During Covid-19 in Bangladesh, more women lost jobs, had a harder difficulty obtaining new occupations, and had a substantially delayed income recovery. In January 2021, a third of the young women employed in the country prior to the epidemic were unemployed. Women have a risk that is three times greater (29%) than young men (11 percent).
In January 2021, income recovery for male teenagers was only 10%, while it was 21% for female youths who obtained a job later.
Dr. Imran Matin, executive director of the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), presented the aforementioned facts in a webinar held today on Sunday (11 July 2021).
Private tutoring, handicrafts, factory work, tailoring, and light engineering are among the areas in where more young women used to find traditional employment, according to respondents in the study, but these are also among the hardest hit economic categories in the pandemic. The respondents also believe that even once the epidemic is ended, recovery in these places will be difficult and take time, making it difficult for female teenagers to return to paid employment.
To commemorate World Youth Skills Day, the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and BRAC’s skills development program (SDP) conducted a webinar titled “Building a resilient ecosystem for women in the skills sector: problems and chances” (July 15).
Dr. Matin, citing the study findings, noted that so many working women being out of paid work for such a long time may drive many to permanently abandon the labor market, further reducing women’s labor market participation.
He believes that unless remedial steps are adopted, covid shock may threaten to reverse much of the gains gained in the area of women’s empowerment.
Speakers at the webinar emphasized the importance of technical and vocational education, as well as the training and development of other skills that are relevant to both the local and global economies.
BIGD has done a number of studies in partnership with SDP to determine the long-term benefits of skills training on women’s economic independence. A panel of development professionals discussed possible interventions, emphasizing the importance of proper implementation strategies and stressing that evidence-based findings from various relevant studies must be taken into account in building a resilient ecosystem for women in the area of skills development.
At the event, Joydeep Sinha Roy, BRAC SDP’s head of operations, presented findings from SDP’s implementation experiences throughout the years.
Culture and traditional gender roles, gender stereotyping, a lack of career guidance, safety concerns, especially fear of gender-based violence and sexual harassment, family responsibilities, and the availability of quality apprenticeship occupations are all major barriers to adolescent girls and young women’s access to skills learning, according to the presentation.
Joydeep outlined SDP’s gradual ways to bringing change to the sector, including enterprise development training, entrepreneurial training, employability training, classroom teaching, and apprenticeship training.
More awareness about skills training at the individual and household level, access to the labor market through skills training, raising awareness to change perceptions about women, enabling a women-friendly environment in the labor market, and access to jobs and retention to improve the situation were all recommended in the presentation.
Following the presentation, Tasmiah Tabassum Rahman, the current in-charge of BRAC’s Skills Development Programme, moderated a discussion with BRAC’s Gender, Justice and Diversity Programme director Nobonita Chowdhury, Tahmid Arif of the International Labour Organization’s Skills 21 Project, and Jahanara Beauty of the Natore-based Neda Society.
Nobonita Chowdhury, the director of BRAC’s Gender, Justice, and Diversity Programme, emphasized the importance of transformation in developing effective interventions. “Instead of building interventions independently, we should focus on creating integrated interventions that mainstream women empowerment throughout sectors.”
“Changing mindset is vital not only for skill training of female youths, but also for their employment,” said Tahmid Arif, an ILO programme officer (M&E) for the Skills 21 Project. It is insufficient to do training. We must also ensure that those who obtain training have access to work opportunities, which must be long-term.”
“During the pandemic, many businesses preferred to keep male youths instead of female youths in informal sectors,” Neda Society ED Jahanara Beauty remarked, highlighting the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the female labor. Many women were forced to leave their jobs, which had an impact not just on their income and employment but also on their personal lives. Their savings have plummeted, while violence against women has soared, and child marriage has surged dramatically.”
