Business and Professional Women International, International Council of Women, International Federation of University Women, Soroptimist International Zonta International.

Project Five-O Celebrates 25 Years - 1980-2005

HISTORY 1980-2005

The Women's Conference in Mexico in 1975 was the first-ever global inter-governmental conference specifically organized to address women's issues and world problems from women's perspectives. The World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Objectives of International Women's Year adobted by the conference set the overall theme of the UN Decade for Women and all other world conferences on women afterwards. This was to be: Equality – Development – Peace.

Participating representatives of women's NGOs left Mexico determined to put these words into action.  

During the years following the Mexico Conference, the presidents of four NGOs, Soroptimist International (SI), International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW), Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), and International Federation of University Women (IFUW), discussed a possible partnership to fulfill the goals of the Plan of Action. An idea was launched by Beryl Nashar, President of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, who after discussing it with people in United Nations agencies and receiving encouragement especially from UNESCO, put it to the presidents of the other organisations. The idea was to organize occupational training centres for less fortunate women particularly in developing countries. It was received enthusiastically. 

In 1979 International Council of Women (ICW) was invited to join the partnership. With their participation the partnership would consist of five women's NGOs that together comprised a substantial world-wide membership. Together they could contribute to the improvement of the status of women through the provision of vocational training to the underprivileged in developing countries. Members of the organisations in these countries would be encouraged to get together and plan the programme.  

The Associated Country Women of the World resigned from the partnership in 1990 and was replaced by Zonta International.

In Copenhagen, during the second Women's Conference in July 1980, the five presidents concluded the discussions so far carried through by correspondence, by agreeing on a partnership to establish joint projects in vocational training/employment skills for women in developing countries. The partnership was given the name PROJECT FIVE-O. Funding would be sought from UNESCO or other UN sources. In their approach to UN bodies the organisations would emphasise their combined strength: they are all worldwide, they have similar objectives regarding the status of women, they have local clubs in the developing countries that would be able to implement programmes, they are all in consultative status with the UN, they represent abt. 75 million volunteer women in 75 countries in all continents.

This agreement to start the partnership was achieved at two meetings, on 13 July and 27 July. 

Before initiating a more extensive programme it was found important to begin with a pilot project to form a useful basis for evaluation. The pilot project as well as any future project would emphasise training in vocational skills enabling the trainees to become self-supporting through employment or other income-generating activities. Family health education should be included in all programmes, and also literay where necessary.

In April 1981, a vocational training centre in Calcutta was selected as pilot project. This project had the local support of all five organisations, and a Local Committee was set up under the leadership of Aroti Dutt. Aroti Dutt was experienced in project work among less fortunate urban and rural women, being already president and manager of the Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association which worked for the same purposes, viz. training of women in tailoring and sewing, embroidery, knitting and weaving, literacy, health and child care, and family planning. The Calcutta project also launched mahila samiti, discusssion groups where the women could exchange ideas and become trained in discussing society issues. It also offerered a kindergarden and preschool education.

This first project was funded by a donation from the Virginia Gildersleeve Foundation.

Based on the successful evaluation of the pilot project, other projects were approved in the years to follow. A project in Thailand was approved in 1984. It was situated in the Sri Mahapon region and offered vocational training and education for rural women in improved agricultural skills, handicrafts, sewing, cooking, family education, and herb production.

The next project was in Bacolod in the Philippines, with a programme to train women in food processing, handicraft, health care, environment awareness and other activities appropriate to the environment.

In 1986 a non-typical project was approved in Mexico. It is targeted at young women in the La Paz region where health facilities are scarce, and the project was approved for training and education of nurses. This nursing school has later, in 2003, as the first education institution in Mexico, achieved the ISO 9001:2000 certification. The school educates more than 200 nurses every year.

In the village of Samsun in Turkey a project was approved in 1989 to train women in handicrafts such as sewing, embroidery, knitting and blanket and rug weaving.

Bangladesh was the next country to set up a project. This was in the village of Chandura where women were offered a micro-credit loan to buy hens for egg production. When this project was self-sustainable, another project was set up in the village of Gacha, nearer to Dhaka. The programme of this project is to train women in handicrafts, tailoring and sewing, literary, and health and family planning. A health clinic and pre-school for children 4-6 years are also available, and seminars are organised for the enlightenment on women's issues. 

In 1993 three projects were approved, in Brasilia, Brazil, in Pampanga, Philippines, and Harare, Zimbabwe. These three projects have been completed as Five-O projects.

