The government, employer, and worker organizations, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), have signed a deal to implement the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for Bangladesh once again.
The deal was signed at a ceremony held at a hotel in Dhakaon Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the ILO.
The creation of green jobs and the promotion of social dialogue are amongst the priorities which the signatory parties will work towards until 2020.
Afroza Khan, secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment; Amirul Haque Amin, chairperson of National Coordination Committee for Workers Education; Kamran T Rahman, president of Bangladesh Employers Federation; and TuomoPoutiainen, country director of ILO Bangladesh signed the program.
Speaking at the signing event, Afroza Khan said: “Bangladesh is fully supportive of the ILO’s Decent Work agenda and has implemented two Decent Work Country Programmes so far, covering the periods 2006-2009, and 2012-2015. With the support of the ILO, we have succeeded in attaining the envisaged goals and activities of the previous DWCPs and I believe that this trend will continue in the future.”
Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs) are the main vehicles for delivering ILO’s support to countries.
Each DWCP is organized around a limited number of priorities and outcomes.
The priorities for Bangladesh have been chosen on the basis of participatory assessment of current challenges through stakeholder consultations involving a wide range of constituents and other interested parties.
These challenges include the high unemployment rate among youth and especially among those with higher levels of education; high and stagnating income inequality; low productivity in some sectors; slow improvement in the Occupational Safety and Health situation and working conditions; as well as inadequate opportunity for social dialogue in Bangladesh.
To mitigate these challenges, the DWCP for Bangladesh focuses on four key areas which include skills development and green growth; promotion of safe and clean working environments; social dialogue between government, employers, and workers; and social protection for all workers and vulnerable groups, including protection against climate change.
Dagmar Walter, director of ILO’s Decent Work Team for South Asia said, “We are proud to work alongside the government, employers, and workers in Bangladesh to promote decent and productive employment opportunities for its women and men.”
He said much progress has been made in many areas. “However, certain challenges and gaps need to be addressed to keep up with the ever changing world of work. We hope that this Decent Work Country Program will make a major contribution to the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.”
The new DWCP for Bangladesh is results oriented and coordinated with Bangladesh’s national policy documents and global development initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
The implementation of the DWCP is based on partnership between government, employers, and workers, as well as the ILO Country Office.