Monitoring and Assessing Progress on Decent Work in Bangladesh

employability, (b) whether there are any minimum levels of employability, (c) the unskilledlabour market, <strong>and</strong> (d) overcoming employability deficits (Hillage <strong>and</strong> Pollard, 1998).In Bangladesh, gaps in information on labour market regulations <strong>and</strong> employment policies figureprominently. In the policy priorities, the employment strategy has three primary objectives:achieving full employment, increasing productivity <strong>and</strong> the quality at work, <strong>and</strong> promotingcohesion. The issues involve more flexibility in the labour markets, while providing workerswith appropriate levels of security: Flexibility is not only in the interest of employers but also ofworkers, as they can then more easily combine work with care, education or free-timepreferences. To this end, these various aspects point to the need for stronger data <strong>and</strong> informationin these areas.By <strong>and</strong> large, reducing existing gaps in data on Decent Work Indicators remains a greatchallenge in Bangladesh. All the ILO constituents <strong>and</strong> other stakeholders of decent work need torespond to this challenge collectively. The response strategy needs to incorporate suitablemodules in the existing surveys <strong>and</strong> other sources, <strong>and</strong> the development of new data collectiontools in light of data gaps <strong>and</strong> deficits for each of the Decent Work Indicator.A process needs to be put in place to institutionalize <strong>and</strong> make operational the consolidation of anational DWI database, which should be readily <strong>and</strong> publicly accessible. The MOLE in closecollaboration with BBS should ideally be responsible as the lead agency in this regard. Thisrequires capacity building of both the MOLE <strong>and</strong> BBS, along with technical <strong>and</strong> financialassistance.41