Story Continued

Vital Voices Global Partnership, through its Income Generation and Skills Training for Afghan Women program, seeks to provide jobs for women by training and employing women to produce school uniforms for girls in Afghanistan. By the end of the project, Vital Voices expects to employ over 550 women to produce 75,000 school uniforms.

The program addresses the fact that many Afghan women do not have the skills necessary to generate income for themselves and their families, and those that do have the skills have few or no job opportunities. Afghan girls have been denied schooling for years. As they return to school, they need school uniforms, which their families cannot afford to provide. The former Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs, Dr. Sima Samar, asked Vital Voices Global Partnership (VVGP) for help in getting uniforms, shoes and socks for Afghan schoolgirls.

The target audience is widows and returning Afghan refugees, including women of all ethnicities and women with disabilities (women with disabilities who are homebound will be able to sew at home). Only women who are unemployed will be eligible to participate in the training.

Their partner is the Ministry for Women Affairs, who helps Vital Voices supervise coordination with the Afghan government, set-up training and employment sites, and select women to work in the program. Vital Voices then trains the seamstresses, cutters, quality control personnel, and sewing supervisors before distributing and monitoring wages and material (fabric, sewing machines, thread, etc.).

The Women's Bureau is proud to share the information about this project with our eNews readers.

e-News Alert -- Use this mailbox to be notified of upcoming e-News letters.

For More Information About WB, Contact:
U.S. Department of Labor
Women's Bureau
200 Constitution Avenue, NW - Room S-3002
Washington, DC 20210
Telephone 1-800-827-5335 or (202) 693-6710
Fax (202) 693-6725