Standard Chartered Bangladesh and BRAC have announced the establishment of a Covid-19 response effort, which would work with returnee migrant workers to improve skills and businesses in order to ensure economic self-sufficiency.
According to a press release, the Standard Chartered Foundation will fund a two-year project named “Covid-19 recovery: Entrepreneurship Training and Gainful Employment for Returnee Migrants Affected by Covid-19 in Bangladesh.”
Due to the ongoing pandemic, more than 400,000 migrants returned to their home country within a year, according to the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
According to a recent BRAC poll, 50% of returnee migrants were unable to find a gainful job upon their return.
Returnee migrants affected by Covid-19 will be provided with emergency arrival assistance, counselling, and entrepreneurship training, as well as in-kind financial assistance in the form of the business award money to start their new business, allowing them to reintegrate into the economy in a sustainable manner.
The project will also connect recipients with microfinance institutions in order to facilitate access to credit and provide emergency and psychosocial assistance.
Beneficiaries will be identified and tracked through a variety of channels, including the airport, community members, a hotline, and other referrals. The initiative will build three Reintegration Support Centers.
More vulnerable groups, such as women and youngsters aged 18 to 35, would be given priority.
Beneficiaries will be selected from Dhaka, Chattogram, and Cumilla districts.
The return of migrant workers may be considered as a threat to our economy, but it is also an opportunity, according to Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh.
“By channelling the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired during their overseas careers into entrepreneurship and gainful employment opportunities, our remittance earners will not only ensure their own economic self-sufficiency but also create more opportunities for the broader community, multiplying the recovery momentum at the grassroots,” he added.
He also stated that Standard Chartered is excited to collaborate with BRAC on this effort, following the NGO’s reintegration strategy, which has aided 3.5 million individuals in 64 Bangladeshi districts since 2006.
According to Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC, for the wellbeing of migrant workers in Bangladesh, a meaningful relationship is essential for systematic reforms.
Many migrants have been left jobless as a result of Covid-19, and all players, including government and non-government organizations, must work together to facilitate returnee migrants in their economic and social reintegration back into our community, he added.
“We have to accomplish more work with fewer resources, which necessitates collaboration. “The main aim is to provide entrepreneurial skills development and other support services for small-scale enterprises to help returnee migrant workers adapt and strengthen the local economy,” Saleh added.
