BY BETELHEM BEDLU
The textile and garment industry is one of the most female- dominated industries in the world with 90 percent of the textile and garment workers in Cambodia, 85percent in Bangladesh and more than 70percent in China.
Recent studies conducted in Ethiopia also indicated that 85-90percent of workers in textile and garment factories are women between the age of 18-25, and they have limited access toformal education and work experience.To this end, they are often assigned to low-paying jobs with limited opportunities for self-development and minimal prospects for promotion and growth.
In similar manner, in Ethiopia, like everywhere around the world, COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the impact of other disturbances, including ongoing conflict and climatechange, has disrupted economic activities and livelihoods with significant implications for poverty reduction.
Women and girls continued to be hit the hardest by the ongoing crises, which deepen preexisting gender inequalities, leading to increased discrimination, exclusion, and disproportionate risks for women and girls.
Despite making up the majority of the workforce in the sector, women are often underrepresented in the leadership and in the management structures of garment factories. Beyond wages, women face additional gender-specific barriers including limited access to training opportunities and childcare solutions.
With an initial focus on the garment and textile industries,
International Labor Organization (ILO) collaborating with Ministry of Women and Social Affairs is working to develop a comprehensive and coordinated program named ‘Siraye Program’ which is committed to gender equality and empowerment of women as well as to promote Decent Work and Inclusive Industrialization in Ethiopia.
The Organization is implementing this program not only to addressthe aforementioned core challenges;but also to Advancing Decent Work and Inclusive Industrialization Program in the Ethiopian garment and textile sector with a specific focus on women empowerment and gender equality, income support, and productivity improvement. For instance, the women leadership development program aims to build the capacity of potential/women supervisors, create a pool of trained women supervisors, offer career progression opportunities for women workers, increase line productivity and reduce gender imbalance at the managerial level.
Recently, ILO along with its partners held a two-day experience sharing workshop under the theme ‘Women in leadership and building productivity ecosystem.’
During the program that focused on learning from factories regarding the wage subsidy and women’s leadership program, ILO’s first round Siraye Program was said improved productivity, quality and reduced absenteeism in the piloted lines like garment and textile factories since it was made effective in August 2021.
At the occasion, KidistChala, Head of ILO Siraye Program indicated that the result of the first round of women leadership and wage subsidy program were outstanding.
She noted that over 67 percent of the trained women workers in targeted factories in Hawassa and 70 percent of the trained women in targeted factories in Bole Lemi were promoted to a higher position adding that in one factory, 11 of the 12 trained workers were promoted to supervisoryand leadership positions.
Taking in to account that the textile and garment sector has been one of the sectors hit hard by COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 14,286 employees from 46 eligible domestic textile and garment factories were supported through program, as to her.
She also mentioned that as per the benefits package, the basic salaries of workers, for five consecutive months, were paid through bank transfers to employee’sbank accounts. Additionally, workers income tax and pension contributions were transferred directly into the respective government entities’ accounts. The benefit of the program is multidimensional, she added.
The second round women leadership and development program also aims to equip female textile and garment workers with relevant knowledge and skills to take up managerial and leadership positions, she said.
For her take on the issue, AyelechEshete, Women and Social Affairs State Minister noted that the short term wage subsidy program implemented by the government of Ethiopia has supported 46 local factories by paying five months’ salary to each employee.
She stressed that the benefit of the program is multidimensional as it retained the jobs by paying the salary of the workers and protecting the livelihoods of their family, reducing additional unemployment burden in the country, ensuring the continuity of the business through paying their respective workers’ salary on behalf of firms for five months.Generally, itintroduced new form of social protection scheme in the country.
She stated that the garment and textile factories in Ethiopia have accommodated the larger proportion of young women workers adding that protection of employment and income of the workers in the sector during the COVID crises has explicitly unveiled the proactive intervention of safeguarding the income and families of women workers.
“Ethiopia is entangled with the cumbersome situations due to the man-made and natural disasters; and as the consequence people were displaced, encountered gender based violence, children were orphaned, social and economic infrastructures including the factories were damaged. The victims, therefore, are looking for psychological rehabilitationsupport in addition to restoring the lost infrastructure.”
The social protection experience gained during the implementation of the job retention program of the garment and textile factories, in this regard, were helpful in extending the support system to the victims of natural and man-made disasters, as to her.
Therefore, she noted that the workshop is anticipated to widen the spectrum of establishing the social protection system to mitigate the unprecedented challenges similar to this one.
Studies show that, if women were able to participate equally in the economy, global GDP could increase by 26 percent. Women economic empowerment contributes to more stable and resilient economies, and more peaceful societies. It is also a necessary condition for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015 to build a better world for people and our planet by 2030.
Gender equality and women’s equal leadership are fundamental perquisites for a safe, peaceful and sustainable world for all. It is important that everyone should exert its effort to ensure women are at the table, their voices are heard and their contributions are valued, she stated.
As to the State Minister, for the government of Ethiopia, gender equality and women’s leadership is a priority agenda. Article 25 of Ethiopia’s Constitution states gender equality and women’s rights as fundamental. The National Policy on Women (1993) is alsotargeting to create structures within government offices and institutions that would establish equitable and gender-sensitive public policies, she added.
The policies seek to guarantee women’s equality and the protection of women’s right in various spheres of life. Ethiopia’s labor laws also prohibit discrimination in employment and remuneration on account of gender, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy or any other condition, as to her.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 7 JULY 2022
