Women are increasingly migrating independently or as primary household earners to improve their own or their families’ well-being, to earn income and send remittances home. Women’s migration and their earnings contribute to the development of themselves and their families and also contribute to women’s empowerment and advancement. To women in rural areas, the decision to seek work abroad, though seemingly daunting and perhaps dangerous, appears as a viable alternative to remaining in poverty, situations of violence, inequality and unemployment or underemployment.

Unfortunately, many women migrant workers find themselves receiving poor wages, working excessive hours, and exposed to labour and human rights violations. On their return, women migrants face multidimensional problems. Social reintegration becomes difficult because of long absence which results

in low acceptance by their family member and community. Economic reintegration is also hard because of the lack of finding new jobs after return as pattern of work is different in abroad. Women also suffer from various health hazards and psychological problems after they return. There is a lack of coordinated, integrated and comprehensive approach to sustainable What we do reintegration of returnee women migrants. Therefore, they are unable to get a suitable job or establish a viable business at home after they return.

In this backdrop, CWCS initiated a 4 years programme entitled “Empowerment of Returnee Women Migrants” in Keraniganj and Nawabganj upazilas under Dhaka district aimed to improving socio-economic reintegration of returnee women migrant workers from January 2020 to December 2023. The programme is supported by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

Activities at a glance

At the grassroots level

• Awareness raising meetings including door-to-door campaigns for potential women migrants and their family members on safe migration
• Identification of returnee women migrants who were victims of violence in abroad
• Identification of returnee women migrants who were victims of violence in abroad
• Group formation of returnee women migrants
• Psycho-social support packages namely healthcare, individual, family and community counselling
• Leadership and women empowerment training
• Entrepreneurship training
• Returnee women migrants were provided sewing training for making face masks in exchange of wages for returnee women migrants
• Economic reintegration through Women Economic Empowerment (WEE)
• Motivational and information sharing with Union Parishad Chairman and members.

At the national level

• Launching of an Alliance for Women Migrant Voices (AWMV) with women rights organization working on migration issues
• Advocacy meetings with the Alliance members and key stakeholders from Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and support services
• Media advocacy on information sharing regarding women migrant worker’s rights
• Policy formulation on reintegration of returnee women migrants.

At the very beginning of the programme, 4 inception meetings were held in the programme areas with government officials to inform them about the programme activities so that they are supportive to our forthcoming activities with potential and returnee women migrants.

At the grassroots level

Awareness raising meeting

About 16 awareness-raising meetings at community level with potential women migrants and their family members for awareness building on safe migration at various places of Nawabganj and Keraniganj Upazila. The main discussion were: what is migration; deciding life’s goal and its importance; discussion on worker’s rights and duties; 13 steps of safe migration; 

Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Migration Act, 2013 and its advantages; Wage Earners Welfare Board Act, 2018 and its welfare services; gender equality and present status of women in migration. In addition, discussion are held on 11 life skills techniques; management of remittances; healthcare and various diseases such as HIV/AIDS and its related remedies.

Door-to-door campaign

Door-to-door awareness campaigns were organized by distributing information materials on safe migration. Awareness were created among 3,562 community people by distributing leaflets and posters. Some key messages in the leaflets are the 13 steps of the migration process mainly: Decision making of going abroad; Registration in the Database of BMET & DEMO; Preparing Passport; Communicating with BMET & DEMO to know if recruiting agency is legal or not;

Collect and preserve written receipts of all financial transactions; Undertaking necessary trainings from Technical Training Centres; Obtaining Smart Card from BMET; Visa authenticity and validity from BMET; Verification of contract; Opening 2 accounts; one is for family and other one is for individual’s saving; Obtaining medical test certificate and report from authorized medical service institution; Joining the briefing session of BMET; Passport, Visa & Job related documents need to be taken before boarding the plane; arrival at the destination country.

The posters conveyed mainly information on safe migration and slogans such as gender equality; know the relevant information and be skilled, only then it will be safe and successful migration; women are not a burden in our society, they are also an asset of the country due to their economic contribution; women are not a competitor, they are family supporters and family should be their strength.

Group formation of returnee women migrants

About 16 groups of 490 returnee women migrant workers were formed. In Keraniganj upazila it covered 4 unions namely Konda, Kolatia, Ruhitpur, Suvadda and in Nawabganj upazila covering some selected unions of Kolakopa, Boxonogor, Bandura, Agla, Churain and Galimpur.

