Gender mainstreaming is one of ERRA’s cross cutting themes ensuring equal opportunities for women and girl child for education and health, economic empowerment, and training. Today ERRA signed an MoU with AHAN (Aik Hunar Aik Nagar), and Social Welfare Women Development Department AJ&K. The programme aims to provide opportunities for income generation to vulnerable women by linking them with markets. The MoU was signed by Maroof Afzal, CEO AHAN, Secretary Women Development Department AJ&K, and Brig Warraich. Chairman ERRA, Altaf Muhammad Saleem and Deputy Chairman ERRA, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Haroon Aslam were also present at the occasion.

The project, worth Rs. 3.69 million, will be implemented in collaboration with AHAN (Aik Hunar Aik Nagar), a ‘Not for Profit’ company, set up by the Ministry of Industries & Production. This project will ensure that products prepared by women cater for emerging market trends along with providing market access to women, for their products with a healthy profit margin. This project will help develop skills of poor women in AJK in Kashmiri embroidery and stitching, and also link them to designers and markets where they can earn decent profits. The women will be selected using information from the “Targeted Vulnerability Survey” conducted by ERRA, which identified vulnerable persons in AJK and KP.

Speaking on the occasion the Chairman ERRA said that while ERRA successfully put in place an effective monitoring and evaluation system ensuring compliance to standards of our newly reconstructed buildings, however, the soft sectors like livelihood, gender mainstreaming and disaster risk reduction are some of the strengths that differentiate ERRA from other authorities of the world. While the concept of build back better is perused, we also have ensured gender mainstreaming to bring vulnerable women into mains stream of life and today’s MoU is an example of ERRA’s commitment to the people of affected areas.

Deputy Chairman said that ERRA is conscious of the fact that while women make up over 50% of the population, providing equal opportunities and ensuring providing safe working environment to women is not only vital for economical development of Pakistan, but being a signatory to international pacts on gender equality, ERRA has incorporated gender equality in letter and spirit. He also said that implementing Governments resolve to provide equal opportunities to women and ensure no tolerance for harassment at workplace; a three member committee has been formulated in ERRA which will ensure implementation of the protection of harassment of women at workplace 2010 act. He also said that keeping in view women population was most vulnerable in the aftermath of EQ 2005 due to loss of lives of male members, it was vital to futuristically strategize options for providing sustainable livelihood to families headed by females, and this is one way where we train a mother provide her access to markets and empower them economically.

Under this project 130 women will be trained in batches of 25 for a period of two months, and 30 women will be trained in cutting, stitching and finishing in batches of 10, for two months each. The project will be based at the Women Development Center, Muzaffarabad, which was built by ERRA, and is one of six other Women Development Centers are being built in the EQ affected areas to provide shelter and medical, legal and psychological aid to female survivors of violence.

A Similar project is being developed on “Kohistani and Aar embroidery” for KPK in collaboration with PERRA for Rs. 4,095 million. The proposal, budget and MOU are under discussion with AHAN Peshawar office and will be finalized within this month.