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In
Bangladesh, Save the Children helps young women and
adolescent girls, 15-19 years of age, enhance their
productive roles, and thereby broaden economic
opportunities so they can play a decision-making role in
the household. Market research indicates that, whether
married or unmarried, young women/girls take on a range
of activities (both at their homestead and outside the
village) to earn income. Often, these activities are not
well-linked to market opportunities, or their products’
quality needs improvement.
Meherpur district is an agrarian society; the majority
of the workforce is reliant on seasonal agricultural
activities. Seasonal migration of the labor force in
search of work in other districts is rapidly increasing.
Unplanned production and the consequent over-supply of
agricultural products contributes to falling prices of
products, leading to diminished farmers’ incomes and
unstable financial footing for the population.
Objectives:
1.
Conduct a complete participatory community assessment,
covering:
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Economic opportunities
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Constraints to market access
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Employment opportunities
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Identification of ways to maximize impact of current
income and employment generating activities
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Exploration of new income and employment generating
opportunities
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Assessment as to applicability of capacity building
training such as JOBS-established Basic Business
Management and Entrepreneurship Development and
Business Management modules.
It is
expected that these findings will help position Save the
Children for upcoming funding opportunities focused on
economic empowerment of the poorest.
2.
Following the assessment phase and based on the results,
launch pilot interventions to:
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Create market linkages for increased and sustainable
income generation for women, particularly
adolescents and young women with children
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Organize producer groups of adolescents to respond
to the needs/demands of the market
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Provide skill development training to adolescents as
per the market requirements
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Link private sector markets with producer groups
Develop capacity of the adolescents through JOBS’ Basic
Business Management and Entrepreneurship Development and
Business Management training to create self-employment
options and improve income generation. |