Group meetings

About 55 quarterly group meetings were organized with 814 returnee women migrants from October 2021 to December 2022 at several unions at Nawabganj and Keraniganj upazilas. The discussion topics were about health awareness, personal hygiene, women empowerment, small business, clothing business, government loan and services, Union Digital Center’s information, agriculture trainings etc.

Capacity development training

About 5 capacity Development training were conducted with programme staff from July 2021- December 2022 at CWCS Conference Room, Dhaka on various issues such as challenges faced by potential and returnee women migrants; information about women group meeting manual and program procurement; women empowerment and women leadership; feminism; duty bearers and rights holders and advocacy techniques.

Discussion were also held on various policies such as HRM Policy and gender policy for identifying gaps and future suggestions; knowledge about office etiquette, office environment and employee relationship; working hours; performance; leave policy and to develop participants’ knowledge.

In addition, skills on accountability, localization tools and process in humanitarian actions and equip the staff with tools to utilize their knowledge in the field level activities as required; information about clarifying knowledge management and documentation; as well as tools of Monitoring and Evaluation.

Workshop on leadership and women empowerment

About 17 Leadership and Women Empowerment workshops were organized with 471 returnee women migrants at various Union Parishads of Keraniganj and Nawabganj upazilas. The main discussion points were: Gender and sex and its differences, gender barometer, gender role, gender relationship, gender equality and equity, gender division of work, women’s status and position in society, patriarchy, what is leadership, whom we can call leader, qualities and duties of a leader, women leadership and women empowerment as migrant worker, feminism and feminist leadership, human rights as women rights, what are constitutional rights, challenges and problems of women migrant workers.

Entrepreneurship training

About 13 entrepreneurship training were conducted with 325 returnee women migrant workers at various Union Parishad of Keraniganj and Nawabganj upazilas. The main discussion points were: Entrepreneurship and how to be the best entrepreneur etc., understanding business through a business model, group work sessions for making new Business Model and sharing individual ideas about entrepreneurship, proper use of credit and how to reduce the risk for your business, bookkeeping and accounting as important tools for own business, demo of how to sell goods to customer such as ask customer to buy your service and product, to make them understand and resolve, serving the customers, caring for customers after the sales and ask your ‘Happy Customers’ to help find ‘New Customers.

Sewing training

Two days long sewing training was conducted for returnee women migrant workers on face mask making which was held at CWCS Conference Room on 20-21 June 2022 with selected 20 women migrant workers who have experience of handling the sewing machines. The objective of this two days long sewing training is to make beneficiaries know how to sew face mask so that they can get financial support by sewing 5,000 face masks funded from our project “Empowerment of Returnee Women Migrants” and also, they can make face masks for economic benefits by selling them in the market.

Psychosocial counselling

About 377 returnee women migrants were communicated over mobile phone and provided psychosocial counselling to overcome their trauma and gain self-confidence. The counsellor also provided follow-up support to those beneficiaries who were in need.

Family counselling

About 53 families of returnee women migrants were communicated and provided psychosocial counselling to create awareness and positive changes which is also important for returnee women migrants so they do not suffer stigmatization and easily get acceptance in the family.

Group counselling

About 28 group counseling were conducted to 180 returnee women migrants at their community level to create a positive outlook of the community people so that the returnee women migrant workers are easily acceptable and not looked down.

Medical support

About 68 returnee migrant women were listed, validated, approved and provided healthcare support which included medical test, treatment and medicines through government health support service providers.

Women Economic Empowerment (WEE)

The Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) has involved 36 returnee women migrants in various economic activities. Women are doing diversity of livelihood activities namely clothing business, cow, goat and poultry rearing, pitha shop, grocery shop, fish business and vegetable cultivation etc. Women did not have enough money to develop

their own business was meagre, only enough for bare survival. However, after getting monetary support to enhance their income, their standard of living has improved for example their food intake, profit earning, initial business has prospered from small trading to selling of variety of grocery items. Within 4 months duration, women have started to have small savings and they dream of a better life ahead.

Motivational and information sharing meetings with Union Parishad Chairmen and Members

About 15 Motivational and information sharing meetings with 15 Union Parishad chairmen and members were organized to provide relevant information on women migration issues and to motivate them to keep track of the situation of women migration and to incorporate migration issues in the Union Digital Information Centre.  The Union Parishad Chairmen and members appreciated the activities being implemented for returnee women migrants with the support of Manusher Jonno Foundation.

