AL-NOOR Vocational Training Center for Rural Women has been established in Village Gondal at District Sialkot. A joint project of United Global Organization Of Development-UGOOD and Ministry of Women Development-Government of Pakistan, in the remotest rural area of Sialkot District for the poor unprivileged rural women, to provide them various skills to earn extra income for their financial stability.

The total project cost was around Rs.10 Million, half of which has been provided by Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) Government of Pakistan for the purchase of capital items and half provided by UGOOD. The recurring cost of the project is being incurred by UGOOD.

Women of the area are being provided training in more than 10 different courses including:

Cutting and stitching of the cloth

Embroidery (handmade & Machine made)

Fabric painting (Tie and dye)

Painting (Oil, water, Glass and mirror)

Woodwork

Beauty parlor for training

Handicraft and Candle making, Paper Moshe

Computer training

Marketing, Procurement, and accounting skills

Photography and Video training

The duration of the course is three to six months and a total of 200 women are being trained at morning and evening shifts. During the last financial year more than 1300 Women have been trained in the aforementioned skills.

For the sustainability of the project UGOOD has established two display Centers for the marketing of the products made by students of Al-Noor Vocational and Training Center one at Village Gondal which is the hub of more than 200 villages and another one is in District Sialkot. The Al-Noor Center also has the Community Hall where UGOOD conduct the exhibitions and invites the celebrities on regular basis to encourage the trainees.

Social Empowerment is very closely linked with economic empowerment and if women are provided with the opportunities to earn for themselves and for their families, their social status can obviously be improved. All the skills which have been provided at the Al-Noor Center are based on the marker demand analyses and it is expected that by learning these skills women can get an ample chance to enter the market and make money.

Moreover, UGOOD also organize weekly lectures on various social issues in the Community Hall for the community mobilization regarding the status of women and women rights.