Home / Creative Entrepreneurship for Women(CREW)

Creative Entrepreneurship for Women(CREW)

Project : Creative Entrepreneurship for Women(CREW)

Project Duration: November 2013 – September 2015.

Context

The Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) is a public limited company functioning as a subsidiary of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) under the Ministry of Industries and Production. PASDEC is mandated for the development, promotion and upgrading of the dimensional stone sector in Pakistan.The values guiding PASDEC in relation to the mosaic, crafts and inlay (MCI) sub-sector are poverty alleviation through national development strategies and creative enterprise development to generate sustainable (self-) employment and income-generation opportunities for those who have few means and limited opportunities.

Creative Entrepreneureship for Women (CREW) is a special project, which is supported by the TVET Reform Support Programme as part of the Fund for Innovative Training (FIT) component. The TVET Reform Support Programme is co-financed by the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany and administered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Project Objectives

• Develop a sustainable pool of skilled female workers with ample resources and rich traditional culture in the MCI Sub-sector with the value addition of innovative skills, technical expertise and enhanced design
• Increase value-added productivity, quality and competitiveness for labour intensive job creation and business development
• Add value to subsectors by developing programmes for creativity, design and expertise through training which makes products internationally competitive
• Replicate the model developed by PASDECto achieve gender parity

Target Group

The direct beneficiaries of the project will be 560 women from the areas surrounding industrial hubs in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkwa and rural ICT (Islamabad Capital Territory). The socio-economic characteristics of the target group are poor households, marginalization and little or no income.

The concept indicates in addition that each direct beneficiary will train another 15 women in Business Incubation Centers established by the project in the next ten years. Accordingly, altogether 8,400 women will benefit from these activities.

Methodology

Two training centresfor Mosaic, Crafts and Inlay/MCI-Training will be established in the target areas and will be connected to the Marble & Granite Institute within the Marble City that will have a special MCI-Department to act as a technical coordinating hub for all marble mosaic production and business-related work in Pakistan. To ease the development of market linkages, project training centreswill be located in close proximity to hubs of marble industrial activities.

Expected Outcomes

• About 9,000 women are skilled to generate income to meet basic needs
• Women project beneficiaries are role models for others, encouraging them to join the proposed CREW programmeand enter the market as producers and entrepreneurs
• Linkages between trainingcentres, trainers and trainees/graduates are established with the MCI Centre in Risalpurto improve designs and expertise
• Women entreprenuers are organized in the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and linked to national and international markets

Contact Details: Mr. Lutf ur Rehman
Email: gm.pasdec@gmail.com