Since 2013, TRAID has funded Nagorik Uddyog’s work to establish two daycare centres and two drop-in centres for the children of garment working mothers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2023, we have committed £83,400 of funding towards this project to continue the centres’ work of providing good quality care, education, rights support, food and health checks for 180 vulnerable children aged 2-16 of garment working mothers.
To date, TRAID has funded £725,500 towards this project which has:
- Enrolled 1,500 out-of-school children of garment workers into the mainstream local schools.
- Obtained nursery care, pre-school education and birth certificates for 2,500 vulnerable children (age 2-5 years) of garment workers.
- Provided drop-in education, life skills and livelihoods skills training for 3,500 street working children.
Physical training class for children attending the drop-in centres. Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Many garment workers are single mothers who have moved from rural areas to look for work far from their families. These women earn low wages, as little as £73.85 a month, and have to leave their young children alone and at risk to work. The older children of these working mothers often need to supplement their family’s income, working in hazardous conditions in labour sectors such as leather tanning and metal construction work.
The work of Nagorik Uddyog supports the children of garment working mothers and has established four excellent care facilities that offer good food and access to education for some of the most at risk children. Of the established care facilities Nagorik Uddyog has built two day care centres and two drop-in centres where children have the opportunity to access education. The daycare centres support 80 children aged 2-5 years old and from this cohort 40 children are supported to attend state primary schools to continue their education.
The two drop-in centres are designed to support 100 young street-working children, aged 6-16. The children are encouraged to attend drop-in literacy and maths classes, alongside life skills and rights training. From these classes, approximately 40 children will be helped to attend state schools while the remaining 60 will be guided into safer working environments.
Children at Nagorik Uddyog’s day care centre learning literacy.
A crucial aspect of this project is supporting the children’s parents to obtain their child’s birth certificate which is an important document that is vital to access state education, healthcare and help to prevent early marriage and child labour.
Nagorik Uddyog’s research found that if the children of underprivileged workers, particularly garment workers, are provided day-care facilities, their family wellbeing significantly improves. Our continued support of this project will allow more children to be supported to access a brighter future through providing safe care spaces and breaking down the barriers to education.
Discover more
In 2021, Childhope UK brought together the stories of the centres, and how children and garment workers have benefited, in its latest impact report. Here you will find first hand accounts from children, and garment workers, of how the centres have helped them.
- Children from the centres wrote and directed lovely, funny and often-moving animations about why having a birth certificate is so important.
- Find out more about the power of education from the teachers and their students.