In 1994 a project was founded in Kathmandu, Nepal. Its programme is for training of women in food processing (pickle), mushroom growing, organic compost making and waste management. Literacy and sewing and tailoring as well as sales technique and accounting are also included. A new project has been launched to offer training to women outside of Kathmandu.

Also in 1994 a project was approved in Samoa. It offers training in tailoring and sewing, handicrafts and home economics. Fruit cakes are made for sale, and also school uniforms.

1995 saw the launch of two projects, Madagascar and Senegal. The Madagascar project offers training in housekeeping, cooking and good manners, catering and pastry making, sewing and embroidery, child welfare and family planning, first aid, French language, management and economy, employment law, women's rights and other necessary issues. The students easily get jobs in hotels, restaurants, homes, and the tourist industry.

The Senegal project was terminated in 2002, after succesful training of women in a village in Eastern Senegal.

A project in Nigeria was also terminated after a few years duration.

Two projects were founded in 1997: Morocco and Grahamstown, South Africa. The Morocco project in the town of Khourigba continues to offer training to women and children in handicraft, tailoring and sewing and enlightenment on women's issues. The Grahamstown project was terminated in 2000. 

Another project in South Africa, in Cape Town, was approved in 1998 and was terminated after five years. It supported the workshop Ikamva Labantu where women were trained to sew stuffed dulls for sale through Community Creations. These dulls, depicting different characters in characteristic dresses, are a great sales success; a great number were sold at the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

Two projects in Benin were also approved in 1998, one in cooperation with IWALEWA, the local branch of BPWI, and the other with CONAFIB, the local branch of ICW. Both offer literacy and vocational training of rural women, first of all in agricultural skills, food processing, environment preservation, health and child care, women's rights and community culture. 

Three projects were approved in 1999: Papua New Guinea, Togo, and Uganda. The PNG project is for training of women in the village of Yalu outside Lae on the north coast.

The Togo project is in Kara where women learn literacy, including French language, marketing and accounting, health care, problem solutions, and hygiene. Micro-credit loans enable women to raise poultry, and handicrafts are made for sale.

The Uganda project is in the Luwero district and offers education in literacy, improved agricultural methods, health, marketing and business administration. Field studies and cultural activities are supplementing the theoretical education. 

In 2001 a new project was founded in the Philippines, in the city of Davao. Certified training in home management and care giving enables the graduates to easily find jobs as household helpers and caregivers. 

2001 also saw the launch of another project in Turkey, in the village of Terme, where the project committee built greenhouses for the village women to grow vegetables for sale and thereby get an income for themselves and their families.

A one-off grant was given in 2002 to the Childline project in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the education of teachers and police officers enabling them to handle the issues of risks, signs and symptoms of abuse of children who come to the Childline Centres. 

As a country in transition from totalitarian Soviet regime to democratic economy Latvia in 2003 was given a grant to support training of rural women in entrepreneurship, including the application for micro-credit loans, to start a small-scale business of their own. Several of the trainees started a business, and in a new programme their experience is used in mentoring and training of new students

The newest project is in Patagonia in Argentina, inaugurated in March 2004. Women of low income in the remote town of Villa La Angostura will be offered courses in computers, including assembling and repair, clay modelling, haute couture sewing, languages, marketing and packaging, to enable them to start production or get a job in the tourist industry 

Some of the projects are small in number of beneficiaries, but combined and over the years thousands and thousands of women have been given the possibility of improving their status in life thanks to the skills learned and the income-generating activities they were able to embark on, and which gave them not only an income, but also higher self-esteem and a happier family life. 

Funds for the financing of the projects have been obtained from the UNESCO Co-Action Programme, but over the years voluntary donations have also come from members of the five organisations in rich countries who have thereby supported their fellow members in the developing countries in their establishment of the projects. These local members in charge of the projects contribute continually with their skills, time, monitoring, and also personal financial contributions, and it is thanks to their devotion and contribution that the less fortunate women in developing countries have got an opportunity to get an income, to improve the life and health of their families, to become aware of women's rights and opportunities.

The activities of the Five-O projects, started in 1980, were begun to fulfill the objectives of the International Women's Year 1975 and the goals of the Women's Decade 1976-1985. Their programmes also comply with the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted 15 years after the foundation of the Project Five-O partnership. They also fully comply with the Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the Millennium Summit in September 2000, to eradicate poverty, to ensure education and improved health, to promote gender equality and empower women. 

Released by Johanne Sorenson – Project Five-O Co-ordinator to celebrate Five-O 25^th Anniversary 

Five-O Website: www.project-five-o.org

BPW International Website: www.bpw-international.org

BPW International Projects Chair: susan.jones@bpw-international.org