'Mutual cooperation vital for protecting health of garment workers'
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Director Tuomo Poutiainen stressed the importance of cooperative efforts among diverse organisations to maintain the health and wellbeing of the country's garment workers.
"Measures taken by various organisations for the welfare of the garment workers should be more democratised and barriers to accessing health services should be reduced," he said during a roundtable on Wednesday.
The discussion titled "Fostering the health and wellness of our workforce," was organised by Ayat Education with the support of Integral Global, BGMEA and JCM Foundation at a Gulshan hotel in the capital.
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Ayat Education and Integral Global are conducting activities involving 30,000 workers across three textile and six readymade garment factories.
Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley said, "In addition to prioritising the mental and physical health of workers, it is important that the garment sector is brought under digitalisation by creating a comprehensive database."
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, "The welfare of the workers is of utmost importance to us. In this regard, we have brought about major changes in industrial factories within the readymade garment sector over the past decade."
Tahsin Aman, vice chairman of Aman group of companies, stressed the importance of regular health check-ups for garment workers and called for a collective effort to ensure their well-being instead of relying solely on external financial support.
Ayat Education is developing a digital toolkit containing information on health, wellness, and protective services for BGMEA and readymade garment employees.
