While ICECD has trained and prepared entrepreneurs out of 45,000 widows across India, 13,000 of them have been trained in Gujarat alone.
Hina Shah, director of International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (ICECD), Bopal, believes in empowering women in practical ways.
Having received the PMI award for making noteworthy contribution to the community, Shah vows to continue her work for the betterment of society, especially widows.
"Helping widows with respect to earning their livelihood is not enough. They need to be empowered to fight their own battles, without feeling lonely, and that is exactly what we are doing," says Shah.
She adds that they have been able to develop entrepreneurial capabilities of these widows to kick-start and successfully run small business ventures.
While ICECD has trained and prepared entrepreneurs out of 45,000 widows across India, 13,000 of them have been trained in Gujarat alone. "There were initial hurdles, such as the families downrightly forbidding widows to go out of the house to seek work. But when these families were told about the income pattern and various products a woman could generate with respect to establishing a business, they agreed," Shah recalls.
At ICECD, widows are provided training in capacity building by virtue of which they can grow into successful entrepreneurs. From selling snacks to animal fodder, running a shop to managing a bhajiya counter on roads, from making phenol to soaps and more — the centre has helped the women to explore various avenues and earn a livelihood in the range of Rs1500-25,000.
In 2006, ICECD formed a new base by implementing a unique pilot project for economic rehabilitation of more than 3500 widows in rural Gujarat along with the women and child development department and social security department of the state government.
The project successfully enabled 90% of these widows to start small businesses or get linked to skilled employment.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}