Improving the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people

How do you earn a livelihood when you live in a small village in Sri Lanka and depend on the sale of milk from your cows? Or run a small local store? Or grow peanuts?

The challenge is even greater for the most vulnerable individuals – people like single mothers, older people or people with disabilities.

HI’s economic inclusion project, run in collaboration with its local partners and supported by the European Union, aims to ensure everyone benefits from economic growth. It promotes the inclusion of the most vulnerable individuals in economic activities, and runs training sessions for employers, who are encouraged to take into account the most vulnerable people.

As a result, some one hundred women have been hired by companies including Brandix, and thirty civil society organisations have been made aware of the need to include the most vulnerable individuals in employment.

Building on this project, we have produced a publication on the inclusive local economy, including best practices and recommendations for local authorities and NGOs.

Local Economic and Inclusive Development; A toolkit for replication (PDF, 9.5 MB)