Walking Out of Poverty [WOP] Training on Sewing
Closing Address
by
Sirpa Jarvenpa
Regional Director
South Pacific Subregional Office
Asian Development Bank
Suwa, Fiji Islands
10 February 2006
Invited Guests
Awardees of the 'Walking Out of Poverty' Program
Staff of the International Labor Organization
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Afternoon
Dr. Zakaria, Director of the ILO Regional Office in the Pacific, has given me the privilege to close this important vocational training program in sewing, one in a series of training programs, to up-skill the participants and to contribute to poverty reduction here in Fiji.
As ADB and ILO in 2002 concluded a memorandum of understanding to facilitate collaboration recognizing the complementary expertise of the ILO, particularly in the areas of employment generation and social protection, I was very privileged to accept the invitation from Dr. Zakaria and happy to be here to meet with you and to see for myself and on behalf of ADB some of the skills acquired by the trainees under this famous program entitled 'Walking Out of Poverty.'
Through donor-funded assistance, the ILO has been implementing a series of skills training for three years aimed at economic empowerment of people living in the margins of the community in Fiji and in poverty. I commend the program's diligent and bottom-up approach, promoting and capitalizing on the strengths of individuals to build their productive competencies on a sustainable basis to enable them to lead a dignified life. ILO does not do this in isolation. To achieve these objectives, ILO works with four Government Ministries: including the Ministry for Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation - which also chairs the 'Walking out of poverty' committee; the Ministry of Local Government, Squatter Settlement and Environment; the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources; and the Ministry of Agriculture.
- With the Asia and the Pacific Region is still a home to more than half of the world's poor, ADB shares an over-arching objective with ILO that is clear and unambiguous vision of poverty free Asia Pacific.
- This is directly relevant to us in Fiji. The early statistics provide that around 28% of the population in Fiji live with incomes less than the minimum needed to fulfill the basic life-sustaining needs.
The Walking Out of Poverty has committed to fighting against poverty through its skills training to promote opportunities among women and men.
- Since the year 2003, ILO has trained a total of 314 people with nearly 80% being women.
- Most trainees have also been supplied with the basic tools and equipment to start their own businesses in the field of their newly acquired skills.
Under the program, ILO has targeted the most disadvantaged - the women, for example, that have participated in the program have come from squatter settlements; are single mothers who have no regular source of income; are displaced, street beggars or street children; prisoners' dependents or ex-prisoners; rural inhabitants without land or source of income, or suffer from disabilities.
Again, I commend the organizers of the Program and I would like to congratulate the joint initiative of the Ministries and the ILO in pursuing these noble objectives. It is important that the program is continued. And that the objectives of program are promoted to involve a greater segment of the population to support the disadvantaged in their efforts to improve their lives.
Most of all - I want to commend and congratulate you awardees for participating and succeeding in the program, taking the initiative to expand your possibilities by taking this training seriously and making progress for not only for yourselves but for your families and your communities. I know that you will utilize your newly acquired talent in a meaningful way that with help you to build your lives in the future. Much depends on yourselves, your energy to look forward to your opportunities despite the daily difficulties. I am happy to see you take this first step.
Thank you.
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