BY BETELHEM BEDLU
Ethiopia’s textile and apparel sector has experienced a boom in export-led growth. The country is implementing strategies (such as the Ethiopian Industrial Development Strategy 2013 – 2025) that would enable it to become one of the most competitive destinations for light manufacturing. Ethiopia is utilizing advantages to attract investment and create job opportunity for Ethiopian young women and men.
According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (World Investment Report 2017), Ethiopia attracted the most foreign direct investment in Africa (4.3 billion USD in 2021, World Investment Report 2022). The country is perceived as an attractive investment destination with a number of investors seizing the opportunity to set up production facilities in the industrial parks.
The apparel sector currently employs more than 100,000 workers, 85-90 percent of whom are women sewers. The Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP) only employs around 35,000 factory workers, of which, more than 80 percent are women.
To strengthen labor management system in the industrial parks, therefore, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, the ILO, the BRIDGES Program, and GIZ joining forces have been supporting the public industrial parks to establish communication platforms, as to the press release sent to The Ethiopian Herald.
As part of such support, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the BRIDGES Program, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Hawassa Industrial Park launched the Hawassa Industrial Park workers’ call center, recently.
As it is stated, the center provides standardized anonymous grievance recording and counseling services to Park’s employees. Workers can report incidents by calling a hotline or visiting the center in person. The call center is expected to help resolve employees’ grievances as they arise, including mitigating sexual harassment and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The Hawassa Industrial Park employees’ call center is established to address workers’ grievances in a prompt and confidential way and to provide appropriate referral support and advice to promote sound labor relations by supporting the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of workers, it was stated.
The call center is placed under the Industrial Peace Directorate of the Ethiopian Investment Commission which aims to promote labor peace in the industrial parks.
Moreover, the center will enhance transparency and accountability by providing accurate and timely information about labor laws, standards and procedures to workers and employers in a simplified manner.
It also facilitates women’s economic empowerment; and enhances productivity by ensuring the rights of women employees. What is more, it promotes a positive work environment that is free from violence and harassment by letting workers report on any work-related injuries and diseases at the workplace which helps to identify and enhance the prevention and protection mechanisms.
In addition, based on the frequently asked questions, the center will develop targeted programs to address specific vulnerabilities and challenges facing workers.
According to the press release, the staff hired at the center will respond to questions and provide counseling and psycho-social referral support to callers and in-person visitors. The call center is a specialized telephone service that provides an effective way to listen to and counsel callers anonymously and disseminate information.
The number will be accessible in Amharic and Sidama languages. Anonymity will ensure the caller can ask questions and raise issues that they otherwise might not. In offering anonymity, the center serves as a source of information that will not disconcert, label, or judge a caller.
“The workers’ call center is the gateway to creating a human-centered investment that responds to the gaps in workers’ legal awareness and the lack of a systematic institutional mechanism to address grievances at the IP level.
“This call center, which will indeed be useful to enhance sustainable industrial relations, is achieved through our development partners’ unique collaboration and support,” said Daniel Teressa, Deputy Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission.
Henok Tenna, Team Leader, BRIDGES Program on his part said: “The grievance-handling call center is a safe space for workers to voice their concerns and get solutions. This is very useful for safeguarding the workforce that is 90 percent women and new to industrial orientation,” he noted.
“The workers’ call center in Hawassa Industrial Park is an important step in giving voice to the workers, protecting employees’ right and promoting sound labor relations in the park. Under the auspices of the Ethiopian Investment Commission and the HIP tripartite grievance redress committee, the call center will give advice and support to workers to address their grievances and concerns without fear of retaliation. This is particularly important in cases related to sexual harassment and Gender-Based Violence,” said Kidist Chala, Program Head, ILO/Siraye, a program designed to advance decent work and inclusive industrialization in Ethiopia.
“The grievance-handling room provides a safe and confidential environment for employees to seek assistance when they encounter problems or violations of their rights. It is essential in meeting obligations under international human rights law and contributes to positive employee relations,” mentioned Yared Fekade, Acting Project Head and Component Manager, and Sustainable Industrial Clusters (S.I.C.) Project.
While praising this initiative, Samuel Yalew Adela, Country Head, Ethiopia at the Mastercard Foundation stated, “The safety and wellbeing of young people and program participants is at most priority to the Mastercard Foundation. We hope this emerging practice and the experience we gain from this will encourage other IPs and those directly interacting with young people to develop similar platforms.”
The Ethiopian Herald 25 August 2022
