Category: Garment
Stories of successful women in Myanmar’s garment industry.
We have all seen headlines about the poor working conditions in Myanmar garment factories. While these headlines are certainly grounded in truth, the reality is that for many women in Myanmar, the garment industry is one of the few professions where they can earn enough money to cover their daily living expenses. And for some women, the garment industry has provided the basis for a successful and rewarding career.
Five of those women were the focus of a recent ILO project to highlight the stories of some of the garment industry’s female success stories. We were thrilled to work with the ILO on this project and to meet the inspiring women who kindly contributed their stories and their time. The profiles were written during a series of interviews in the women’s homes and places of work in and around Yangon, Myanmar.
These profiles are meant to inspire the new generations of women coming to play an active role in the world of work, providing examples of how these female leaders cope with life in and beyond the workplace. The profiles include a number of powerful and inspiring women who already hold prominent roles in the Myanmar’s garment industry, be they factory-level operators, supervisors, heads of enterprises, and directors of trade unions or employers’ organizations.
Ms Catherine Vaillancourt-Laflamme, Chief Technical Advisor / Project Manager, ILO Liason Office in Myanmar.
We would like to thank Catherine from the ILO Liason Office in Myanmar for the opportunity to work on this creative and inspiring project, and thanks also to our National Consultants Moh-Moh and Thiri-San who arranged and conducted the interviews.
The profiles can be downloaded directly from the ILO’s website at this link.
Weaving Gender with the ILO in Myanmar
Factive’s principal consultant, Dean Laplonge, yesterday presented a summary of his research results at the official launch of the report Weaving Gender.
This report provides detailed information on the results of a gender-equality assessment carried out in 16 Yangon-based factories in Myanmar’s garment sector.
Weaving Gender is the result of many months of meticulous research and stakeholders forums where the preliminary findings of the gender assessment were discussed. The ILO Improving labour relations for decent work and sustainable development in the Myanmar garment industry (ILO-GIP), which receives funding support from the Swedish international development agency (Sida) and H&M, is pleased to share a picture of the industry which, despite the challenges, is encouraging. We invite all the industry stakeholders to join hands in the spirit of social dialogue to ensure that workers in the industry, especially women, can enjoy decent work.
You can download a copy of the English version of the report using the link below. The Myanmar language version will be available soon.