AID cooperative agreement no. 521-0182-A-00-5061-00 non-governmental support III, input no. 7 with OEF International for establishing a factory worker"s center in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Overseas Education Fund International (OEF) will implement the project. OEF will establish the FWC at a location easily accessible to the workers, possibly at the Societe Nationale des Parcs Industriels (SONAPI). The FWC will begin by working with 5 factories operating within or near the SONAPI, and will expand to include 15 companies by the end of the project. To help "empower" the workers, the FWC will transfer skills, knowledge, and motivation to the factory workers through non- formal education. A core program will offer an estimated 12 hours training, focusing on such concepts as self-respect, self- determination, personal and on-the-job goals, and the transfer of FWC-training to real life situations. As women show signs of leadership, they will be given extra training and responsibility as leaders, promoters, or facilitators. Other programs may be developed based on the workers" expressed needs (e.g., programs in microenterprise development, vocational training, housing, and work-related health care); however, emphasis will be put on facilitating access to existing service programs rather than on creating new ones. Some 300 women are expected to benefit directly from the project. Male workers will be allowed to participate only after the women- oriented programs are functioning.