State Minister for Labour and Employment Md. Mujibul Haque Chunnu said on Tuesday each and every RMG factory must have breastfeeding corner, where at least 40 percent workers are women.He made the remarks while addressing a seminar on “Mothers at work: Mothers rights at workplace and Breastfeeding Facilities for their Kids” at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) on Tuesday as the chief guest.Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Bangladesh breastfeeding Foundation and UNICEF jointly organised the event.State Minister said, the government will take action against the factories which have not breastfeeding corner despite having 40 percent women workers, acceding to the section 94 of labour law.He also instructed Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments to look into the issue seriously and take measures accordingly.The Ministry of Labour and Employment fully recognises that a strong, healthy and well-cared labour force is essential for the country’s economic development.“Investments should be made to improve the lives of working class families through medical care, paid maternity leave as well as maintaining time and privacy for breastfeeding which will encourage women to return to work and also give their babies the best start in life,” state minister said.UNICEF in joint collaboration with the government launched a national initiative titled “Mothers at Work”. It aims at supporting maternity rights and promoting breastfeeding at workplaces for the growing number of female workers in the industrial sector, especially in the country’s readymade garments (RMG) sector, which has the largest concentration of female workers. The first of its kind in Bangladesh, Mothers at Work initiative is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Labour and Employment, as well as with private and civil society stakeholders to ensure maternity protection at workplace. In addition, this initiative will preserve the health of mothers and newborn and at the same time provide employment security for working women and their families.“The launch of mothers at work programme is a very timely initiative. “Most of these working women in the readymade garment sector are of reproductive age and many of them are mothers who are responsible for nurturing the next generation of Bangladesh citizens. But for the fear of losing their sole source of income, many mothers return to work too early, before they have physically recovered and stop breastfeeding their infants,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Bangladesh Representative.
