Regional Programme to Strengthen the Vocational and Technical
Training of Low-Income Women
RLA/96/MO1/IDB - AT/MH-5081-RG

Introduction (ppt file)  A proposal for action to face the challenge of a training policy
with a gender perspective in the new millenium (zip file)

Description

Main Objective:

The main objective of the programme is to increase productivity and employment opportunities of low-income women. It also seeks to support women participation in development and contributing to the reduction of poverty in the region.

 

The Specific Objectivesof the Programme are:

-Boosting the quality, relevance and gender equity of technical-vocational education and training in the region,
-Bringing about favourable conditions for equal participation by women in TVET,
-Matching training supply to current demands of labour markets,
-Raising the technical level of women and widening the range of their training options,
-Dissemination of models and methodologies developed in the programme throughout Latin American.

Targeted Population

Women at a working age, preferably underemployed, unemployed, self-employed, temporary workers or non-active workers, with low family income, low qualification and household heads.

Beneficiaries

Women targeted for training and their families, the vocational training system, the private entrepreneur sector (through methodological improvement of the training approach and the men and women involved in different activities of the programme.)

Indirect Beneficiaries

-Men who assist to courses on the new curriculum design that has been implemented by the system of vocational and occupational orientation
-Women that have only been through one of the instances of the methodological package,
-Teachers, instructors, directors of the vocational training organisations and associated organisations
-Students and their families
-The private entrepreneur sector through the methodological improvement of the training approach.

 

Main thrust of the programme’s strategy

In the document "A proposal for action to face the challenge of a training policy with a gender perspective in the new millennium" a set of problems are laid out. In the attempt to give solutions to those problems and in the conviction that, in a changing and complex scenario, a project of this type should attain the structural integration of the gender dimension, FORMUJER has laid out a strategy characterized by:

• Acting upon the logic of mainstreaming the gender perspective in order to make considerations on gender singularities an integral part of institutional policy and activities, as well as the planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the vocational training system strategies.
• Adopting specific measures focusing on groups of women in unfavourable conditions (meagre income, low educational level, heads of households, teen-age mothers, etc.), in order to ensure equal opportunities and diversification of women participation so that they achieve: a) horizontal mobility towards activities both dynamic and with high potential at the development level, b) vertical mobility so that they have access to management, supervision and direction, c) access and knowledge of the new technologies, d) training for self-employment.

To reach the above the program will enable women to:

• learn non-traditional competencies: competencies diversification
• access to new niches of employment: creation of new competencies
• reassess the value of old competencies historically performed by women in a non-paid fashion inside their homes. Reassessing the value of old competencies enables women self-worth, innovation and marketing in new niches of employment.

In order to achieve the above, the pedagogical project Formujer has adopted the following strategies:

• Development of a comprehensive and systematic approach that enables institutions to develop co-ordination strategies that complement all the experiences and tools they have incorporated together with the gender perspective. The project seeks to work within the institution as well as with social partners involved in the development process: government, workers, employers, other public and private institutions, local and regional governments, community agents, international organisations, NGOs towards the generation of strategic alliances allowing to modify cultural stereotypes and to identify and promote new areas and better conditions to help women to get employment. The project also seeks to offer methodologies and tools developed by Formujer to assist women singularities and needs that may also improve technical and innovative capacity of the institutions. By way of example, we may mention: the provision for the institutions with a Vocational and Occupational Guidance system for men and women and the provision of training of curricular methodologists on the competency approach and on gender perspective. All these actions require the development of strategies for relating to the productive sector:
• Development of national pilot experiences: implementation of activities in three countries; Argentina, Bolivia and Costa Rica (selected by regional representation criteria, Central America, Andean region and Mercosur) which makes it possible to evaluate and validate methodologies and strategies in different situations but with similar criteria and objectives. It is particularly relevant to mention the diversity of features and scope of the executing agents: in Argentina the state is responsible for the design and implementation of public employment policies, while specific training activities are carried out by third parties, for whom FORMUJER provides technical support. In Bolivia and Costa Rica training is delivered by the VET Institutions themselves, but whereas INFOCAL is privately owned and financed by employers on a voluntary basis, INA is a public entity with private financing governed by law.
• Two operational levels: national and internationally. This is another way of developing a comprehensive approach. Formujer seeks through the permanent retrieval of training experiences and methodologies proved and developed at the international level to move forward in a collective way and to maximize and share resources. The nature and co-ordinating role of CINTERFOR/ILO is an essential element for this strategy adopted by FORMUJER. Its execution allows Cinterfor/ILO to establish institutional synergies that have been considered a systematic objective of the Centre’s action. It is precisely through co-ordination and feedback with the Centre’s other programmes and activities that FORMUJER has managed to develop its own methodological proposal and to convey its gender outlook to those in charge of other projects. Likewise, it is the concurrence between CINTERFOR/ILO and FORMUJER what empowers the interaction and co-ordinated work with the various ILO departments. It has promoted and/or supported various joint activities with the Office for Gender Equality (GENPROM), with the Regional Expert on Gender, the Turin Training Centre, the ILO Area Offices, the Maquila Programme (in-bond manufacture) of Central America, the Gender, Poverty and Employment Programme, etc. All of which implies exchanging information, taking part in activities promoted by colleagues, systematically including the activities of other departments in the web, contributions and comments on materials, programmes, etc.
  It also makes it possible to set up networks for support and co-operation among international specialists, institutions and organisations. In the area of inter-agency co-operation the project has carried out joint activities with UNESCO, ECLAC, UNDP, GTZ, etc. through the channel of CINTERFOR/ILO as a specific technical organisation in matters pertaining to training and gender. FORMUJER is currently collaborating with the IDB in a joint programme with the European Union for the evaluation of training programmes for women.
• Promotion of a new management model with the following criteria: a)Flexibility to retrieve and adapt practices, strengths and institutional peculiarities; b) Articulation and complementation not only between the three participant countries but also with other international and national organisations; c) Co-ordination of objectives and strategies to ensure sustainability and promote methodological innovation, and d) Encouragement of the participation of entrepreneurs, trade unions community agents and beneficiaries.

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