The garment, textile, footwear sector remains the heart of the Cambodian economy, generating 74% export earnings, formally employing more than 650,000 Cambodians, the majority of whom are women. It is estimated that each garment worker supports another three to four family members. This means that two million Cambodians depend on the garment sector for their livelihoods.
Since 2001, Better Factories Cambodia has joined with workers, employers and government to improve working conditions and boost the competitiveness of the garment industry. Originally, the project was linked to an innovative trade agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) with the United States that provided market access in return for improving working conditions in the garment sector. After the expiration of the trade agreement in 2004, the Cambodian Government, together with unions and employers, requested the ILO to continue with the implementation of the programme.
As its longest running programme, Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) is in many ways the driving force behind Better Work and has inspired the establishment of the programme in nine other countries. Central elements of the programme’s approach began in Cambodia: from cultivating social dialogue through worker-management committees, to offering factories tailored advisory services to help them solve their own labour rights’ challenges or using public reporting to spur improvements in factory working conditions and workplace environment across the industry. The programme currently covers over 550 factories and has close collaboration with over 200 of those factories where it helps systems of social dialogue to help solve workplace issues.
The primary objective of this consultancy is to provide comprehensive support to the financial literacy campaign and communication initiatives of Better Factories Cambodia, with the aim of enhancing financial awareness and improving communication strategies within factories.
This work will be carried out from September 2023 to January 2024.