Twenty-five factories have been awarded for significant achievements in training female garment workers through the implementation of Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (PACE), a training initiative of the USAID's Women Thrive in Bangladesh Activity project.
The ready-made garment (RMG) factories, all suppliers to the US-based Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) company, received Thrive Champions Awards at an event organised by the USAID Thrive project on Thursday at a hotel in the capital.
The awards ceremony alongside a suppliers' roundtable, brought together attendees to share lessons learned and best practices for implementation of the training initiative.
The event also recognised factories for their achievements in providing female RMG workers with life and professional skills.
Moreover, the training programme provided women workers with market-oriented skills, such as negotiation and communication to support career advancement while also helping them overcome social norms and gender barriers. Thrive presented these awards to not only recognise the factories' efforts in empowering women workers but also to inspire others, promote positive competition and strengthen accountability in implementing the training programme.
Blair King, deputy director of USAID's Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, was present as the chief guest at the event. Najeeb Sayed, senior director and country manager of PVH Bangladesh, and Ram Das, country director of Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) Bangladesh, spoke as special guests.
Bushra Binte Baten, corporate responsibility manager at PVH; Sazzad Kamal, project management specialist at USAID; and Aamanur Rahman, chief of party for USAID Thrive project, also spoke at the event, among others. Implemented by CARE Bangladesh, the project collaborates with PVH to empower women in the ready-made garment sector. The Thrive project also provided leadership development training for female RMG workers in PVH's supply chain factories and in the communities.
The project aims to train more than 100,000 women workers in RMG factories and adjacent communities by 2026.
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