists. and to prevent violent conflicts in their own communities.
The young peacebuilders shared their knowledge and skills with their peers, families and other local stakeholders, as well as wider audiences through radio shows and outreach activities.
The UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development
The UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development
Award winning Fabian Society pamphlet
In 2017, together with the Child Poverty Action Group and the World Wildlife Fund, the McConnell International Foundation sponsored a Fabian Society pamphlet advocating actions by the Government in the UK in support of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development agreed in 2015.
MIF strongly supports the Sustainable Development Goals and believes that the principles of sustainable development should underpin our activities. This pamphlet written by Jessica Toale and published by Fabian Society, won the Jenny Jeger prize in 2017 and prompted a number of events and discussions on the topic.
The full text is available here.
About the Appeal
The Pioneers of Change programme was initiated in 2017 with a grant from the McConnell International Foundation.
Established by Chance for Change, who had previously run successful programmes for boys and young men coming out of the criminal justice system, it aims to prevent girls in Malawi becoming victims of trafficking and abuse.
Following research and a pilot project funded by MIF, the project has since grown. The first Pioneers, known as Champions of Change, acted as informal outreach workers in their communities, identifying new participants for the programme and supporting them.
Pioneers of Change is now one of the most prominent practitioners in the field combatting trafficking and has saved 648 girls since establishment.
It is a core belief of the McConnell International Foundation that, through partnerships and trust, organisations can work together to provide innovative and sustainable projects that will positively change the lives of those living in difficult circumstances. I am very proud that we helped bring Pioneers of Change into being, and proud of the Pioneers themselves who embraced the project and made it their own so that less girls have to go through the same traumatic experience that they did.
Our Chairperson, Lord Jack McConnell
Minga Masks
The Covid-19 shutdowns affected education across the world, with boys and girls in the world’s poorest countries like Malawi particularly disadvantaged.
After the first wave of the pandemic, in late 2020, schools in Malawi were able to open again. But the Government of Malawi made wearing a mask to school compulsory for all school students, from Standard 1 in primary schools to Form 4 in secondary schools.
Many families could not afford 500 Kwacha (50p) to buy a washable, reusable face mask and buying masks was particularly difficult for families where there were several children in need of one.
The McConnell International Foundation decided to support our old friends at Minga Community Day Secondary School, one of the trailblazers for the Scotland Malawi Partnership, on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital. MIF match-funded donations from several of those journalists and staff who had visited Minga with the First Minister of Scotland in 2005.
We joined forces with a local women’s social enterprise, led by Deborah Potani, to produce thousands of masks for two schools, so supporting the local economy at the same time. Each pupil at Minga, and its main feeder Buluzi Primary School, received two reusable masks made by Deborah and her team from local fabrics.
Lord McConnell, who first visited Minga school in 2005, said, “If children are to have any chance of climbing out of poverty, they need education.
“The lockdown had a massive impact on children everywhere, so I was delighted that we were able to help hundreds of kids in Malawi return to school.”
In Malawi, most students couldn’t afford to buy a mask. Most of our students had to use any piece of cloth as a mask. Some learners even have to wash disposable masks, so as to use them for a longer period. These good masks made a huge difference.
Denis Msukwa, headteacher of MingaCDSS