Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The overarching development goal of the Programme SIRAYE (Amharic for "my Job") is to see improved respect of workers’ rights leading to greater incomes and compensation, enhanced safety, equality, voice, and representation. The programme also aims to lift industrial productivity and competitiveness to enable a global competitive textile and garment sector; and encourage accountable and transparent government institutions.

Expected results

Selected Outputs:

Output 1.1: Participatory, gender sensitive and effective mechanisms established for coordination and dialogue between private and public actors engaged in the garment and textile sector.

Output 1.2: Labour inspectorates in the garment and textile sector have the technical capacity to develop and implement Strategic Compliance Plans that meet the agreed Standards and resources for regular (gender sensitive workplace) inspections and assure compliance with international/national law and regulations.

Output 1.5: A robust system for factory level assessments and remediation including public compliance reporting is established.

Output 2.1: Garment and textile industry benefits from productivity improvement trainings delivered on demand.

Output 2.3: Factories mainstream gender-equality and diversity principles into their policies, procedures and practice and women in participating factories are trained to increase their career advancement opportunities.

Output 3.1: Workers’ and employers’ organisations effectively represent their memberships & have the capacity to engage in dialogue and negotiations that generate quality policy outcomes at all levels.

Output 3.3.: Ministry of Labour and regional labour bureaus, Labour Relations Boards, judiciary, zone authorities, and legal aid centres are aware about International Labour Standards and have the capacity to prevent and resolve labour disputes.

Output 3.6: Accessibility of complaint procedures is improved for women workers. Capacity and systems of law enforcement units (under the police) to manage gender based discrimination and harassment cases including outside the factories are enhanced.

Output 4.1: Mechanisms for accurate recording and notification of occupational injuries and illnesses as well as sound preventive and remedial health services are strengthened.

Target group / Beneficiaries

Target Group: Direct beneficiaries of the Overall programme include 62,000 workers and employers in the target factories, officials of government, employers’ and workers’ associations at national and sectoral Level. ADA's contribution will benefit approximately 16.137 Workers. Women Workers are particularly targeted. Workers’ families, who are mostly from rural areas, also benefit indirectly from improved employment and labour practices, as they in turn enable workers to remit savings as well as to bring back new skills and experiences to their sending communities.

Partners: Government Institutions (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA) and the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (BOLSA), labour inspectorate, labour Judges and Labour Relations Boards), Ethiopia Private Organization Employees’ and Social Security Agency (POESSA), Social Partners (unions and employers' organisations)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will deliver a capacity building programme for female operators to equip them with the necessary soft and hard skills related to productivity and women’s empowerment. The IFC maintains a partnership with ILO and is a member of the World Bank Group.

Geographic Focus: The programme will provide technical support to four regions and one city administration namely Addis Ab-aba, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region and Tigray.

Activities

Activities planned with ADA's contribution:

Develop strategies and Action plans regarding gender mainstreaming, provide Trainings including Revision of Training modules, provide prevention Workshops, support legal aid Centers, review and design Tools and Information Management Systems, develop communication strategies, broadcast Messages on radio, build partnerships, Conduct Analysis in Recruiting and retaining processes,

Context

Despite successes, Ethiopia continues to have a challenging business-enabling environment that offsets its comparative advantages, including preferential trade benefits. Private sector development constraints that need to be addressed for investment and job growth include shortage of skilled and productive labour force, limited access to finance, including foreign exchange; trade logistics inefficiencies; low labour productivity; limited institutional capabilities; poor small and medium enterprise linkages; and lack of quality inputs in the domestic market. At the same time, Ethiopia’s institutional framework and capacity for continuous improvement of wages and working conditions through improved industrial relations remains weak compared to the growth of the sector. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) services at national and regional level are not addressing the current needs of the sector and very few factories have functional OSH management systems.

According to recent data from the Ethiopian Government, more than 200 garment and textile factories are currently operating in the Country. Textile and garment products represent 17% of total manufacturing value, and 0.6% of total GDP. Presently, the apparel sector employs approximately 62,000 workers, with nearly 60% being female workers in the cutting stage, and 85-90% in the sewing stage of production. Most of the women workers come from the rural areas and are not only new to formal employment, but also to the location where they are working and living. While making up the majority of the workforce in sector, women are often underrepresented in the leadership structures and management of garment factories as well as trade union leaders, meaning their voice and influence at the factory level are often muted. Opportunities for career advancement are limited for all workers in the sector. While men face barriers to enter semi/unskilled roles due to ingrained preference of women by employers, women face additional gender-specific barriers including wage inequality, limited access to training opportunities and childcare solutions. Evidence suggests that the availability of child care is strongly associated with an increase in women’s labour force participation and productivity.