Photo Cornelie de Jong 2012
On Monday, September 17, HRH Princess Máxima revealed the number of jobs created for women in rural Indian during the five year anniversary celebration of Women on Wings: 51,300. Over 100 business guests and press representatives bore witness to Princess Maxima’s response: “If you invest in jobs for women, then you invest in the entire family.”
Maria van der Heijden and Ellen Tacoma: “Our aim is to create 1 million jobs for women in rural India. It’s ambitious, but not unrealistic. If we continue to double the figure annually, within ten years we will reach our goal of securing work for 1 million women.”
Maria: “We support Indian companies with knowledge and management advice so they are better able to sell their products. By stimulating growth and development in these companies and organizations, more jobs are created for women in rural India.” “Experience shows that in India a woman with a job spends her income on education for her children,” adds Ellen. In a film about the women working for our client, Jharcraft, the women talk about what a job means to them.
There are currently fifty Women on Wings experts working with fifty Indian organizations to help realize our goal. Women on Wings works without subsidies; the input of experts is given on a voluntary basis. This is one of the reasons why international companies and organizations such as AkzoNobel, DHL, IKEA Foundation, Hyva Group and Cordaid are delighted to help meet the aims of Women on Wings.
