The EU's MADE in Myanmar project started project activities in January, 2023. In the first quarter of the year, 177 participants from 62 factories participated in training workshops and enterprise advisory modules with the SMART Factories Programme, both on-site and off-site.
"The SMART Factories Programme provided guidance in strengthening our company's policies to align with the real, practical situation... we learned about how to apply labour laws within our factory and about occupational safety and health. We appreciate the valuable support." - Social Compliance Manager, Seo Ho International
The SMART Factories Programme component covers many areas. The enterprise advisory modules of the SMART Factories Management Systems Programme are 6 month average duration advisory programmes involving the development of detailed factory improvement plans within the respective areas based on initial assessments, with mid-line and follow-up assessments conducted at about the 3 month and 6 month mark. 5 teams of enterprise advisors work within the SMART Factories Programme, with 3-4 experts per team.
Regular modules are:
- Social compliance module
- Workplace relations module
- Chemical management module
- Energy/water/waste efficiency module
Some of the more frequent workshops and seminars of the SMART Factories Programme include...
- Human resources management in apparel industries
- Supervisor communications skills and applied labour laws
- Social dialogue and effective grievance mechanisms (at the factory level)
- Implementing social compliance in apparel industries
- Chemical risk management
- Chemical inventory management
- Carbon footprinting and GHG emissions for apparel factories
- Rainwater harvesting applications in for apparel factories
- Safe and efficient boiler operations - a practicum for boiler operators
- Child labour prevention and young worker protection
- Electrical and fire safety
"Because our factory participated with SMART Factories the company's management organized fire safety and first aider training for me and other co-workers. Communications are better and supervisors also no longer yell at us. I feel less anxious." - Sewing operator from a factory participating in the social compliance programme in early 2023.
Under the project's "Women's Centres" component, the MADE in Myanmar project also opened a new women's community center for garment workers in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon, focusing on nutritional support for young women migrants. Two peer groups sessions were conducted on nutrition in preganancy and the project's medical doctor (a certified nutritionist) conducted one-on-one counseling with 45 women until the end of March, as well as several seminars group seminars and nutrition and sexual and reproductive health. Free nutritional screening was made available to interested participants, and 25 young children were screened on three separate Sundays during March by the project's doctor.
Computer skills courses and sewing training courses were also developed, with the first training batches started in February and March, 2023. Women may attend courses free-of-charge at the centre, with priority outreach to young women from the garment industry, both employed and unemployed. Sessions for employed women are mostly conducted on Sundays, with courses for the unemployed available on other days.
