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DECISIONS
FOR LIFE project is to
raise awareness amongst young female
workers about their employment opportunities
and career possibilities,family
building and the work-family balance.
The lifetime decisions adolescent
women face, determine not only their
individual future, but also that
of society: their choices are key
to the demographic and workforce
development of the nation. |
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DECISIONS
FOR LIFE focuses on 14
developing countries, notably Brazil,
India, Indonesia, the CIS countries
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, and the southern African
countries Angola, Botswana, Malawi,
Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia
and Zimbabwe. It targets adolescent
women in the service industries
because these industries employ
the majority of working women aged
15-29 and because these industries
are growing in (almost) all 14 countries.
The project zooms in on eight occupational
groups, notably call centre operators,
secretaries, bookkeepers, IT programmers,
sales persons and cashiers in retail,
front office workers / receptionists
in hotels, travel agency intermediaries
in tourism and housekeepers in hotels.
It is estimated that in the 14 countries
selected 10 to 12 million female
adolescents aged 15-29 work in the
services industries concentrated
in urban areas. |
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DECISIONS
FOR LIFE deploys two mutually
reinforcing approaches to raise
awareness. First, trade unions campaign
through the channels at their disposal,
aiming to reach 10,000 women.These
campaigns include face-to-face meetings,
training sessions and dissemination
of offline materials. Second, the
Internet is used to reach one million
women in the 8 occupational groups
mentioned. Given these occupations
and the urban areas where they are
concentrated, it may be safely assumed
that the Internet is an efficient
medium for reaching them. |
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DECISIONS
FOR LIFE
will be rolled out in India on October
7 in association with the International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), UNI
Global union, Indian
Institute of Management-Ahmedabad(IIM-A)
and Wage
Indicator Foundation, a Netherlands-based
NGO that focuses on wage parity
for women at work.
DECISIONS
FOR LIFE
will interview women and select
employers, conduct workshops on
rights at work, training sessions
to enhance women’s communication/language
skills, provide tips to improve
relationship/productivity at work
and work-life balance.
DECISIONS
FOR LIFE
will zoom in on eight occupational
groups: call centre operators, secretaries,
bookkeepers, IT programmers, sales
persons and cashiers in retail,
front office workers/receptionists
in hotels, travel agency intermediaries
in tourism and housekeepers in hotels.
“The
age group 15-30 years is consciously
chosen. It’s a very critical
age bracket for women, as most of
life’s key decisions —
going for higher studies, picking
a career, choosing a life partner
and developing a family —
are taken in this period. We are
helping women in developing countries
to make well-informed personal and
professional choices, as the status
of women folk is expected to be
critical in the growth of all developing
economies.’’
The decisions of women determine
not only their individual future,
but also that of society. Their
choices are key to the demographic
and workforce development of the
nation.
A study on why women drop out of
work will also be conducted simultaneously.
“The number of women drop-outs
is on the rise. It is a cross-country
scenario and nothing exclusively
Indian about it. Our objective is
to get to the bottom of this issue
to find what are the factors that
lead to their untimely retirement.
It could be unflexible working hours,
night-working, the societal mindset,
sexual harassment or commuting issues,’’
UNITES
Professionals, India
will co-ordinate this project in
India. The campaign take-away report
will be submitted to the union ministry
of labour and ILO.
The
Inaugural meeting was held at
The
Hotel Chancery, Lavelle
road, Bangalore on 9th &
10th June 2009 |
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Picture
Gallery |
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