Skill and Employment Baseline Assessment of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Bangladesh

The indigenous and tribal people (ITPs) constitute a minority of marginalized population in Bangladesh. Their livelihoods are characterized by subsistence farming, insecurity of land tenure, high incidence of informality irrespective of whether employed in rural or urban areas, seasonal work and precarious working conditions and vulnerability to violations of fundamental principles and rights at work. The ILO is aiming to enhance the skills and employment situation of indigenous and tribal peoples in Bangladesh. In this context, the present study is going to undertake askill and employment baseline assessment of the indigenous and tribal peoples in Bangladesh. The envisaged assessment seeks tocontribute to and strengthen knowledge and polices regarding skills and employment and related socio-economic rights of the ITPs. To this end the assessment is expected to develop high-quality knowledge on their skills and employment situation.

The baseline assessment has the following specific objectives:

• Collection of socio-economic information on ITP households (as far as possible compared to national averages) related to the life and livelihood of communities including educational/vocational/skills status, income and wages, and related discrimination. 

• Assessment of current levels of enrolment and completion of TVET by ITP women and men and demand in growing sectors in ITP areas.

• Review of relevant national laws and policies to assess coverage and/or exclusions of ITPs in law or practice, taking into account relevant international ILO instruments.

Research Team: Dr. Kazi Ali Toufique (Study Director) andDr. Mohammad Yunus. External researchers: Dr. Abdul Hye Mondal, and Ms Sinora Chakma.

Sponsor: International Labour Organisation