Fifteen women from the Social Welfare Recipient program and the Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons (FNCDP) will undergo three months training in sewing.
The venture, which will be in partnership with the Fiji National University, follows the opening of a sewing centre at FNCDP this week.
FNU course coordinator, Mr Feroz Ali said the training would be for eight hours covering six hours of practical and two hours lectures.
The sewing machines were provided by the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China (IPRCC) to empower women into formal sector employment and enhance livelihood.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Dr Jiko Luveni said the centre would not only take Fiji closer to its goal of reducing poverty but complement Fiji’s progress on achieving its Millennium Development Goals.
“This project portrays that given the opportunity, one’s disability and background should not be a barrier to attaining success in life. All participants in the course will each be paid a gazette weekly minimum wage in their path to becoming independent,” Dr Luveni said.
“The amount will be a lot more than what they receive every month through social welfare allowances.”
The ministry also has partnership programs with the hotel industry, National Employment Centre, National Centre for Small and Micro Enterprise Development (NCSMED) and various NGO’s to wean off able bodied clients.
“This project is a result of government’s reform to economically empower the disadvantaged groups and to change the mentality of dependency,” Dr Luveni said
“In the Roadmap for Democracy and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development (2010-2014), government’s target is to graduate at least 3000 able-bodied social welfare recipients into sustainable income generating programs.”
In the next two to three months, the ministry is hoping to establish a similar centre in Savusavu.