DOLE to hold livelihood trainings for displaced women OFWs

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Labor and Employment-7 will be providing livelihood assistance to 50 disadvantaged and undocumented women overseas workers who are returnees from the Middle East Region.

   Lawyer Alvin M. Villamor, DOLE-7 regional director, said in a press statement that the would-be beneficiaries will undergo livelihood skills training on rice and corn trading, financial literacy and business management seminar scheduled on July 28, 2018 at DOLE-7 Regional Office.

The activity, which is spearheaded by the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO-7) under the supervision of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and DOLE-7, will pave the way for beneficiaries to find an alternative income-generating undertaking as one way of augmenting their income.

Dexter Paro, regional director of NRCO-7, in the same statement, said that their office would be shelling out P500,000 to cover the P10,000 worth of financial assistance in the form of starter kit that each OFW would get under the Balik Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Program.

Under this program, eligible beneficiaries are women-OFW returnees while special priority is also given to those who are displaced by hostilities and conflicts in their host country or those who are victims of illegal recruitment and trafficking.

The program aims to enable women-OFW returnees to start and operate a livelihood undertaking for self-employment.

Aside from livelihood skills training, starter kits comprised of two sacks of rice, two sacks of corn, one unit of weighing scale, one piece of scooper and sando bags will also be distributed.

To equip the qualified beneficiaries with the necessary knowledge and skills of running a business, part of the training would focus on rice and corn accreditation, basics of doing business and simple accounting and inventory in close coordination with the National Food Authority, Department of Trade and Industry and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board. — MBG (FREEMAN)