Women Empowerment Center (WEC)
Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal has established Women Empowerment Centres (WEC) throughout the country at district level including Azad Kashmir & Northern Areas since 1995. These centers are providing free vocational training to widows, orphan & poor girls in modern professional skills like, dress designing, embroidery, Basic & Advance Computer Courses, beautician course, Tie & Dye and fabric painting. 162 number of WECs have been established so far throughout Pakistan in phased manners. Trainees of these centers are being paid stipend of Rs. 50/day on attendance basis. Current strength of these centers is 162 (Punjab - 55, Sindh - 33, Khyber Pakhtunkwa + FATA - 30, Balochistan -22 , Gilgit Baltistan- 6 & ICT/AJK/ -16). Low-income group of women/girls are trained in two shifts of 60 trainees, bi-annually. Out of 162 WECs 128 centers have been diversified with introduction of market oriented trades i.e IT training, beautician and cooking courses (Punjab - 47, Sindh- 31, Khyber Pakhtunkwa + FATA- 23 Balochistan- 15 Gilgit Baltistan -2 & ICT/AJK - 10). According to the requirement of area, local skills are also being imparted in these centers.
List of Women Empowerment Centres (WEC)
Objectives
Train low-income group of women
Focus on poor widows and orphan girls
Training emphasis on income generating activities
Enrolment Criteria
Feasibility on the basis of two shifts of 30 trainees in each, with 2 instructors and 1 Qaria. Availability of poor and needy trainees with no support or source of income in the following categories:-
Widows with dependent children
Orphans
Destitute
Poor Female
Involvement of local public representative
Salient Features
Destitute, needy widows, orphan and poor girls are eligible for admission e
Involvement of local community, NGOs / CBOs, philanthropists and social workers is ensured for selection of students on merit
The schools are operated on double shift basis
Daily stipend @ Rs.50/- on attendance basis is paid to each trainee
Number of trainees for one session (two shits) of six months duration is 120
Courses offered are cutting, drafting, tailoring, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, basic & advance computer courses, beautician course, tie & dye and fabric painting and hand knitting
Raw material is provided free of cost
PBM endeavors for registrations of these Women Empowerment Centre with National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC).
Achievement
Presently 12,377 trainees are benefiting from training in these schools, whereas 277,238 trainees have been passed out.
