Covid-19: Japanese ambassador inaugurates training for returning female migrants

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh ITO Naoki today inaugurated a training course at Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre (BKTTC) for returning female migrant workers without the certainty of an income source, who were forced to come back to Bangladesh when the pandemic broke out last year. 

The course, titled "Training on Women's Economic Leadership", was inaugurated under a project of UN Women undertaken last year, titled "Women and Girls at the Centre of COVID-19 Prevention".

The project created alternative income-generating sources for women and was supported by the Government of Japan, with Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK) as the implementing partner.

As part of the project, they have been producing masks and running a "Women Cafe" in BKTTC as an alternative livelihood. 

"What impressed me the most is the level of coordination and cooperation between UN Women, BNSK, GoB and Japan Government. Japan came out with the concept of 'Human Security' that focused on empowerment and protection. This initiative is a good example of this concept where we are working to give them protection through creating income sources and empowering them through building their capacities," said the ambassador. 

He paid a visit to the Women Café and interacted with women migrant workers to understand their current condition and also visited the mask production activity by the women migrant workers at BNSK office premises. 

Shoko Ishikawa, country representative of UN Women Bangladesh, was present and said, "We want to ensure that the women who returned because of Covid-19 are able to continue with some income-generating activities so they can sustain themselves." 

Nafriza Shayma, additional director general, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MOEW&OE) was also present at the event.

"We would also ask BMET to continue to train these women so they can continue working and have a stable livelihood," she said.

Last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, it not only affected the people living in the country but also overseas workers, particularly women. Those in Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) countries were made redundant due to the global economic fallout from the pandemic.

Between April-December 2020, a total of 4,08,408 migrant workers returned to Bangladesh, 12 percent of whom were women. 

The premature return due to Covid-19 has been particularly challenging for female migrant workers. Many have psychological trauma from abusive employment conditions, and upon return, had been further stigmatised and harassed as potential carriers of the disease, especially if returning from highly impacted countries.