TAF Foundation, a non profit organization working for women empowerment through its vocational training institute (TAFF-VTI), has commenced its second training course for marginalized women from all across Karachi. According to an announcement of the TAP Foundation, this rigorous course will impart classroom and practical training in culinary and housekeeping skills, preparing the trainees comprehensively for a career as professional domestic helper.

There is an overwhelming demand for well-trained, groomed and reliable domestic helpers with structured skills. The higher socio-economic segment of Pakistani society presently addresses this need through domestic help imported from other countries like Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. TAFF-VTI is now all set to bring about a paradigm shift, by institutionalizing the domestic help industry in Pakistan through skills development of Pakistani women who are willing to build a career for themselves in this field. Not only there will be an assured supply of local skilled domestic helpers for those who need it, but sustainable livelihoods will also be created for marginalized women of the society.

CEO TAF Foundation, Aatiqa Lateef said, "Our program engages women through a three-tier model - recruitment, training and placement. Thus, the objective is not just providing professional training, but also ensuring placement of our graduates, with premium remuneration." This program is developed to enable women in Pakistan not only with a professional skill set but to also empower them with a legal and financial understanding of their rights as women. "We have seen that these additional skills have had a transformational impact on their personal lives."

Previously TAFF-VTI has rolled out two terms from which majority of the graduates have been placed into meaningful employment. These graduates who were earning Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000 per month before joining TAFF-VTI are now working in contractual employment at Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month, with their contracts being based on the labour laws in Pakistan and managed by the VTI's Career Placement Centre.

As the project gains attention, corporate and institutions from around Pakistan have identified TAFF-VTI as one of the more innovative integrated social development projects in the country.

TAF Foundation (TAFF) began as the Abbassciy Family Foundation in the year 2010 and served as a charitable organization to the underprivileged. In 2015, the Abbassciy Foundation was restructured into a philanthropic organization focused on long-term development initiatives. Renamed the TAF Foundation, TAFF aligned its mandates to education, health, and social consciousness and now concentrates on sustainable programs which help create upward social and economic mobility.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017