A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labour market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 26th May 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…Migrant Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia continue to have trouble obtaining legal status. Increased investment in girls to have large impact on nation’s growth. Projects to create jobs and create sustainable growth seem to be working. Environmental protection lacking elsewhere, but slow progress is being made.

Continued trouble for migrant workers in Malaysia

Bangladeshi’s in Malaysia continue to have trouble obtaining legal working status. Necessary documents such as passports or birth certificates remain at arms length as many crowd outside the Bangladesh High Commission awaiting their turn. The numbers have increased dramatically in the wake of new legislation aimed at legalising undocumented workers in the South East Asian country.

While the undocumented workers are currently wading through the process of obtaining legal status, those who arrived on student or tourist visas will have much more difficulty and likely face deportation. These workers leaving could significantly reduce the remittances sent back to Bangladesh, which currently amounts to 112.08 million USD.

Investing in girls for development of nation

The state Minister for Finance and Planning is calling for increased investments in gender equality programs and more investment in the development of girls across the country. To reach the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, ministers and other representatives from the government met this past week. Amongst praise for the pace of development in recent years, many have called for pushing gender equality further, citing consistently high numbers of young girls in marriages and high maternal mortality rates. With increased attention to girls and young women, national leaders believe that the country can reach its goals for the coming years.

Projects for sustainable jobs working

A joint World Bank and DfID project that funds many of the country’s economic zones is reporting that it has helped create 5,500 jobs. The Private Sector Development Support Project has supported green initiatives in these economic zones, such as solar lighting in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone, or environmental laboratories. It has also increased the amount of training in these zones, where over 11,000 people have received industry-specific training or certification. By creating jobs and offering training in sustainable workplaces, this project is working to increase the capacity of workers and improve their outcomes in the future.

Environmental protection lacking

Seven state-run factories have been operating without the necessary treatment plants to treat their waste before disposal. In a report from the environment and forests ministry that looked at factories operated by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation they found that multiple environmental protections were not being carried out. The report elicited responses from green activists who have been calling for increased environmental protection amidst increasing industrialisation. The report is one step closer to more action, however more needs to be done.

And that’s the news for the week ending 26th May.