USAID’s Women Thrive in Bangladesh Activity hosted a Suppliers’ Roundtable and Champions Award Ceremony at Hotel Le Meridien, Dhaka, yesterday. The event celebrated advancements in women’s empowerment in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.

The event highlighted lessons learned and best practices from the activity’s implementation, recognizing factories’ efforts in providing life and professional skills training to women workers.

25 PVH supply chain factories received Thrive Champions Awards for their significant achievements in implementing the Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (PACE) training program.

The PACE program equips women workers with critical market-oriented soft skills, such as negotiation and communication, to enhance career opportunities while addressing gender barriers and societal norms.

The awards were presented to encourage other factories to follow suit, foster healthy competition, and strengthen accountability in implementing empowerment initiatives for women in the workforce.

Blair King, Deputy Director of USAID’s Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, was the chief guest. Najeeb Sayed, Senior Director and Country Manager of PVH Bangladesh, and Ram Das, Country Director of CARE Bangladesh, were special guests.

Other notable participants included Bushra Binte Baten, Corporate Responsibility Manager at PVH Corp.; Sazzad Kamal, Project Management Specialist at USAID; and Aamanur Rahman, Chief of Party for USAID’s Thrive Activity. Senior representatives from PVH Corp., leading supply chain factories, CARE Bangladesh, and partner NGOs also attended the event.