The ILO’s Community-Based Enterprise Development (C-BED) tools are now in pilot in Bangladesh under an initiative by Japanese NPO and an academia-policy nexus platform run by academic researchers.

AISIMAS Impact Centre Kyoto and NPO Youth International Support Association (YISA) had launched a pilot program in Bangladesh using ILO’s Community-Based Enterprise Development (C-BED) training tools, with which female university students are learning key entrepreneurial skills for successful professional futures.

The C-BED program is a cost-friendly and scalable training approach that teaches business and entrepreneurial skills to participants in hard-to-reach communities. As part of the activity-based learning methodology, the program encourages learning from each other’s unique experiences in a collaborative manner.

Training young female university students from diverse backgrounds enable empowering their business ideas while tackling persistent gender inequalities. These challenges are pre-existing and exacerbating during COVID-19, thus investing in their entrepreneurial and professional potential is more important than ever.

Due to COVID-19 regulations, the program was kicked-off virtually and will continue to do so, marking an important direction for delivering business training during unprecedented times.

The 8-week pilot course will be completed in early 2021, while C-BED has already been delivered in a dozen countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Expansion of the program to the Bangladeshi community is an exciting step.

Ms. Yurika Bhuiyan, Trustee Member of Kazuko Bhuiyan Trust, a partner non-profit organization in Bangladesh, expressed her enthusiasm saying, “We’re very excited to help pilot this unique peer learning-based program. We hope this training inspires future leaders and equips them with tools to succeed in their business endeavors, while closing the gender gap and promoting equality.”

In the future, the ILO hopes to bring out the training program to a larger audience across the country.

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