WB to support monga-hit women
The World Bank will support the government in a project to create employment opportunities for the women of the monga-prone districts in the garment sector.
The World Bank support will be available in developing the proposed Northern Areas Reduction-of- Poverty Initiative (NARI) project.
The International Development Association (IDA), the concessionary arm of the World Bank, will provide a credit of US$ 21.2 million for the proposed project.
Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) will contribute land and some supporting infrastructure estimated at US$ 6.7 million and staff and office space for the Project Implementation Unit worth US$ 0.2 million while the Ministry of Labour and Employment will contribute staff and office space for the Project Coordination Unit worth US$ 0.1 million.
However, access to job opportunities has not been equitable across regions, as evidenced by the low number of young women who have successfully migrated from the impoverished northwestern monga-prone districts for employment in the garment sector.
The NARI project aims to offer training, support and facilitated access to formal employment in the ready-made garment sector in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) for up to 10,800 poor and vulnerable women from five monga-prone districts, namely Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur.
This will be the first World Bank funded intervention in Bangladesh, designed as a pilot project, for female economic empowerment in the garment sector.
It will provide lessons for future projects that seek to economically and socially empower poor and vulnerable women.
Poor and vulnerable women, selected as project beneficiaries, will be provided with a range of opportunities and support services including technical and life skills training, transitional housing, counseling and job placement services.
The project will be implemented in three sites adjacent to the EPZs at Dhaka, Karnaphuli and Ishwardi, with training centres and transitional housing facilities to be constructed at each site.
The proposed project will also conduct an awareness campaign targeting potential employers. Employers have been regularly consulted during project preparation, and have voiced their support for the role that the project will play in meeting market needs.
During the project design stage, the World Bank team and government counterparts have worked closely with factory owners, development partners, non-governmental organisations, research centres, garment workers, and target beneficiaries and their families and communities in the northwest region.
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