CAIF’s role in Project Oporajita is to adopt a Circular Economy (CE) & sustainability lens to improve livelihoods and employability for out-of-work women garment workers (WGWs) by (a) Providing job-specific skill development opportunities to unlock circular /sustainable jobs within Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) engaged in RMG, high potential allied & other Sectors (b) Creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for out-of-work women garment workers through circular micro-entrepreneurship models (c) Supporting circular innovations with the potential to enhance the competitiveness of the RMG sector with a focus on job creation.
Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) was incubated within Intellecap to accelerate the transition to a circular Textile & Apparel (T&A) industry. We do this by stitching together impactful partnerships between corporate brands, innovators, funders, and other stakeholders within and outside the T&A industry. Our vision of a circular industry balances environmental and financial impact, social impact, and inclusion. This is especially relevant in India and other countries in the Global South that are global hubs of both consumption and production.
CAIF’s thinking and work focuses on building ecosystems and capabilities that help decarbonize the industry, get to zero-leakage of waste into the environment, decarbonizing the manufacturing supply chain and securing a thriving future for the millions of workers employed across the textiles and apparel value chain through creation of green and circular jobs at scale. CAIF is designing and shaping work in the key global south economies incl. South Asia, SE Asia and East Africa, which play a critical role in the complex global value chain.
Project Oporajita has been launched with a vision to ensure Women garment workers are prepared for a future defined by automation, and have greater agency to lead secure, dignified, and fulfilling lives, with enhanced economic opportunities, in a sustainable and resilient environment. This vision is in line with CAIFs mission for a Textile & Apparel sector which is responsible, resource efficient and creates a resilient future for garment workers especially women.
Additionally Project Oporajita is a first of its kind initiative which brings together 12 organizations which are aligned on a singular objective and working on complementary intervention areas by adopting an ecosystem approach to solve for the industries challenges.
