EuropeAid Employment EU-Peru Programme for fighting poverty in Metropolitan Lima (PROPOLI) “We hand-knit the sweaters and our goal is to export 200 sweaters a month to the United States and Europe" EC Partner Ministry of Women's Issues and Social Development (Government of Peru) Facts and Figures A total budget of €12 million (EC contribution: 75%) Operates in 10 districts in Metropolitan Lima Project started in 2003 and ended in June 2008 In addition to Emma Cárdenas, another 492 people received grants, subsidies and assistance for Business Initiatives in 2005 52% of selected projects were submitted by women Emma Cárdenas, 53, produces handmade alpaca sweaters (Labor Complex for Disabled People) Context The PROPOLI programme has found its strategic partners in the fight against poverty in the local governments of 10 districts of Metropolitan Lima. They play a key role in the design and management of social programmes, as well as in the implementation of active plans for the districts' economic development. Objective To contribute to the social and economic integration of lower-income families by incorporating them into development processes. To develop capacities by analysing the situation and identifying problems of the target group, thereby facilitating the learning process and the elaboration of solutions. To decrease the structural inequalities that contribute to political and socio-economic marginalization. Impact The "Business Initiative Fund" (FIE) financed the creation of 780 micro enterprises in the sector of production, services and trade. Close to 10.000 micro enterprises received training, consultancy and technical assistance for their development through 'Bono', a component of the PROPOLI programme. The programme "Entreprising Women" allowed 700 women to engage in trade activities, notably through trade fairs. For more information: http://www.propoli.org MDG 1 Employment EU-Peru Programme for fighting poverty in Metropolitan Lima (PROPOLI) Emma Cárdenas' story Seated at a round wooden table that takes up most of the space in the small room, eight women of varying ages chat and laugh non-stop as they expertly knit alpaca wool sweaters. They are part of a larger group of 50 who have been brought together by Emma Cárdenas to produce handmade sweaters for export. The 50 women gather each afternoon in the facilities of the Labor Complex for Disabled People (Cecolamin), in Lima's Villa El Salvador district, to knit sweaters that will be sold in shops in Europe and the United States. Some of the women are accompanied by their children, who run around while the sweaters take shape on the knitting needles. Adjusting the dark glasses she always wears because of her blindness, though never pausing for a second in her knitting, Cárdenas answers a question that has not been asked, but which she has heard many times before: "You don't need to see the knit; you can knit only through touching". Cárdenas not only knits, but also helps skin the alpaca wool. She emphasizes that "everything here is handmade". It is the work of craftspeople that makes it so valuable. This is why our goal is to export". Emma says that the first step after receiving approval of the project and financing from PROPOLI's Business Initiative Fund (FIE) was selecting the future knitters and training them. Next came the sweaters. "We provide the knitters with raw materials and pay them for the final product", she says. The third step is to find export markets, "because we don't sell anything in Peru, everything will be sold outside the country". With her contagious optimism, Cárdenas says that doors in Europe and the United States are already opening for the group's sweaters. Emma Cárdenas EuropeAid