Work and Training

Members of the COMUCAP co-operative making orange wine [Marcella Haddad]

Up to 160 million workers worldwide are currently unemployed and 500 million are unable to earn more than $1 a day

In many developing countries, only a small proportion of the population is in paid employment, as most people provide for their families through farming or fishing.

Even for those who are in work, underemployment (working fewer hours than needed to make ends meet) is common, as is low productivity, because of a lack of resources, skills, or ill health.

A livelihood is more than just a job. To make a living, people need skills, assets – such as equipment, credit, and a market to sell to – and an occupation.

Developing sustainable livelihoods means jobs which are able to withstand economic or climatic fluctuations and don’t harm the environment.

Training and skills

Education makes individuals employable, allowing them to escape poverty. Vocational training – training for work – improves people’s earning opportunities, and widens their choice of career opportunities.

But training is not just about paid work. It strengthens potential and helps people use resources to improve their own lives. This often involves social skills as much as occupational skills.

section highlights

Skills training for former child soldiers Caritas Makeni provides vocational training for former child soldiers, such as Aminata, during Sierra Leone’s civil war

Weaving as the wise men The Twelve Wise Men weaving co-operative in Guatemala was so named because it was started by just a dozen men, but has grown so much that its wares are now sold all over the country

Cooperative cashes in When Ilaria Garcia and her family lost all their crops during Hurricane Mitch in 1999, COMUCAP was on hand to help. Now Ilaria Garcia is member of a shampoo and soap making cooperative.

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