El Salvador Training and income generation

Access to Training and Income Generation for Poor Women is a project of Reledev Australia Limited in conjunction with AusAID and Asociación de Fomento Cultural y Deportivo (AFCD) in El Salvador. This Central American country has a population of 6.5 million people; of these about 37% are in poverty.

This project targets women with as little as 3 years of schooling and who come from rural/marginal-urban locations of San Salvador. It aims to train women in skills that can be used to start a home-based enterprise. These skills include: bread-making, sewing, piñata/paper-flower making, and hairdressing. Illiterate women access piñata/paper-flower making and small business skills. Women are provided with small business skills and technical supervision when starting a business.

The training enables women to generate income for their families while making it compatible with their family obligations. The project uses the existing facilities of Siramá (a women’s training centre operated by AFCD) located in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Women come from as far as 75 kilometers out of San Salvador to receive this training.

The results for the period July 2006-June 2007 include:

Training for income generation
Women trained in at least 1 skill	299	299
Women trained in basic small business skills	115	135
Income Generation
Small business started	115	135
Average additional monthly income	US$50	US$59
Supervision sessions held	345	341

Updated November 2007