Northern Areas Reduction-of-Poverty Initiative Project -- Women's Economic Empowerment Project

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The development objective of the Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative: Women's Economic Empowerment Project is to facilitate access to employment opportunities in the garment sector for poor and vulnerable women from lagging areas of Bangladesh by providing information, technical and life skills training, transitional housing, and other support to adjust to urban life and formal sector employment. There are four components to the project, the first component being Raising awareness and selecting candidates in the Monga-prone districts of northern Bangladesh. This component aims to share information about the project with the people of the five Monga-prone districts of northern Bangladesh, namely, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur, and select beneficiaries from among these populations. The second component is the establishing training centers with dormitories in the Export Processing Zone (EPZs) located in Dhaka, Ishwardi, and Karnaphuli. The third component is the providing initial training and on-going support to beneficiaries. This component will finance initial training and ongoing support to project beneficiaries in their transition to formal employment in the garment factories and life in the areas surrounding the EPZs. Finally, the fourth component is the supporting coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), and program for expansion.