Peruvian Women Are Entering a Profession Thanks to TİKA

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Directorate of Women and Equality at the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima provided dough processing machines and equipment to the workshops at women’s shelters affiliated with the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.

The project, which was implemented by TİKA as part of the “Program for Improving the Status of Women and Ensuring Gender Equality in South America,” aims to support women’s social and economic reintegration and help women to enter a profession.                

As part of the project, basic equipment such as bread ovens, dough kneading machines, refrigerators, mixers, and ovens was provided and delivered to Women’s Shelters in Montenegro and Ate.

In her speech at the delivery ceremony, Rosa María Pazos, Director of Women and Equality at the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, thanked TİKA and said, “Vocational courses were held for women, and the equipment of Women’s Shelters was replaced. Bread baked by these women is consumed all over the region. Therefore, this development was extremely important for us.”

Rosanna Borja Acevedo, Deputy Director of Gender Equality, explained the importance of the equipment provided as part of the project as follows: “Women in these shelters will acquire baking and pastry skills, will improve their skills by working with other women, and will be trained on food production costs, sale prices, and sales techniques. When they leave these Women’s Shelters, they will have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge for entrepreneurship and self-employment.”

C.D., one of the residents of the Montenegro Women’s Shelter, said, “I feel great when I learn new things. I have always wanted to learn baking and pastry arts but never had a chance to do so. I cannot believe that my dream came true. We learn how to use baking equipment and industrial machinery at the Women’s Shelter. Thanks to this training, we will be able to work at a bakery or start our own business when we need to leave the women’s shelter. We use bakery equipment to bake bread, cakes, and various other goods for consumption and sale. My dream is to have my own patisserie.”

Goods baked at the bakeries built in women’s shelters will be consumed in these shelters and sent to other social institutions such as homeless shelters and nursing homes affiliated with the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima. Each year, 120 women will benefit from the training and equipment provided as part of the project.

Lima Women’s Shelters, built as temporary shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect the physical and psychological integrity of women and children who have been subjected to violence, have been home to 227 people so far.

1,044 women in 2020 and 1,804 women in 2021 attended the training courses on business management, social skills, and computer skills at these centers.