PROJECTS

2016 – 2017

Capacity Enhancement of 100 Home Based Women Workers (excluded group) to enable access to a decent income and strengthen APWA Skill Centre

Location: Lahore, Multan and Bahawalpur

The overall objective of the project is to enhance the capacity of the Women Home Based Workers (HBWs). This is to be achieved through training women in skill enhancement and business management, essential to start and sustain a successful enterprise.
The initiative will strengthen market linkages with the selected group of 100 HBWs.

The participants engaged in extensive capacity enhancement training to strengthen existing artisan skills to improve the quality of their final products. These interventions were showcased as pilot projects.

Vigorous advocacy was also undertaken with the provincial government for the implementation of specific policy measures – as described under the draft HBW Action Plan and Punjab Women Economic Empowerment Package. The aim was to promote HBWs access to the market and women businesses, especially at a micro level.

Both districts of South Punjab are very rich in culture and skills. Women of this area are traditionally taught a different type of handworks like embroidery, Mukesh, Chunri, Gota and stonework. Although the women are proficient in their field, they are deprived and unaware of the worth of their labor. The purpose of such training is to polish their skills according to market trends and better techniques. It is also to update designs and patterns in order to make the product attractive and enhance its value. The aim was to train at least 35 women from each district including a minimum of 5 disabled women within 3 cities. This was ensured with the help of Fiends of APWA.

 

2014 – 2016

Decent Work for Domestic Workers (DW4DWs): Training 1000 women as Domestic Workers

Location: Lahore

APWA joined hands as an implementation partner with International Labor Organization (ILO) for a program DW4DW in order to train 1000 women as domestic workers; place them in decent work conditions; and draft a legislative framework for domestic workers according to the ILO Convention 189 on domestic work.

The training program aimed to provide employment opportunities to 1000 women who want to join or are already working as domestic workers by providing them with certified skill training and entrepreneurial skills; provide job placement in accordance with ILO Convention 189 guidelines (for example, minimum wage and grievance compensation). This will strengthen their position by making them aware of their rights; and provide a model on which a draft legislation for domestic workers can be based. These skilled domestic workers will, in turn, help the families that employ them to join the labor force, as they will be able to pass on their household responsibilities to trained, reliable domestic workers. The initiative will help bring equitable economic growth in the region.

Objectives and expected results

  • To train 1000 women workers in certified skills of domestic work and supplementary skills such as occupational safety and health, workers rights and negotiation; along with enhancing their capacities to manage multiple household tasks more efficiently
  • To test some of the elements of a strategy to provide decent work to domestic workers such as contracts, calculating payment of wages
  • To establish a databank of graduates and link them to placement service providers
  • To initiate a legislative framework for domestic workers and advocate for the ratification of ILO C189

2012 – 2013

WRN (WOMEN REGIONAL NETWORK) Exploring Women’s Voices

Location: Baluchistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)

Women’s Regional network (WRN) is a new initiative that recognizes the need for women to participate in any dialogue on peace, stability, security, economic and social development, as a means of increasing the success of these efforts.

Founded in 2011, WRN is a network of individual women civil society leaders who aim to connect communities of women leaders from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The objective is to work together to strengthen women’s rights and security, learn from each other, and construct common agendas across borders. It is a platform that brings together women’s rights organizations and experts from South Asia, to thematically focus on the linkages between security and extremism, corruption, and the militarization of aid and development as they impact women’s lives. The Network aims to help build enduring and productive relationships among women leaders in South Asia, to ensure that women’s concerns and voices are included in all levels of dialogue and agenda setting.

The role of the Women’s Regional Network is facilitative: to assist communities of women to share their successes, learn from each other’s challenges, construct common agendas across borders, and pursue ways to collaborate and advance common goals and values to bring stability and equitable economic growth to the region.

 

2011 – 2012

SUBH-E-NAU A digital Story Album For learning action and change

Location: Lahore

Subh-e-Nau is a collaborative project of All Pakistan Women Association (APWA), Punjab and University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore. The rationale of this initiative was to empower women survivors of violence by training them to use information and create their digital stories. It also aimed at helping them to identify and use online support networks for self-healing and to voice their concerns.

This project was funded by Bytes for All, Pakistan, Information technology Enabled Services (ITES) and Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT through a subgrant provided by the Association.

2009 – 2010

Training Programmes for Spouses of HIV/AIDS Immigrants

Location: Lahore

Pakistan, unfortunately, has become a member of the list of countries that are affected by HIV and AIDS. It is estimated by The Joint United Nations Team on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) that around 97,000 people were living with HIV in Pakistan at the end of 2009. The number of cases officially recorded was much lower and this trend has not changed much in recent years. The reason for under reporting is largely owing to the social stigma attached to HIV along with limited surveillance, inadequate counselling and testing systems, and the lack of knowledge among the general public and health practitioners.

UNAIDS is leading the global effort to end AIDS by 2030 as part of the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals. Since it began operating in 1996, UNAIDS has inspired, and supported initiatives in different countries to undertake effective campaigns and measures to eventually eradicate HIV.

In this regard, The Joint United Nations Team on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) provides help to the Government of Pakistan in order to plan and implement an effective HIV response throughout the country. To this end, they partnered with some key organisations including All Pakistan Women Association (APWA).

APWA is one of Pakistan’s leading organisations, which has been working for the wellbeing of the women of Pakistan since 1949. APWA has been working with communities at grass root level and maintains a credible and strong platform with an extensive network across urban and rural areas throughout the country for the dissemination of information, to promote advocacy and provide essential education, skill development and health.

APWA Punjab joined hands with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to provide a platform for implementation of vocational training programs and workshops for spouses of HIV/AIDS immigrants.

https://aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/publication/Scorecard_on_Gender_Equality_in_National_HIV_Responses.pdf