The Jordanian garment industry is one of the leading exporting industries in the country. In 2019, garment and related exports exceeded USD 1.9 billion and accounted for about 23 percent of Jordan’s total exports, with an 11 percent growth compared to 2018. The US continued to be Jordan’s largest garment export due to the established Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
The Better Work Jordan (BWJ) Programmer’s objective is to improve labour standards and enterprise performance in the Jordanian apparel industry. BWJ was established at the Jordanian Ministry of Labour’s request in 2007 and began operations in mid-2008. It is a partnership between the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).
At the enterprise level, BWJ’s activities are comprised of two stages. The first stage is designed to identify the needs of enterprises in terms of labor compliance. The second stage focuses on advisory and training services. BWJ works with participating enterprises to develop and implement a unique improvement plan that systematically addresses all violations and deviations from the applicable laws and standards. BWJ’s goal is upgrading enterprise economic and labour standards performance through customized training and remediation.
On the sectoral level, BWJ supports stakeholder organizations representing government, workers, and employers by building their capacity to develop a competitive sector providing employment opportunities in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity. To this end, BWJ is undertaking several initiatives. These include capacity-building programs for the Ministry of Labor and the General Trade Union of Workers in Textile, Garment, and Clothing and a policy-oriented research project on the apparel sector value-added to the Jordanian economy.
Over the past ten years, Better Work Jordan has been working with the national tripartite constituents and international brands to improve working conditions and promote decent work in the garment sector. Since then, factories have made significant improvements in terms of working conditions and compliance with labour standards. The program’s mandatory status, where garment factories exporting to the US market and their subcontractors are required to join the Better Work program, enabled the program to access the entire garment-exporting sector and work with both workers and managers in the factories to promote decent working conditions.
However, during the past years, multiple suicides and attempted suicide cases among migrant workers were reported in Jordan’s garment factories. This situation calls for specific interventions and supports to enhance mental well-being, especially among female migrant workers. More so, and with the rise of the unprecedented COVID19 health crisis, attending to mental health issues becomes even more pressing. This is partly attributed to workers’ economic uncertainty and further concerns among migrant workers about their distant family members’ health and well-being.
BWJ is implementing a mental health project to enhance the mental health of migrant workers in Jordan. The project started in January 2021, aiming to become more resilient against mental health risks, including seeking psychosocial support when necessary. Besides targeting factories and the mental health referral system, they reach more workers needing psychosocial support, including women and migrant workers.
International Mental Health Day provides an opportunity for us to come together and act together to highlight how inequality can be addressed to ensure garment workers can enjoy good mental health.
The Event Management Company will arrange and support conducting two events:
Event 1 | Event 2 | |
Event Name | Workers Got Talent | Mental Health Day |
Description | BWJ will celebrate 10 winners of the worker’s talent competition on stage (they will perform in form of 200 audience | BWJ celebrating mental health day through a social event that will include 7 different activities |
Location | Dulil | Irbid Alhassan Industrial Zone |
Date | Friday the 21st of October | Sunday the 30th of October |
Time | 11 am- 2 pm | 5 pm – 8 pm |
Participants | 250 participants | 300 participants, divided into three groups:· Bangla (100 workers) invited at 5 pm· Hindi (100 workers) invited at 5: 45· Sir Lankan and Jordanian (100 workers) invited at 6:30 |
The service provider will be responsible for:
All applicants must send company profiles and financial proposals to Jordan@betterwork.org, deadline to submit the offers by the 27th of September mid-day (12:00 PM)
Full Terms of Reference can be found from here.