Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative: GFI Holds Conference in … 201… · · 2015-05-29on Integrating Informal Sector into the Formal ... learning facilities have opened at five

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Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative: GFI Holds Conference in Tunis

on Integrating Informal Sector into the Formal

Economy, Releases Short Film Highlighting TILI Progress

TUNIS, Tunisia The Global Fairness Initiative convened economists,

government Ministers, Members of Parliament, activists, professors,

and concerned citizens in Tunis to review the progress of GFI’s Tunisia

Inclusive Labor Initiative (TILI) and chart the next steps toward

integrating Tunisia’s informal sector into the formal economy. Held on

March 19, the Informal Employment in Tunisia at the Heart of the

Social and Economic Development Plan conference provided an

opportunity for thought leaders to review and debate progress on

Tunisia’s economic growth and the role that the informal sector may

play in the nation’s economic and social development.

Throughout the event, audience members repeatedly interjected to

insert their opinions or expertise in the debate, and there was a

palpable sense of purpose among the participants in the conference.

In implementing the Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative, GFI strived to

push the issue of transitioning informal workers to the formal economy

into the national agenda. With the success of this conference, it is

apparent that the TILI team is meeting that goal.

Click here to read more about TILI’s Informal Employment in Tunisia

at the Heart of the Social and Economic Development Plan Conference.

During the conference, GFI also unveiled a short film chronicling the

progress made by the Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative. The Global

Fairness Initiative began implementing TILI in September 2012 as a

program to address the large informal sector in the country. More than

two years later, the TILI team and participants reflect in this video on

the progress that TILI has made.



Click here to read more about the Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative.

____________________________________

Better Brick Nepal Bridge Schools: GFI Initiates ChildDevelopment and Training Centers on Pilot Brick Kilns, Signs

Memorandum of Understanding with Nepal Ministry ofEducation

KATHMANDU, Nepal Brick factory workers in Nepal have long

suffered from the problematic nature of bringing their children to work

and exposing them to the polluting smoke and dust that the factories

produce. More than just a health hazard, the lack of childcare centers

in brick kiln areas has resulted in an education deficit among the

workers' children, as they are taken away from their schools to go to

the remote kiln areas for approximately six months a year. Through a

collaborative effort led by GFI, however, child development and

learning facilities have opened at five pilot brick kilns in the Better

Brick Nepal program.

Prior to this initiative, workers had no other option than to bring their

children to work with them. Many feared for their children’s health and

suggested that their children face difficulties getting promoted to the

next grade level at school because of the fact that they were absent

for almost half the year. The new childcare and learning centers are

part of a “bridge school” program that will collaborate with the

children’s home schools to ensure that the students are kept up to

date with the educational material they should be learning. To date,

the initiative has created child development centers for children under

five years of age and training centers for children between the ages of

six and fourteen in five pilot brick factories.



Awareness programs for brick factory employees have also beenimplemented in order to raise understanding of the importance ofeducation in their children’s lives. Parents have reported a high degreeof satisfaction with the new facilities, pointing to the improved healthof their children as one benefit of the program.

Nepal’s Ministry of Education has shown interest in establishing moremobile learning facilities like those that GFI has developed, statingthat they are committed to exercising the brick factory workers’ rightto educate their children properly. In early April, the Ministrycemented this commitment, signing a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with the Global Fairness Initiative. The MOU solidifiescooperation between GFI and the Ministry of Education on the BridgeSchools program. The agreement also includes a provision for thecreation of Bridge School certificates, endorsed by the Ministry ofEducation, which will ensure that children can transfer back into theirhome schools when they return from the kilns.

Click here to read more about the Better Brick Nepal program.

____________________________________

GFI Welcomes New Board Member

WASHINGTON, DC GFI is pleased to be working with ZohrehTabatabai, the newest addition to our Board of Directors. Ms.Tabatabai began her tenure with the Global Fairness Initiative inJanuary 2015, and will be attending the upcoming Board of Directorsmeeting in June, which will mark her sixmonth anniversary on theboard. Through her work as a representative of the United Nations andthe International Labour Organization, Ms. Tabatabai has displayed adedication for empowering women’s voices around the world and hasworked endlessly to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of theinitiatives she has been involved with. Having spent over twenty yearsat the UN, she has served as the Chief Coordinator of the UN’sFifteenth Anniversary Celebration, the Focal Point for Women, and asChief of the Public Services Section. Ms. Tabatabai later served as theDirector of Communication and Public Information at the ILO,furthering her experience as a longtime promoter of workers’ rights.After her successful tenure at the UN and ILO, she founded acommunications and marketing company that heavily focuses on



Corporate Social Responsibility.

Ms. Tabatabai’s joining the GFI Board of Directors adds to the

distinguished nature of the Board. Her experience and energy is

providing focus and direction to the many initiatives the organization is

implementing. GFI is proud to be working with Ms. Tabatabai and

hopes to use her experience and insight for the betterment of the

organization and its initiatives.

Click here to view Ms. Tabatabai’s full biography.

____________________________________

Save the Date:

6th Annual Fairness Award!

November 2, 2015

The Howard Theatre

Show Your Support

Follow us!

Global Fairness Initiative 2122 P St NW Suite 302 Washington, DC 20037 www.globalfairness.org [email protected] 1 (202) 8989022

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Tunisia Inclusive Labor Initiative: GFI Holds Conference in … 201… · · 2015-05-29on Integrating Informal Sector into the Formal ... learning facilities have opened at five