Women Empowerment project through Tailoring, Sewing, and Embroidery:

/in /by

Re-establish the women’s cooperative and reorganize the 40 graduated women in the tailoring sewing and embroidery center, Nili city, Daikundi province.

Main activities:

  1. Reestablishment of Women’s cooperative.
  2. Reorganizing the 40 graduated women in the comparative center.
  3. Conducting refresher and on-the-job practical training.
  4. Preparing and purchasing raw material.
  5. Tailoring center setup, repairing and reinstalling tailoring machine.
  6. Preparing and installing solar panels and all its requirement and necessary equipment such as batteries inverters and charge controllers.
  7. Conducting Marketing training.

Project objectives:

  1. Reactivation of women cooperative and reorganizing of women groups (40 trained) in the Nili city
    of Daikundi province.
  2. Creating employment opportunities for 40 trained trainees who had received basic training in
    sewing, hand-embroidery, and handicrafts.
  3. Collecting and moving tailoring machines, sewing equipment, and supplies, from remote villages
    back to a center in the Nili City of Daikundi province.
  4. Providing raw materials, and facilitating the workplace by conducting short-term refresher
    training,
  5. Re-introducing women entrepreneurs, and their products, to the market and linking them to the
    wholesalers and retailers.
  6. Reorganizing women groups under the cooperative umbrella and making them ready to start their
    own business

Project Summary:

This project was launched in 2019 by CAWC through UNHCR financial support covering 40 returnees and displaced women, in Daikundi province. The duration of this project was 11 months from Feb 1st, 2019 to Dec 31st, 2019. During this period, women received comprehensive training on tailoring, sewing, and handicrafts by two well expert male and female trainers. After 10 months of training, the trainees received the graduation certificate, and the project training phase was completed. The project training phase ceremony was officially held in presence of provincial-level authorities at the end of the project. CAWC has intended to hand over the project to the Local Government with the coordination of UNHCR. Since neither the Government sectorial departments in Daikundi province nor UNHCR were able to take over the project and provide further technical, financial, marketing and accommodation centers for the trained trainees. So, the governor of Daikundi province recommended that CAWC as a local NGO with the partnership of UNHCR must help the trained women through a follow-up program with the aim of sustainability of the program.
The trained women were not able to develop their business individually or within groups due to their poverty and lack of financial support. Besides that, some of the trainee women were not able to work independently because during the 10-month course they did not fully learn the necessary tailoring skills. Referenced the above-mentioned issues, CAWC Office decided and initiated to set up a follow-up program and arrange beneficiaries within 5 groups. CAWC established a cooperative center for the trained women in the center of Nili city and under the cooperative platform the following activities have been conducted:
1. Establishing matching long-term and short-term loans.
2. Establishing a selling shop in Nili city.
3. Establish women’s membership saving account for small quick loans mechanism

4. Market management and product supervision.

5. Saving box collecting membership plan and monthly meeting.

6. An arrangement of using the heavy-duty tailoring machine in the center in groups when needed.

7. Establishment workshop for each group in the different locations of the city.

 Recommendation:

  1. A bridge fund must for a period of six months is needed. The focuses should be on reactivating the women’s cooperative, including a four-month refresher training and two months of marketing and preparation.
  2. Since the tailoring beneficiaries were chosen from the returnees, displaced, and women who are the head of the family, and they are the most vulnerable people in the society a monthly stipend is needed until they run their own business.
  3. For their business sustainability, the tools and equipment must be fixed and unprocessed materials to be provided for them as a resource of continuation for their future business.
  4. CAWC should have the commitment to reactivate cooperative structure, groups detail information, contact number, loan, and saving system, methodology of the cooperative action plan, Market linkage, and contact of wholesalers and retailers, reorganize the group, and ultimately shift them to the market in Daikundi province, even in the big market of Ghazni Bamyan and Kabul city.

Summary budget:

Item Amount Narrative Section
Requested budget for train’s stipend, purchasing tailoring raw materials, repairing tools equipment, and refresher for 40 trainees. USD 31,360 Fabric Cloths for 6 groups per group monthly $500 ( 6x500x6=$18000)
Repairing and reinstalling tailoring machine 6 groups (6X200 =$1200)
Food /Refreshment for 40 trainees for6 months $39 per months per trainees = $1.5 per trainees per day (40x4x39=$9360)
Stipend for 40 trainees each trainees 20$ per months (40X5x20= $4000
Requested budget for Management staff: project supervisor, Trainer,
market manager, Guard, and cook		 USD 8,800 Project supervisor 6 months per month $500 (6×500 =$ 3000)
Market manager 3 months per months $ 500 (3×500 = $1500)
Trainer 5 months Per month 500 (5×500 =$ 2500)
Guard 2person 6 months each person per months $150(2x6x150=$1800)
requested a budget for Equipment, such
as a Ruler, scissor, cutter, paper, cable
electrical wire and etc.		 USD 1,500 150 VA batteries $150 per number (8×150 = $1200
Necessary tools for groups such as Ruler, scissors, cutter, paper, cable, electrical wire and etc. $300
Operation cost 6% USD 2,500 Tailoring Machine, solar panel, and 6 months center rent
CAWC contribution In-Kind Tailoring Machine, solar panel, and 6 months center rent
Total requested budget USD 44,160 6 months women empowerment project through tailoring, sewing, and embroidery