Bangladesh

Ms. Lily Gomes

Strengthening Democracy in Bangladesh through Women’s Participation in the Trade Unions of Ready-Made Garment Industries

Ms. Lily Gomes is senior program officer with the Solidarity Center in Bangladesh, where she supports workers, trade unions, and federations in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ), the Ready-Made Garment Industry (RMG), and the Shrimp and Fish Processing Industry (SFP). As senior program officer, she conducts trainings on gender equality, women’s leadership, fire safety, and trade union management, and produces publications on workers’ rights. She has assisted garment workers in forming the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers Union Federation, a workers’ organization that operates under female leadership, and has assisted shrimp workers in forming unions in SFP industries in southwestern Bangladesh. Ms. Gomes also serves as coordinator of the Solidarity Center’s Justice Campaign for the Victims of the Saver Tragedy. In 2009, she earned a doctorate in sociology from Jadavpur University in India, where she focused on the impact of employment and earning opportunities on female workers in Bangladesh’s RMG sector. During her fellowship, Ms. Gomes is developing a gender policy guideline for advancing women’s leadership among trade unions within Bangladesh’s RMG industry.

Presentations:

• InterAction Forum 2015, “Workers and Business: Building Innovative Strategies for Economic Empowerment,” June 22, 2015.
• National Endowment for Democracy, “Strengthening Democracy in Bangladesh through Women’s Empowerment in Trade Unions,” June 30, 2015.

Media Mentions:

• “Bangladesh Women Workers Increasingly Empowered,” Solidarity Center, July 5, 2015.

Interviews

“Lily Gomes, Champion of Bangladesh Garment Workers,” Solidarity Center, April 16, 2015.