Background

The tsunami caused extensive damage in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry as well as in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As per initial estimates of a joint WB/ADB/UN assessment mission, 645,000 families in the four States and approximately 1.2 million workers, mainly in the informal economy were affected. Meetings with employers representatives on rehabilitation initiatives brought out the following main potential areas for collaborative activities with the ILO in the affected areas:

• Entrepreneurship and skills training, including Start/Improve Your Business programmes, Business Development Services, specially for women and young people;
• Facilitating initiatives through cooperatives/self-help groups of fishers and others for livelihoods; and
• Working with local associations of trade and industry.

Objectives

To provide support to employer organizations, trade associations and local chambers of commerce and industry to facilitate their linkages with SHGs and small and micro enterprises to recover from the tsunami impact.

Strategy

The project focuses on immediate direct action to improve the efficacy of income generation and micro enterprise activities by SGHs and others in Tamil Nadu. These SGHs and micro enterprises will, in the first instance, be linked to member companies for marketing support. Simultaneously, the member companies would provide training, advice and other technical inputs to enable these micro enterprises to take greater advantage of market opportunities within the member companies and elsewhere in the economy.