The government has undertaken special initiatives for economic empowerment of the women labour force by increasing their skills for contributing to national economic growth.
As part of the government move, the project titled “Promoting Gender Responsive Enterprise Development and TVET Systems (ProGRESS),” aimed at building a foundation for an inclusive skill system for women, has been proposed in the Planning Commission.
An effective TVET and skill development system can help the students to enter the labour market with the right skills for themselves and wage employment, which is crucial for the economic and social empowerment of women, an Education Ministry official said.
The ProGRESS project will make a valuable impact on the government’s plan towards achieving gender equality in Bangladesh, which eventually will reduce poverty, he added.
The project is designed to positively address the issues linked to low labour force participation of female workers both in wage and employment markets and limited access to business development services required for initiating self-employment, they mentioned.
A Planning Commission official said that the Special Project Evaluation Committee (SPEC) meeting was held on October 12 last year after receiving a proposal from the technical and madrasa education department.
Following the recommendations given in that meeting, the project has been recommended to be presented in the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
If approved, it will be implemented by the Department of Technical Education by 2027 with an estimated cost of Tk 128.61 crore.
MosammatNasima Begum, Member (Secretary) of Department of Socio-Economic Infrastructure (SEI) of Planning Commission, said, “The project will support technical training institutions to increase the economic capacity of women, youth and other disadvantaged groups. Financial assistance will be provided to women entrepreneurs for business start-up. Industry will also increase through this. The project will also support enterprise and value chain organizations. As a result, the project will play a role in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.”
In the project proposal, the technical and madrasa education department is expected to spend a total of Tk 128.61 crore in the full financial grant of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to increase the economic capacity of the country's women workforce.
The project had been proposed for implementation from July last year to June 2027.
Under the project, various government and private polytechnic institutes, technical schools and colleges, technical teachers training colleges and various NGOs, private institutions or business development services in coastal areas of Chattogram, Sylhet, Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachari, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Khulna and Barishal divisions.
Piloting activities will be implemented through providers and financial institutions.
A Global Affairs Canada-funded project titled The Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) concluded in 2019.
ILO prepared the concept paper of the current project from various recommendations received during that project.
After Bangladesh sent Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for financial assistance, an agreement was signed between the ILO and GAC in March 2021 to finance the project.
Later, through discussions with the Department of Technical Education, a project document was prepared and sent to the ERD through the Department of Technical and Madrasa Education.
ERD convened an inter-ministerial meeting on March 16 last year after taking feedback from various ministries.
In that meeting, the Department of Technical Education was directed to prepare Technical Assistance Project Proposal (TAPP). Accordingly the proposal of the project has been prepared.
The main activities of the project are - 13 researches, 128 seminars, local training of 10, 982 people, one foreign training, 20 project grants, 250 project grants (financial and technical support for women entrepreneurs to start and expand businesses), 16 product and service support, 120 consultants (Chief Technical Advisor and International Expert), 360 consultants (National Programmer Officer), 360 consultant program support staff, 60 months office rent and 40 other equipment purchase.
Canadian High Commissioner Lilly Nicholls has recently said, “The ProGRESS project is designed to help address major challenges and barriers that disproportionately hinder the female labour force of Bangladesh from equitably and productively participating in the labour market in a sustainable and resilient manner”.
ILO Country Director TuomoPoutiainen said, “ILO is supporting the Bangladesh government to implement the 4th Decent Work Country Programme 2022-26 where one of the important priorities of it is gender equality and ending gender-based violence: empowering women and girls”.
ProGRESS project will address the DWCP’s major pillars inclusive of decent employment creation and ending gender-based violence, he added.
