Reaching Women in the Workplace: Improving the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Family Planning Outcomes of Young Women Working in the Ready-Made Garment Sector in South and Southeast Asia

Perspectives in Global Development: Spring 2022 Seminar Series

In recent years, the garment industries of countries in South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Vietnam have grown to provide economic opportunities to millions and become significant contributors to their economies. The workforce in the garment sector across the region is dominated by women, typically under the age of 30, who have significant unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and family planning (FP) information and services. There has recently been a growing recognition of these needs and the vulnerability of women from development actors, governments, donors and industry stakeholders. In this talk, I will share the experience of the Population Council and our work on improving the health and wellbeing of women working in the garment sectors of Cambodia and Bangladesh, with support from the United States Agency for International Development. Between 2013-2019, the Population Council conducted rigorous implementation science research, and engaged with government and industry stakeholders to co-lead the implementation of one of the most comprehensive women’s health focused interventions in the garment sector. Our worked combined policy advocacy, improved service delivery and rigorous research to drive prioritization of women’s health in the garment sectors of these countries. I will discuss lessons learned through the evidence we that we generated and ways forward for this work.

About the speaker

Dr. Ashish Bajracharya is the Deputy Director for Country Strategy in the International Programs Division at the Population Council, and its Regional Representative for South and East Asia. Dr. Bajracharya is a social demographer and behavioral scientist who specializes in issues related to gender, transitions to adulthood, maternal, sexual and reproductive health, family planning and HIV & AIDS outcomes of vulnerable populations, and rigorous evaluations of health financing and health systems strengthening interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Over the last decade, Dr. Bajracharya has lived and worked in South and East Asia, with bases in Hanoi, Vietnam, Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he is currently based, with research engagements in Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Tanzania, Tajikistan, and Vietnam among others. Between 2015 and 2019 co-led WorkerHealth, a $3.8 million USAID initiative aimed at improving access to reproductive health and family planning services among female garment factory workers in Cambodia. Dr. Bajracharya received his Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University in 2008 where he specialized in social demography and human development. He was also a Bixby Postdoctoral Fellow at the Population Council in New York. He is a native of Nepal.

About the seminar series

The Perspectives in Global Development seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. eastern time during the semester. The series will be presented in a hybrid format with some speakers on campus and others appearing via Zoom. All seminars are shown in Emerson 135. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Integrative Plant Science as part of courses IARD 6960, NTRES 6960, PLSCS 6960 and AEM 6960.