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Cluster Independent Mid-term Evaluation of RMGP II and BWB and its affiliated projects - Midterm evaluation

eval_number:

3032

eval_url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/3032

lessons_learned:

themes:

theme:

Programme implementation

category:

Organizational issues

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comments:

RMGP II and BWB programme managers Better Work managers in other country programmes

challenges:

Several stakeholders remarked on limited capitalization of synergies between RMGP II remediation, governance and OSH interventions and BWB. One ILO specialist remarked, “Although part of RMGP II – BWB has been a separate program. That hindered us from making the interventions efficient – making the most of the donor resources.” One donor likewise perceived uncapitalized synergies, “There is a need for a clearer narrative between the RMGP and BWB programmes. Better Work pilots a lot of things – may be the RMGP II can elevate these to the policy level.” A MOLE official likewise remarked, “Interesting the ILO developed checklists for Labour Inspectors and at the same time has developed BWB checklists. You would think there would be synchronization. Funny that both initiatives are backed by ILO.” RMGP II and BWB personnel, while noting the programmes’ size and complexity required that leaders’ focus on individual workplans, agreed that greater synergies are possible and indicated that they have been working on strengthening these, especially in the context of CO’s Covid-19 response. Potential synergies highlighted during evaluation interviews included greater leveraging of BWB factory level data to inform policy work, more collaboration between BWB and governance teams, particularly on labour inspector capacity building, and more capitalization of BWB factory level facilitation and training approaches, especially related to participation and safety committees and efforts to curb sexual harassment and violence in the workplace.

success:

n/a

context:

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter, with more than 4,600 garment factories employing an estimated 4.1 million workers, making clothing for consumers mainly living in Europe, the United States, and Canada. A significant proportion of ILO’s recent technical cooperation activities in Bangladesh have focused on enhancing working conditions and labour rights in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. The ILO implemented the Programme on Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector funded by Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom from October 2013 to June 2017. The programme focused on building and fire safety assessments; labour inspection reforms; awareness on occupational safety and health (OSH); rehabilitation and skills training for Rana Plaza survivors and the launch of Better Work Bangladesh (BWB), a partnership between the ILO and the International Finance Corporation, (IFC). In July 2017, ILO launched a programme second phase which was designed to build on and enhance the first phase’s positive outcomes.

description:

Importance of creating synergies between national and factory level intervention strategies: Evaluation findings suggesting missed opportunities stemming from the relatively strong disconnection between RMGP II remediation, governance, and OSH interventions and BWB factory level interventions. Evaluation participants highlighted the potential for factory level interventions to inform policy work and institutional capacity building strategies. Some examples offered included opportunities to use BWB data on non-compliance and related research to inform national decision making and policies as well as opportunities for national institutions promoting compliance to benefit from Better Work’s national and international good practices and lessons learned and vice versa.

administrative_issues:

To address its own and others’ concerns about limited synergies, the ILO Bangladesh CO had conducted internal consultations among RMG programme leaders and at the time of the evaluation, was finalizing plans for a new RMG cluster approach. As part of this approach, programme and CO personnel had developed a sector wide (versus an individual programme) theory of change and were examining opportunities to create functional areas of expertise. For example, one ILO official highlighted plans to develop a cross-programme strategy on constituent training.

url:

https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/236714

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location:

country:

Bangladesh

region:

Asia and the Pacific

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eval_title:

Cluster Independent Mid-term Evaluation of RMGP II and BWB and its affiliated projects - Midterm evaluation