Empowering of poor women, economically
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Uneven regional uplift activities over the years have been a disconcerting development in Bangladesh. Studies conducted by international agencies in the recent past have pointed out this lopsided development of the country. On its part, the government has not disputed this fact; there are some districts in northern and southern parts of the country that have not received adequate attention of the policymakers. This, coupled with lack of harness-able local resources, has led to a situation where the people of such under-developed districts are falling behind in education, employment opportunities and other facilities that they are otherwise entitled to, as per constitutional requirement.
Of all these districts, some northern ones, namely, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Nilphamari and Rangpur, are known as monga-prone areas. Sizeable sections of the people living in these districts are hardcore poor who do not own any arable land. They earn their livelihood by selling their labour. During some months of the year, however, they find it hard to get any work and pass their days in distress. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been trying to ameliorate their sufferings through targeted programmes but with very limited results. While the media have increasingly been focusing attention on the plight of the monga-stricken people, the government has, of late, initiated, or is in the process of launching some targeted programmes for these districts. The proposed 'Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative (NARI), is one of such programmes that aims at readying about 11000 poor and vulnerable women from monga-prone districts for employment in the readymade garments (RMG) units.
The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), the World Bank and the Ministry of Labour and Employment would make their own contributions to its implementation. The BEPZA will provide land and some supporting infrastructure, staff and office space at an estimated cost of $6.9 million and the WB will extend concessionary credit worth $21.2 million to the project. The labour ministry will make staff and office space available for the project coordination unit. The poor and vulnerable women, who would be the intended beneficiaries of the project, will be provided with a wide range of opportunities and support services including life-skill training, transitional housing facilities, counseling and job placement services under it. The project would be implemented in three separate sites adjacent to the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Dhaka, Chittagong and Ishwardi.
The project, according to a newspaper report, has essentially been designed to economically empower the poor women of the underdeveloped regions of the country through united efforts of the government, the leading development partner and the private sector. The RMG owners, who will be employing the poor women, have also reportedly expressed their desire to lend support to the project. In fact, the RMG sector has played a pivotal role in the empowerment of nearly 2.0 million women, by providing employment opportunities to them. However, the policymakers and donors, while trying to help the disadvantaged men and women in the monga-prone districts, do also need to focus their attention to some other under-developed areas of the country where poverty, being equally ugly, has been taking a heavy economic toll on the teeming millions. The project in question would, hopefully, provide some valuable lessons for its replication, in one way or other, in the country's the economically disadvantaged areas.
Of all these districts, some northern ones, namely, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Nilphamari and Rangpur, are known as monga-prone areas. Sizeable sections of the people living in these districts are hardcore poor who do not own any arable land. They earn their livelihood by selling their labour. During some months of the year, however, they find it hard to get any work and pass their days in distress. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been trying to ameliorate their sufferings through targeted programmes but with very limited results. While the media have increasingly been focusing attention on the plight of the monga-stricken people, the government has, of late, initiated, or is in the process of launching some targeted programmes for these districts. The proposed 'Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative (NARI), is one of such programmes that aims at readying about 11000 poor and vulnerable women from monga-prone districts for employment in the readymade garments (RMG) units.
The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), the World Bank and the Ministry of Labour and Employment would make their own contributions to its implementation. The BEPZA will provide land and some supporting infrastructure, staff and office space at an estimated cost of $6.9 million and the WB will extend concessionary credit worth $21.2 million to the project. The labour ministry will make staff and office space available for the project coordination unit. The poor and vulnerable women, who would be the intended beneficiaries of the project, will be provided with a wide range of opportunities and support services including life-skill training, transitional housing facilities, counseling and job placement services under it. The project would be implemented in three separate sites adjacent to the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in Dhaka, Chittagong and Ishwardi.
The project, according to a newspaper report, has essentially been designed to economically empower the poor women of the underdeveloped regions of the country through united efforts of the government, the leading development partner and the private sector. The RMG owners, who will be employing the poor women, have also reportedly expressed their desire to lend support to the project. In fact, the RMG sector has played a pivotal role in the empowerment of nearly 2.0 million women, by providing employment opportunities to them. However, the policymakers and donors, while trying to help the disadvantaged men and women in the monga-prone districts, do also need to focus their attention to some other under-developed areas of the country where poverty, being equally ugly, has been taking a heavy economic toll on the teeming millions. The project in question would, hopefully, provide some valuable lessons for its replication, in one way or other, in the country's the economically disadvantaged areas.