The government has undertaken a project for developing skills of rural women, helping them alleviate poverty and become economically self-reliant.
The project titled "Strengthening Women's Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO)" has an estimated budget of Tk 8.57 billion.
Out of the fund, the government will provide Tk 2.16 billion.
The local government division, which is the under the local government, rural development and cooperatives ministry, revealed the details of the project at a workshop in Dhaka on Thursday.
The project, which will be implemented in a few days in Kurigram and Satkhira districts, will end in December 2019.
The project will be implemented in 22 districts of the country. Rural poor women of 1030 unions will be brought under the project.
A total of 36 women abandoned by husbands, destitute women and widows of each union council will get the chance for repairing roads and embankments, cleaning unused ponds and tree plantation.
Each of the women will get Tk 200 a day for their work. The work will continue for 18 months. Of the amount, they have to deposit Tk 50 in banks as mandatory savings.
They will also be given training in health care and nutrition, relationship between men and women, women rights, climate change and how to deal with the natural disasters and small entrepreneurship.
SWAPNO is a social transfer project for ultra-poor women with a strong focus on human capacity building during the 18 months of employment tenure, which includes life skills training, confidence building and empowerment.
Poor women are provided opportunities to move out of extreme poverty by a graduation package comprising vocational skills training, job placement, resilient livelihood options, market implemented by the local government division.
The five-year project target the most vulnerable rural poor women with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), sustainable development goals fund (SDGs- F), the Spanish Cooperation and the International Labour Organisaiton (ILO).
Secretary of local government division Abdul Malek said there was no alternative to women empowerment for the country's development. The project will help the ultra-poor women in rural areas become self-reliant.
Country Director of UNDP Sudipta Mukerjee, Country Director of international Labour Organisaiton (ILO) Srinivas B Reddy, Charge-de-Affaires of the Embassy of Spain in Dhaka Alejandra Lopez Garcia and joint secretary of local government division Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian were present on the occasion, among others.
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