The Union Parishad Chairmen and Members shared the following issues

About 15 Motivational and information sharing meetings with 15 Union Parishad chairmen and members were organized to provide relevant information on women migration issues and to motivate them to keep track of the situation of women migration and to incorporate migration issues in the Union Digital Information Centre.  The Union Parishad Chairmen and members appreciated the activities being implemented for returnee women migrants with the support of Manusher Jonno Foundation.

• Union Parishad Chairmen stated that If 10 beneficiaries can upgrade their lives through CWCS program activities, then these meetings are definitely very effective.
• Union Parishads chairmen and members should be present in the courtyard meetings organized by different organizations. Besides, they also do publicity about migration and trafficking and to spread awareness through miking. Need to prepare banner or festoon regarding all the services of Union Digital Information Centre to publicize about the facilities that Union Parishads are providing.
• Union Digital Information Centre can be motivated to share information of women migration issues and keep track of the situation of women migrating abroad. However, women migrants do not share about their migration abroad with the Union Digital Information Centre or with Union Parishad women ward members. Although Union Parishad women members try to communicate with the women migrants but seems these women are not interested. In this regard, Chairmen and members wanted CWCS beneficiary data of returnee women migrants so that they can keep ward-wise information for their activities after returning back.
• Union Parishad Chairmen expressed that the Centre should keep them updated about their programs so that they can attend whenever necessary. If Union Parishad Members will attend the programs then beneficiaries will trust CWCS easily and will be bound to repay the economic support after certain period of time.

• Every Union Parishad has one room for providing all types of training which can be used for pre-departure training for potential women migrants.
• Members agreed that returnee women migrants need counselling and they have seen many returnees are mentally imbalanced. Psychosocial counselling is of great importance because many migrants’ families are facing problems with their children who are leaving home and getting married without the consent of their parents besides problems of social stigmatization both in their families and communities.
• Need to provide skill training to women migrants so that they could get decent job with better earning.
• Migrant women never tell about their migration process to anyone. If they face problem then they come to the Union Parishad for help. They do not keep any prove about money transaction. Most of the women go abroad taking loans which they also can’t repay in time.
• Many returnee women migrants who are economically vulnerable are in touch with the women ward members. Few returnee migrants are employed by the Union Parishad although many of them are in debt and unable to pay it. Even they ask for money to pay the debt.

• Provide them economic support by providing various types of items such as goat, cow, hen, clothes, sewing machine etc. However, they cautioned that we should not provide cash because they will spend this money for different purpose.
• Union Parishad members informed that they do Salish of women migration cases and wanted to know what they will do if women migrants approach them and whom to refer these cases, whether such types of cases can be referred to the appropriate authorities by CWCS.
• Create sustainable job opportunities for returnee women migrants, moreover, government need to ensure social and job security for women migrants.
• Women migrants go abroad secretly while intermediaries helps them in this process, as such chairmen and members are unaware of their departures. However, Chairmen and members are approached whenever women migrants face problems.
• Form union protection committee for women migration issues at Union Parishad level so that women can get the relevant information regarding safe migration, support while working abroad and successful reintegration in their families and communities.

At the national level

Launching the Alliance for Women Migrant Voices (AWMV) with Women Rights Organizations working on migration issues.

The Launching Ceremony of the Alliance for Women Migrant Voices (AWMV) was organized on 21 April 2022 at Bijoy Ekattor Hall Room, Probashi Kallyan Bhaban, Dhaka. The Alliance for Women Migrant Voices consisted of 22 national and grassroots women’s rights organizations so that women migrant workers will be able to get equal rights, opportunities at their workplaces and can voice their demands because women migrant workers are subjected to a wide range of human rights violations, including physical, mental, financial, and sexual exploitation.

