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What the papers say

Climate and Productivity

This week in the Bangladesh English Press we look at the World Health Organization’s report on climate change. The latest information shows an increasing number of Bangladeshi women are going overseas to work. International development assistance is discussed at the Bangladesh Development Forum. And there is more news of programmes to improve industrial relations in the garments sector.

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 19th November 2015.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…we look at the World Health Organization’s report on climate change. The latest information shows an increasing number of Bangladeshi women are going overseas to work. International development assistance is discussed at the Bangladesh Development Forum. And there is more news of programmes to improve industrial relations in the garments sector.

Climate Change and its Toll on Health and Productivity

The World Health Organization has prepared a report on climate change and health. The Bangladesh report lays out a number of serious consequences under different climate change scenarios. These consequences include a potential decline in labour productivity of up to twenty eight per cent.

More Women Abroad for Work

More and more Bangladeshi women are going overseas to work. This year around one hundred thousand women will leave to take up work. This is approximately twice as many women as left in 2013.

Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the most popular destinations for women workers

Most of these women will work as domestic help in the Middle-East. Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the most popular destinations for women workers.

Winning Support for Vision 2021

The Bangladesh Development Forum met this week in Dhaka. It’s been five years since the last meeting. The Bangladesh government will present it requirements for international development assistance. But bilateral and multilateral donors will not make funding commitments at this meeting.

Skills and education, nutrition, managing climate change, and women’s participation are key to achieving Vision 2021

At the two-day meeting development partners commented on Bangladesh’s Seventh Five Year Plan. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund reflected on macro-economic issues such as domestic revenue generation and the overall investment climate. The United Nations praised the country’s economic growth but called for a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The head of the United States Agency for International Development in Bangladesh represented the views of all development partners. She said skills and education, nutrition, managing climate change, and women’s participation are key to achieving Vision 2021. By 2021 Bangladesh aims to be a middle income country.

Towards Improved Industrial Relations

The Swedish Deputy Minister for Employment also spoke at the Bangladesh Development Forum. She talked about women and the labour market and referred to the Bangladesh Global Deal Project. Funded by the Swedish government. The project aims to improve industrial relations in the garments sector.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Bangladesh Institute of Management will cooperate to improve workplace relations in garments businesses. Under the programme funded by Norway and Denmark, workers will be trained in effective workplace cooperation. The training materials have been developed by the ILO Training Centre in Turin.

So that’s the news from The Daily Star for this week.