Step taken to improve health status of RMG workers

Step has been taken to improve health status of the Ready Made Garment (RMG) workers of the country through providing nutrition services and micronutrient supplements to workers.

To this end, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Switzerland-based international organization, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday.

The two sides, through the MoU, intend to improve the health status of the country’s RMG workers, which will have a positive impact on the lives of the workers in Bangladesh.

On behalf of their respective institutions, Faruque Hassan, President of the BGMEA, and Dr. Rudaba Khondker, Country Director of the GAIN, signed the MoU at a signing ceremony at BGMEA office in the capital on the day.

Mohammad Monower Hossain, joint secretary of BGMEA, Moniruzzaman Bipul, Portfolio Lead, Drivers of Food Systems Change, GAIN, G.M. Reza Sumon, Project Manager, GAIN and others were present on the occasion.

Under the MoU, there will be collaboration to create an enabling environment for ensuring proper nutrition of the RMG workers in the future.

The two sides will provide technical guidance to strengthen the institutional capacity of the National WFN Alliance for scaling up nutrition activities for workers’ well-being.

Also, they will make collective approaches and mechanisms to improve workers' access to affordable nutritious, and safe food by establishing a Fair Price Shop (FPS) at factory premises.

The BGMEA and GAIN will collaborate to create an enabling environment to provide nutrition services and micronutrient supplements to workers from various formal and informal sectors.  

Through this partnership, the two sides will collaborate and leverage services for improving the nutritional status of RMG workers in Bangladesh.

They said the step will ultimately contribute to achieving the goal of the 2nd National Plan of Action for Nutrition (NPAN2), as wfulfill fulfil UN Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Health and Wellbeing), SGD 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).