Tunisia/Entrepreneurship for gender equality

From April 7 to 9, 2025, some sixty students from all over the world, mostly from Clubs Leaders Étudiants Francophones (CLÉF), challenged themselves to an entrepreneurial hackathon dedicated to gender equality, in Hammamet, Tunisia. The highlight of this "Entreprenathon, Innovating for Equality", the five best team projects were awarded prizes at the end of an intense sequence of pitches.

A total of 20 mixed teams of three students competed in this entreprenathon, a contraction of hackathon and entrepreneurship. They had 72 hours to refine their entrepreneurial projects. 72 hours of workshops, training and coaching from entrepreneurs and experts, which also enabled them to learn: how to clearly define a problem and the proposed solution to solve it, specify a value proposition and target audience, better position themselves in a market, identify their competitors and establish a business model.identify competitors and establish a viable business model with a coherent, realistic development plan!

What all their projects had in common was that they all had to propose concrete and often innovative solutions guaranteeing better socio-economic inclusion for women and girls. This criterion already prevailed during the application selection process, during which the 20 finalist teams stood out from 150 submissions.

While the competition was intense, it was also a time for networking and sharing, with playful moments following studious phases.

At the end of the three-day event, the finalists presented their projects in three minutes to the Canadian Ambassador to Tunisia, Mrs Lorraine Diguer, and an international jury chaired by the Rector of the AUF, Prof. Slim Khalbous, accompanied by :

• Nadia Mzoughi, President of Carthage University ;
• Marie Langevin, Director of the Observatoire francophone du développement inclusif par le genre, OFDIG;
• Hervé Prince, Director of the Observatoire de la Francophonie Économique, OFE;
• Madame Imen Fakhfekh, President of the Tunisian chapter of Project Management Institute, PMI.

The jury rewarded four winning teams:

• ^1st Jury Prize(3,000 euros): Un nid pour réussir" project (Université Omar Bongo, Gabon) led by Marina EYANG MVE, Félix Edgard AWAKOSSA and Larissa MINKUE BENGONE.
• Project for a connected university day nursery based on solidarity
• ^2nd Jury Prize (2100 euros): Parcours invisible" project (Université du Québec à Montréal, Quebec) led by Mélina DORVAL, Tobi RODRIGUE and Vanessa HECTOR.
• Project to reintegrate socially excluded women by organizing sightseeing tours of Montreal.
• ^3rd Jury Prize (1500 euros) : Was'delle" project (Senghor University, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Cameroon) led by Jeanne Christelle MBALLA MENGOUMOU, Moulicath BAKARI and Emery LIKAKA LOKITA Abichirou.
• Project for a connected watch to track the menstrual cycle of young girls and women.
• Special partner prize(1,500 euros): "Pisciculture sociale" (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast) by Sephora GORÉ, Abichirou OUATTARA and Anne-Marie KOUAKOU.
• Project for the socio-economic integration of women through training and support in fish farming.

The finalists also awarded a "Coup de cœur" prize (900 euros) to the "ECODIVA" project (University of Nouakchott Al-asriya, Mauritania) led by Ramata LY, Batouli LY and Mohamed SY.

• Circular economy project offering clothing and accessories made from recycled textiles.

This international event was organized with the support of World Affairs Canada, and in partnership with the Observatoire francophone du Développement Inclusif par le Genre (OFDIG) and the Observatoire de la Francophonie Économique (OFE), with the participation of Project Management Institute (PMI).

Source: www.auf.org/