Lily Jahan
Chairman, BOMSA
Almost Half of the population of Bangladesh is women. Womens contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country is immense. In the past, the roles of women were only confined to being either a wife, or a mother or a homemaker. In the 21st century, the roles are no more confined to the above mentioned identities. The women are now working hand in hand with their counterparts. They have proved their competence in government and private jobs both at home and abroad. The less educated women are also equally contributing in and out of the country. Migration has long been an important livelihood strategy for the people of Bangladesh. Every year people are going abroad for better livelihood option. In Bangladesh lots of women are involved in domestic worker. They are not much educated. Lack of education and employment opportunity involved them as domestic workers. Despite all these virtues, the women are still falling prey to middleman; deception torture and much more.these are the hindrances against womens advancement. They are being deprived in all spheres of life every now and then. Therefore, keeping the sprite, we have to come together to uphold the dignity, right and wage of labour,for the betterment of the Migrant worker in the country.
Sheikh Rumana
General Secretary, BOMSA
Bangladeshi Ovibashi Mohila Sromik Association (BOMSA) has witnessed the struggle and success of BOMSA in the past years. Those years have been challenging for small organizations like us, yet the impact is unparalleled. Today we can claim to be the pioneer and vocal in protecting the rights of women migrants and their families in Bangladesh. BOMSA was founded out of the need of a group of returnee migrant women workers in Bangladesh. Although, the organization took a few years at the beginning to determine the focus of its work and intervention. Today, BOMSA can proudly claim to be the only organization dealing with women migrants issues in Bangladesh. Ranging from field up to policy level advocacy, the staff members of BOMSA have been continuously giving a sincere effort to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Women migration is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. It is perhaps the most discussed issue in the world of migration today. While the downturn of male migration due to global financial crisis raised concern among the whole nation in 2009, the country looked at the potential outflow of women migrants with hope that they would manage to offset the fall in the remittance flow that plays an important role in the economy of Bangladesh. While the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) pays full attention to safe and managed migration for Bangladeshi women. BOMSA has also extended its full cooperation to the GoB especially in the training field. BOMSA has been actively involved in the skill development of women migrant workers. Along with other capacities, the organization today has gained the confidence of many to obtain training for their skill enhancement. BOMSA is also awarded to take per-departure orientation training for the women migrants at the Technical Training Centres (TTC) administered by the GoB. I acknowledge the support and contribution of our partners and donors. Their guidance has helped BOMSA to grow over the period.
