Women, a dominating labour force, are missing out on healthcare, sanitation, child day-care and maternity provisions in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), said leading women entrepreneurs and rights activists yesterday.

Women take up 65 percent of the labour force in SEZs.

They were speaking at a roundtable on “Gender in SEZs” organised by Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) to provide information on a new project with a focus on gender and sustainability in SEZs.

Ayesha Khanam, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, said many factories claim to be complying with labour rights at work, but women workers there have different versions.

“So, the government as well as the people involved in this area should ensure labour rights — especially women workers’ rights. Regular health check-up, toilet facilities, child day-care and maternity provisions should be in place to attract women workers,” Khanam said.

Rokia Afzal Rahman, former caretaker government adviser, and Selima Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others, also spoke.

“The project will look at gender and sustainability issues in SEZs from a private sector development perspective especially at the worker level to make the economic zones safe and attractive for female workers,” said Martin Norman, programme manager of International Finance Corporation (IFC), at the discussion.

“The project will also look at the management level to ensure proper entrepreneurship for women,” Norman said. The project will have two phases to build a women-friendly environment in the SEZs.

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