THE NOFOTANE MARKET DAY

​[The birthplace of a new community of women]
 
The 2-year Nofotane Project in which the Samoa Victim Support Group and the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality have been working on, to empower the lowest class of women in Samoan society – the Nofotane – is completing in July 2018.
 
The project has so far trained 5,000 nofotane women throughout Samoa in livelihood skills, which in turn, enabled more than 500 women to earn an income for themselves and their families.
 
The impact of the changes in the lives of the nofotane women have been noted by their participation in family matters, the success of their children’s education, their ability to contribute to village and church community events.
 
In celebration of the empowered nofotane women in Samoa, SVSG and the UN Women FGE will be hosting a closing event on 19th and 20th July 2018 in front of the government building in Apia.  The celebration involves market days on the 19th and 20th July in which the nofotane earners from Upolu, Savaii and Manono tai, will sell their products while looking out for sustainable markets.
 
The Nofotane Market embodies the birthplace of a new community of women in Samoa – the empowered nofotane women - who are creators of beautiful products, hand-made with love, pride and a sense of restored self-esteem.
 
As a family, let us come together and support the empowered nofotane women, and appreciate the value of our mothers.