Women in Factories training funded by Walmart
The Walmart Foundation increased to $10 million its investment in an educational program on track to provide training to 60,000 women in 150 factories.
The increased funding commitment to the Women in Factories program begun in 2011 was announced in Beijing by Scott Price, CEO of Walmart Asia at the 2014 APEC CEO Summit. The Women in Factories program has already provided training to 40,000 female factory workers and by the end of 2016 the figure is expected to increase to 60,000 women at factories in India, Bangladesh, China, El Salvador, and Honduras.
"We want to help empower women around the world through this training that teaches critical work and life skills, because we are committed to the communities and people in our supply chain," Price said during a high-level roundtable discussion with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and CEO’s of other multinational companies in attendance at the APEC Summit. "We are investing in our global communities by making this training available to any factory or organization who wants it."
Price also announced details of a Women in Factories curriculum, developed by CARE with funding from the Walmart Foundation, which will soon be available to any factory or organization interested in providing job readiness and life skills training to its workers. By making this curriculum available at no cost, the training will enable greater impact by reaching more workers throughout the global supply chain. Among the modules are financial planning, health and wellness, time management, career development and leadership. The curriculum is open sourced with both foundational training and advanced training modules.
The curriculum has been adapted for each of the countries where the program is operating. Implementation partners include CARE in Bangladesh; BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) in China; Swasti Health Resource Center in India; and World Vision in El Salvador and Honduras. The evaluation of the Women in Factories program is being conducted by Tufts University under the leadership of Dr. Drusilla Brown.
The Women in Factories program is part of the larger Walmart Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative (WEE) that aims to train nearly one million women, increase sourcing from women, and in doing so improve the lives of underserved women. The WEE initiative is focused on the areas of sourcing, training and diversity and inclusion.