Objectives of the Alliance

• Strengthen networking among women rights organizations for taking proactive role for women’s safe migration
• Establish and ensure equal rights and opportunities for women migrant workers
• Address the issue of discrimination and violence in the workplace of women migrant workers
• Advocate for enactment/inclusion/amendment of Laws and policies related to women migrants’ rights and opportunities
• Increase knowledge and awareness among the women

The Alliance was launched by the Chief Guest Honourable Minister Imran Ahmed, MP of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment with Special guests Shaheen Anam, Executive Director, Manusher Jonno Foundation and Mr. Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, PhD, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Prof. Ishrat Shamim, chair of the AWMV welcomed the guests, government officials, AWMV members, representatives of INGOs and NGOs and media personnel. She stated that the number of potential women migrants are increasing every year. With significant increase in number of women migrants, it is time that the government, NGOs, CSOs and recruiting agencies all come forward to address the plight of women migrants so that women are not exploited in the whole migration process. Therefore we should collaboratively work together to realize migrants’ rights and ensure their safety and security. It was followed by a short introduction of the AWMV members by Co-Chair Fawzia Khondoker and the Charter of the Alliance was presented by Secretary General, Farida Yeasmin.

Shaheen Anam, in her speech as a Special Guest, said that in most cases, the way out of poverty is to earn more money by going abroad which is sometimes very risky for women. In 2021, 13 percent of the total migrant workforce in Bangladesh was women. Therefore, by no means we should stop women from migrating abroad. However, we do not want that women migrants are being pushed into precarious condition, they become victims of sexual harassment, coming back empty handed, getting low wages, being forced to work for a long time etc. We are trying to address these issues to increase the negotiation skills of the workers who are willing to migrate so that they can get access to justice and it is possible to ensure safe migration for all. In addition, for the returnee women migrants who are facing stigmatization, we need to raise their voice against such discriminations. Therefore, it is the role of the Alliance members to stand by them, to make their family members understand what they have gone through while working abroad for which they are not to be blamed. The collective voice can make a difference.

Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, in his speech as Special guest stated that we all serve as catalysts for the welfare of migrants. You’re on board. Coming here, I notice that many organizations are working in isolation for the same goal. We should all be on the same platform. Stand up and collaborate. He claims that there is no substitute for acquiring skills. He emphasized on the whole of society and whole of government approach.

Honourable Minister Imran Ahmed MP, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment was the Chief Guest and launched the Alliance for Women Migrant Voices. He stated that women are the backbone of our society and with migrants, there are many possibilities, as well as problems and solutions. Please give us some advice because skilled women workers are required in many more countries, including Germany and Japan. If this Alliance or frontline workers work closely with our advisors, then we will be able to train and educate the women. I believe I will be able to continue on the path of safe migration by transforming them into a safe workforce. Women migrant workers have the potential to be change makers in this country’s economy. This is at the national level, with the goal of liberating Bangladeshi women migrant workers from hazardous and exploitative working conditions. Now that an Alliance is being formed, those of you who work with women migrant workers are welcomed to consult with the Ministry on any issue. Please come and speak with us. Because you are working at the grassroots level, you must raise awareness for those who are illiterate, incompetent, travel abroad blindly and relying on middlemen.

Prof. Ishrat Shamim, concluding remarks especially thanked the Minister for his commitment towards women migrant workers and his offer to welcome us to consult on any matters relating to women migrants. She also thanked the Secretary Dr. Ahmed Munirus Saleheen and Shaheen Anam, Executive Director, Manusher Jonno Foundation for their time and active participation. Dr. Rubina Hossain, Co-chair of AWMV delivered the vote of thanks to all the participants for attending the launching ceremony.

Information sharing meeting with the Alliance for Women Migrant Voices (AWMV) members

Two half-yearly information sharing meetings with the Alliance for Women Migrant Voices (AWMV) members were organized at Conference Room, Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS), Dhaka. The objective of these events were to identify and know the reasons of irregular migration and recommendations from AWMV members on safe migration and free from exploitation in the whole migration process.

Modality of these meetings were mostly group work where AWMV members discussed on women migrants’ experiences during the different phases of migration and put forward policy recommendations. The first meeting had four groups and discussed on: Decision making phase and role of middleman; Lack of Information on safe migration; Work experiences in abroad; and Reintegration of returnee women migrants. In the second meeting members were divided into three groups and discussed on: Effective awareness raising for potential migrants; Access to justice for women migrants; and Social & economic reintegration of returnee migrants.

