Women Skills Training Centre

To cater for the needs of women, who constitute a vulnerable segment of Kashmiri society, a Skills Training Centre was established in the HOPE’87’s camp office in Dhulli, Nar Sher Ali Khan. The Centre was set up with 10 sewing machines, 2 embroidery machines, basic infrastructure and other necessary office furniture for students and staff. It provided a six-month skills training course to women including tailoring, embroidery, knitting and designing home decoration items. 95% of the trained women can use the learnt skills at home and 90% of these women can use their new skills to earn incomes by providing services to their communities. More than 110 women were trained during the project period. Moreover, the project made perfect use of the infrastructure, which was established in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake for the humanitarian aid activities of HOPE’87 for the region. The centre facilities were handed over (as in-kind) to ProLoka, an Austrian NGO, which in turn has secured funding from the Austrian Development Cooperation until 2010. Hailing from different villages, the women have become envisioned, confident and motivated members of their families, on top of having developed new friendships with each other.