Background – Bangladesh’s economy has developed considerably in the last few years, helping to bring millions of people out of poverty. In spite of this, a large proportion of the population must still fight to earn enough to cover their basic needs. The economic growth is simply not enough to absorb the millions of young people entering the labor market every year. The lack of skilled labor is one of the primary reasons that the Bangladeshi economy has not experienced even stronger growth. The lack of education and vocational skills has dramatically limited opportunities for the roughly 3.4 million slum dwellers in Dhaka. The existing training programs are of poor quality and their cost is far too high for the impoverished residents of the slums.

Project Vocational Education – In one of the slums of Dhaka—Raybazar—Swisscontact is carrying out a vocational training project. The activities are financed by the fashion company Charles Voegele Group and administered by the local NGO Chetana Bikash Kendra. The overall goal of the project is to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the slum dwellers by providing them with vocational training so that they can increase their income by getting better jobs or through self-employment. The project offers training for tailoring, sewing, and embroidery to residents of the slums for a minimal fee that is waived for people who can’t afford it. As of early 2010, about 822 slum dwellers had received training. A large proportion of the trainees are underprivileged women who are desperately trying to supplement their family earnings. One unique feature of the project is that it also established a retail outlet which caters to the demand of residents of nearby slums who cannot afford to get their clothes made by tailors. The retail outlet sells products made by students during the course and made-to-order garments produced by graduates. Retail sales help to cover 20% of the operational costs of the project as well as creating important income opportunities for current students and successful graduates of the program. 

Project Health Care – The residents of Kamrangir Chor have practically no access to health care.  In order to improve this dire situation, Swisscontact is working on a project with the local NGO Paricharja to offer sustainable and low-cost health care services to people in the slums. This project is also financed by the Charles Voegele Group. Paricharja has established a permanent center in addition to 12 clinics within local pharmacies where the project’s doctor is available at designated times to see patients. In the permanent center as well as the temporary clinics, the patients receive basic care and medicine at a minimal price. Patients who cannot afford to pay at all are also provided care.  The fees currently cover 10% of the costs of the services and medications.  The project managers plan to raise additional funds through donations by wealthy local community members and large business enterprises. The project also includes awareness-building activities on common health-related themes. In addition to brochures and posters, roundtable discussions in schools are also a part of this effort. Over 40,000 people have received care since the beginning of the project in 2005.

Lipi Begum, Dhaka
“I was a housewife earning nothing before, but now I make dresses at home and earn about BDT 5,000-8,000 per month (US$72-116), doubling my family income. The best thing about gaining skills in this trade is that I no longer have to ask of anything from my husband and can happily make dresses for my little girl.”