Since 2013, the support of TFWA Care has helped Aide et Action’s iLEAD project successfully train hundreds of young people in Trivandrum and Bilaspur, placing them in employment and thereby helping them to improve their living conditions and those of their families. With priority given to girls and young women from marginalized communities such as dalits and landless people where over 80% of beneficiaries live below the poverty line and annual household income of less than Rs.36,000 (US$580).
The objectives of iLEAD programme are as follows:
- To create entry-level employment opportunities for marginalised youth, focusing especially on the poorest sections of Indian society
- To bring about a reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line in the areas concerned
- To encourage personality development, life skills and forward and backward linkages for trainees, thus enhancing their quality of life
- To help those trainees showing exceptional aptitude and interest emerge as successful entrepreneurs and catalysts to generate employment opportunities for others
- To advocate the adoption of similar approaches in private and state-run training programmes focusing on employability and entrepreneurship opportunities.
The programme includes regular contact with local industries and businesses with a view to adapting the course content and providing work placements, while the focus for recruitment continues to be on the most marginalized sections of Indian society. Through iLEAD, Aide et Action continues to seek an end to the poverty cycle in India.