81267486-Promoting Sustainability in the Textile and Garment Industry in Asia

The textile industry is a key sector of the economy in many Asian countries and employs large numbers of workers in these countries. In Bangladesh and Cambodia, for example, it accounts for around 80 per cent of total export revenue. Although the underlying conditions in these countries vary considerably, the major challenges they face are similar: ensuring decent working conditions for workers and reducing environmental impacts. GIZ's regional project FABRIC is addressing sustainability in the textile and garment industry in its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The project operates in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Vietnam and works with China. The target country of the planned program is Cambodia. Evidence from Cambodia suggests that non-compliance related to occupational health and safety (OHS) in the garment sector continues to be high and tends to increase. Lasting improvements in OHS can be achieved only with proper management systems, including policies and procedures, and related training for management and workers to understand and apply such procedures. However, the quality of management systems in garment factories in Cambodia continues to be low according to Better Factories Cambodia. Building on these experiences GIZ plans to roll out a program to conduct trainings and advisory services for factories under Chinese management. The contractor is responsible for providing the following work packages: Work package 1: After being awarded for the assignment the contractor shall proceed with an inception phase. During this time, the contractor is responsible to develop a deeper understanding of the intervention area and the assigned work packages (2-4). The contractor has to familiarize itself with the Cambodian context including local law and rules and based on that develop a detailed work plan for the tasks to be performed. Further, the contractor will need to develop a strategy for disseminating knowledge on OHS management systems in the region. Work package 2: Advisory services in 20 factories in Cambodia The purpose of the assignment is to raise awareness of the mostly Chinese speaking senior management on OHS risks and the importance of OHS management systems and support them in taking action at the factory. This follows the objective to ensure that each of the 20 participating factories has implemented a more effective and practical OHS management system according to its needs and with strong involvement of workers, in particular women garment workers. In order to achieve this objective, factories will receive trainings to strengthen the competencies of internal audit teams on OHS management systems. The contractor is responsible for delivering trainings to 20 factories and to provide advisory services to these factories. The advisory services follow the objective to support factories to implement efficient OHS management systems in their factories according to their factories context. Work package 3: Trainings for pandemic preparedness/Covid-19 resilience The management of 50 factories in Cambodia shall be trained on how to institutionalise best practices in Covid-19 response and pandemic preparedness. The objective is to integrate best practices into standard management practices / standard operating procedures (SOPs) and thus to integrate pandemic preparedness into OHS management practices. Trainings for this matter shall be developed and implemented with 2-3 participants each from the management of 50 factories. Work package 4: Regional dissemination on OHS tools In line with FABRIC's role facilitating regional knowledge transfer, the training tools developed for the Cambodian context and experiences from work package 1 should be made available in the region and are adjusted to different country contexts in the region. This includes developing online events, knowledge products, videos and tools.