Members came up with the following recommendations:

• Keeping regularly updated information about migration in the Union Digital Information Centre to be shared with women migrants
• Train the Union Digital Information Centre staff of Union Parishads
• Sensitize and motivate Chairmen and members of Union Parishads on women migration issues
• Verification of visa and contract letter needed by having a desk at the union level to provide relevant information
• Provide training to women migrant workers which should be subject wise, professional skill and languages of destination countries training
• Ensure accountability of middlemen and involve them legally
• Job appointment letter with salary, medical, fixed working hours, provision of regular contact with the family back home and security should be given

• List of women migrants should be published online and offline so that the Bangladesh embassy in destination countries are well informed
• Reintegration should start with individual, family and community counselling
• Job opportunities should be created according to her skills
• Create linkages with government and private institutions

• Developing small businesses using local resources
• Proper utilization of remittances
• Arrange business management training
• Facilitate the loan facility of Probashi Kallyan Bank.
• Need massive publicity such as bill board on safe migration
• Providing legal aid services.

National level media advocacy

About 3 national level media briefings on the followings: Information regarding issues related to women migrant workers’ rights based on media reporting; Media Advocacy for the Rights of Women Migrants; and Media Advocacy for the Rights of Returnee Women Migrants at Tofazzel Hossain Manik Mia, National Press Club, Dhaka. In the above media briefings, CWCS prepared presentation jointly with resource persons which were informative and based on year wise media coverage. The presentations were followed by open discussion from the media personnel as well as NGO representatives who are working for safe migration of women.

Journalists from various print and online media participated actively during the media briefing discussions. namely Business Standard, The Daily Star, New Age, Dainik Jugantar, Dainik Ittefaq, Prothom Alo, Dainik Samakal, Kalbela, Banglanews24.com, The Business Eye, Daily Manobjomin, Ajker Patrika and Daily Jaijaidin. There was also participation from television channels and YouTube in these media briefing discussion.

Given below the specific recommendations:

• Positive wording in media reporting
• Media should respect the dignity of migrants
• Avoid hateful and demining words
• Media should provide the authentic sources so that women do not depend on the middlemen for migration-related information
• Media should ensure a balanced coverage
• Promote evidence-based reports.

Dialogue with Government and Non-Government service providers for Safe Migration and Reintegration of Returnee Women Migrants

Dialogue with Government and Non-Government service providers for Safe Migration and Reintegration of Returnee Women Migrants was organized on 27 November 2022 at CIRDAP, Topkhana Road, Dhaka. It was attended by 63 participants from various government service providers as well as IGNOs and NGOs.

The welcome address was delivered by Prof. Ishrat Shamim, President, CWCS and the dialogue was facilitated by Advocate Farida Yeasmin, Executive Member, CWCS.

Prof. Ishrat Shamim presented a brief introduction of the programme “Empowerment of Returnee Women Migrants” and hopes that the services of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) will be promoted.

Chief Guest Md. Shahidul Alam, ndc, Director General, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment informed that the BMET would hire trainers for the training center from the returnee women migrants so that they can share their experiences which will be very helpful for the trainees.

A model was prepared for providing training by the returnees at the local technical training centers in Chattogram, Cumilla and Narsingdi districts. Moreover, government initiated a database in 2021 but it was yet to function and BMET is working to ensure insurance policy for all migrants so that if anyone failed to get desired job in destination country will not be a loser. Besides, he especially urged women migrant workers to properly learn the language of the destination country before migrating abroad. He further added that there should be a national standard of eligibility requirements for individuals who wants to migrate abroad.

Mazibur Rahman, Managing Director, Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB) observed that there is a positive change among migrant workers to take bank loan in the past one year and ‘’PKB has distributed Taka 900 crore in a year which was Taka 784 in the past 10 years.’’ He further informed that women returnee migrants could get special rehabilitation loan launched by the bank during the COVID-19 pandemic but unfortunately has been low.

Md. Aminur Haque, Assistant Director, Wage Earners’ Welfare Board (WEWB) informed about the financial facilities of Taka 35,000 for any migrant who dies abroad and Taka 3 lac to support family members. There is also the Airport Help desk to assist the women migrants going abroad.

Md. Masud Rana, Senior Statistical Officer (Deputy Director), Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) urged that we need to work in collaboration, cooperation, coordination and cohesion. We all need dedication to work towards the same goal. Wage Earners’ Welfare Board (WEWB) have insurance coverage up to Taka 4 lac and migration clearance card is available at the home of the migrant without any hassle.

Mohammad Mahdy Hassan, National Programme Coordinator, GLO.ACT Bangladesh Programme emphasized on referral linkages and said we need to think what are the demands of returnee women migrants  and accordingly what can organizations provide them. He also added that road map of the referral mechanism is being developed and we need to work in collaboration with concerned ministries.

