ONG Action Sociale is a non-profit organisation that aims to promote the economic and social development of minorities and the disadvantaged parts of the population in Benin. In particular, they support local initiatives and build social and community infrastructure.
Their mission is to work on a number of social causes that are curicual to the wellbeing of the population:
1. Education: Action Sociale works to provide young and vulnerable people (i.e.: girl-mothers, the disabled, orphans, children in difficult circumstances) with high-quality social and financial education, in order to strengthen their skills and enable them to become agents of development.
2. Health: Action Sociale raises people’s awareness of illnesses and the principles of nutrition through education and prevention campaigns. The aim is to improve communities’ quality of life.
3. Environment: Action Sociale is active in protecting the environment by conducting awareness-raising sessions and trainings on the use of biodegradable packaging. In this way, they encourage more environmentally-friendly solutions, thereby helping to clean up living spaces.
4. Promotion of income-generating activities: they support young people by encouraging income-generating activities, a guarantee of economic and financial autonomy.
In order to achieve these goals, Action Sociale condutcs information and awareness-raising sessions, they organise radio programmes on SFE for the local populations, they develop technical training programmes to enable young people and women to acquire employability and professional skills, and they promote local projects and activities to support the community to become self sufficient financially.
Our Partnership
Action Sociale’s partnership with Aflatoun started in 2022 to strengthen the social and financial education of children and youth and empower them with the necessary 21st century skills they need to thrive.
Action Sociale believes that Aflatoun brings recognised expertise in this field, and they are aligned with their objectives in terms of entrepreneurship, poverty reduction and sustainable development. This collaboration enhances the impact of Action Sociale’s actions by helping young people to become economically independent and socially responsible.
Under the project supported by the Nationale Postcode Loterij, Action Sociale has been implementing the AflaTeen+ curriculum, which targets adolescent girls and boys and focuses on social, financial, entrepreneurship education with a gender focus.
In particular, Action Sociale believes that SFE is essential in Benin because young people need to better manage their daily resources. This can contribute to poverty reduction and foster entrepreneurship, which is essential in a context where employment opportunities are limited. SFE prepares individuals for adult life and to become responsible citizens. Finally, a financially and socially educated population is more resilient in the face of crises, which reinforces economic stability.
“La Grâce Divine” AflaTeen Club launches a small business
One of the initiatives that Action Sociale is particularly proud of is the above mentioned project supported by the Dutch National Postcode Lottery. Through the project, 3,647 adolescents were trained in financial management, life skills, and entrepreneurship skills. Moreover, the creation of 186 AflaTeen Clubs have indirectly impacted 15,000 beneficiaries that have been reached through radio lessons, various community training that were organised with different stakeholders, and feedback sessions with young people and their families and friends.
Several of these clubs have set up income-generating activities, enabling them to experiment with setting up joint ventures. The most striking example is the ‘La Grâce Divine’ AflaTeen Club, that created the Gloria Couture establishment in the municipality of Dangbo. The thirty students in the club have launched a business selling supplies and various items used in their sewing classes and trade. This initiative has inspired many other clubs, who are striving to develop their own projects. Thanks to these actions, some of the young people trained have managed to save money collectively, thereby transforming not only their future, but also their communities.