Enhancing women’s entrepreneurship in Kenya: Initial qualitative assessment of the ILO’s GET Ahead business training programme
English
ILO
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Other sources
Experts from many international, regional and national agencies generously share their views, experiences and findings on skills, helping policy-makers among other stakeholders to understand the linkages between education, training and the world of work, and how to integrate skills into national development planning to promote employment and economic growth.
Other topic
Rural employment
Eight out of 10 of the world’s working poor who live on US $1.25 per day live in rural areas, where many are caught in vulnerable employment, especially in agriculture.Flourishing rural areas are vital to regional and national development. Yet, rural economies tend to face a wide range of challenges that urban areas are more likely to overcome. These include access to transportation, sanitation and health services, and a consumer base in close proximity to support small and medium enterprise development. Women and men working in rural areas also face difficulties associated with a paucity of economic opportunities, under investment, poor infrastructure and public services, including education, and, in many cases, weak governance and underdeveloped markets.
Education, entrepreneurship, and physical and social infrastructure all play an important role in developing rural regions. Skills are central to improving employability and livelihood opportunities, reducing poverty, enhancing productivity and promoting environmentally sustainable development.
Evaluation reports
Analytical assessments of technical cooperation programmes and national skills and employment policies, identifying success factors of different interventions in response to particular challenges in different circumstances.
The report examines the preliminary impacts of ILO’s Gender and Enterprise Together (GET) Ahead training program, which targets rural, low-income female entrepreneurs who have low levels of formal education and assists them to overcome gender-based barriers to business success, in four counties of Kenya.
The research reviews challenges women face in running their business and analyzes the initial impacts of the GET Ahead training program. The findings of the report seek to help improve the GET Ahead training program in the future, as well as inform the development of similar programs in Kenya and around the world.
Entrepreneurship
Gender
Rural employment
Rural workers
Women
Africa