Mohammad Ikram Hossain, Country Coordinator, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) stated that ICMPD is advocating to establish DEMO offices in all the migration prone areas. They are working in 64 districts to raise awareness on safe migration. He emphasized on the referral mechanism and to upgrade TTC training. He also shared some of their innovative activities such as they have added Imam of mosques to spread awareness and positivity, taken initiatives to train journalists to change the narrative of migration.

Mohuya Leya Falia, Senior Coordinator expressed her concern about training at the Technical Training Centres, especially the quality of training and maintenance of hygienic environment for the trainees. Moreover, there is no effective database of returnee migrants and no one knows about their condition. She urged that the government should incorporate clauses that ensure safety and security of women migrants in the destination countries. She further said regarding social safety net programmes, we need to establish linkages with Department of Social Welfare. We need separate support category to provide services to our beneficiaries. Moreover, BMET has a strong role of monitoring if the environment is gender sensitive towards women migrants. We need to think about their wellbeing, mechanism and create a world for women migrants. In addition she stressed about safety and security of women migrant workers.

In addition, there were other Government service providers who attended from Technical Training Centre (TTC), Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB), Wage Earners’ Welfare Board (WEWB), Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) and NGO representatives such as BOMSA, BNSK, OKKAF and Films 4 Peace Foundation.

National Level Consultation on Policy Framework Regarding Reintegration of Returnee Women Migrants

National Level Consultation on Policy Framework Regarding Reintegration of Returnee Women Migrant was organized on 18 November 2023 at CIRDAP, 17 Topkhana Road, Dhaka. About 60 participants attended the Consultation from various government service providers namely District Employment & Manpower Office, Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, Prabashi Kallayan Bank, Bureau of Manpower, Employment & Training, Departments of Social Services and Women Affairs, and RAISE project; development partners from ILO, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation Bangladesh and Manusher Jonno Foundation. National and grassroots levels NGOs also attended the meeting.

In the Keynote presentation, it was stated that participation of women migrant workers from Bangladesh has been showing a declining trend of women migration in recent years. Several factors such as absence of social reintegration services, hazardous work environment, and stigma against the returnees as the leading causes behind this declining trend. In 2016, more than one lakh Bangladeshi women (15.58 percent) were among 757,731 workers who went abroad. In subsequent years, the percentage of women migration from Bangladesh came down to 13.85 percent in 2018, 12 percent in 2021, nine percent in 2022, and only five percent so far this year. For the last 10 years, women migration has been within 6-19 percent of the total migration, which shows that the manpower export sector of Bangladesh is largely male dominated.

Many of these women workers, who mostly go to the gulf countries, often face physical, mental and sexual abuse, alongside lower salaries than original contract and poor living and healthcare facilities. These adverse situations often force the women to return to Bangladesh without any proper plan and sufficient compensation, the speakers also said, adding that social reintegration of these female migrant workers into their communities has remained a challenge in Bangladesh as there is no data base on migration.

Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary, Member of Parliament, Bangladesh and Chairperson, Bangladesh Parliamentarians’ Caucus on Migration and Development, who was the Chief Guest of the Consultation meeting said, “We don’t have reliable data about the returning women migrant workers. We do not know why they are returning, what adverse experiences they went through. They simply blend into the society and we cannot track them afterwards.” He further added, “There should be a separate database and budget for the returnee women migrants to facilitate their reintegration process into the community.”

A draft policy framework on reintegration of returning women migrant workers was presented in the meeting where  a separate database on the returning women migrant workers, estimation of remittance earned, financial literacy, decent employment, healthcare and counselling services, and raising awareness to alleviate stigma against these workers were proposed.

“Along with economic empowerment, providing psycho-social counselling to the returnees is also very important. These services can decrease the impact of social stigma and help them to find a decent, mainstream livelihood after their return,” said Jannatul Firdaus Rupa, Assistant Director, District Employment and Manpower Office, Dhaka.

International Day Celebrations

The ERWM programme celebrated the various international days, especially those related with women rights towards achieving equality and women’s empowerment:

International Day of Girl Child

The event was held at Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) in Dhaka to celebrate International Day of Girl Child with 7 staff of CWCS on 11 October 2021. International Day of the Girl celebrates the importance, power, and potential of girls around the world and focuses attention on the particular problems they can face during the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated existing inequalities and disrupted access to vital health and support services

International Women's Day

On 8 March 2022, International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global initiative to celebrate annually to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. International Women’s Day was celebrated at Samsabad, Kolakopa, Nawabganj upazila Parishad with 25 women migrant workers and Konda Union Parishad with 22 women migrant workers by bringing out a rallies to sensitize the community people on women rights. The day is a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. The purpose of this event was to recognize the day when women are recognized for their achievements irrespective of their ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political background.

