The Municipal Housing Secretariat of Sao Paulo (SEHAB) is working to increase social inclusiveness of women living in the city’s slums. As part its efforts, SEHAB helped a group of women from the Jardim Iporanga community generate income by producing “ecobags”.
With SEHAB’s assistance the women enrolled in a vocational industrial sewing course and initiated the process of manufacturing the bags in a production line. The bags are made entirely of recyclable material which also helps preserve the environment. The project symbolises the entrepreneurial spirit of Jardim Iporanga residents while helping to increase their quality of life.
The bags are mostly sold to the city government, which distributes them at seminars and workshops. With increased demand for the bags, the initial group has already grown to 30 women. They have bought new equipment, opened a bank account and are currently restructuring their workflow in order to become more efficient.
The Cities Alliance distributed the colourful bags to visitors at its World Urban Forum booth in Rio.