International May Day

On 11 May 2022, International May Day was celebrated at Kolakopa Union, Nawabganj with 23 women migrant workers and Konda Union Parishad, Keraniganj with 25 women migrant workers. International May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is celebrated in over 80 countries across the world on 1st May to commemorate the efforts and victories of the workers’ class and the labour movement. The purpose of this day was to recognize and acknowledge the historic struggles that have shaped the ideas of social justice and basic rights in workplaces across the world. We celebrated the day to remember the past and efforts made to empower the workers of today with the required knowledge of their rights and responsibilities.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (Orange Day)

On 29 November 2021, The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in short Orange Day is an international campaign that takes place each year. Orange day was celebrated at CWCS Field Office, Samsabad, Nawabganj upazila with 27 women returnee migrant workers. The purpose of this day was to inform beneficiaries about the significance of Orange Day, to increase awareness and share knowledge and innovations regarding how to eliminate violence against women. On 29 November 2022, Orange day was organized at Nawabganj Shahid Minar, Kolakopa Union, Nawabganj upazila, Dhaka with 23 returnee women migrant workers. It was also celebrated at Konda Union Parishad, Dhaka with 27 returnee women migrant workers. Orange Day has also observed in the Head Office of Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) with 8 staff of CWCS.

Begum Rokeya Day

On 9th December 2021, Begum Rokeya Day was celebrated at Conference Room, CWCS, Dhaka with 14 participants including President and Executive Members of CWCS. The purpose of this event was to pay tribute to Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a leading 19th century Bengali feminist writer, social reformer and pioneer of women’s education social reformer and pioneer of women’s education. She is considered a pioneer of women’s liberation in South Asia for her enormous efforts to establish gender equality and ensure female education. There were two guest speakers namely Taskeen Fatema Moona, Vice-President and Nusrat Sultana, Treasurer of CWCS. Nusrat Sultana gave her presentation on Begum Rokeya’s Philosophy of Education. She shared Begum Rokeya’s perspective of education of why education is important, how the syllabus was designed at that time and three important points of education etc. Taskin Fatema Moona discussed about Rokeya’s book entitled “Sultana’s Dreams” and narrated the significance of this day.

Human Rights Day

On 10th December 2021, Human Rights Day was celebrated at Konda Union, Keraniganj near Keraniganj Field Office. Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world to raise awareness about the rights that all human beings are entitled irrespective of religion, sex, language, race, color, nationality and so on. In this regard, a human chain was formed by 30 returnee women migrant workers to inform beneficiaries about the significance of the day and to increase awareness about their rights.

On 10th December 2022, Human Rights Day was celebrated by organizing a rally at Teghoria Union, Keraniganj from 10.00 am to 12.00 pm with 30 returnee women migrants followed by a speech about the significance of the day by the Principle of Baghoir High School.

It was also celebrated in the Agla Union Paishad, Nawabganj with Agla Chairman Shirin Chowdhury who participated in the rally with our beneficiaries from 11.00 to 1.00 pm. The main theme of these rallies was “Shobar Jonno Morjada, Swadhinota ebong Neybichar.”

International Migrants Day

On 18th December 2021, International Migrants Day was celebrated at Samsabad, Kolakopa, Nawabganj upazila Parishad with 25 women migrant workers. The United States has designated 18 December as International Migrants Day to acknowledge the importance of protecting the rights and dignity of migrants around the world. The purpose of this day was to recognize the contributions made by millions of migrants to the economies of their host and home countries and to promote respect for their basic human rights. On this day, CWCS organized rally on the theme in Bangladesh “Shoto Borshey Jatir Pita Suborney Swadhinata, Ovibasoney Anbo Morjada O Noitikota.”

On 18th December 2022, International Migrants Day was celebrated in both Nawabganj and Keraniganj upazilas. About 30 returnee women migrant workers brought out a rally in Kolakopa Union under Nawabganj Upazila from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. In Keraniganj upazila, 25 returnee women migrants also did a rally along with the Technical Training Centre (TTC) of Keraniganj from 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm.