Providing skills for rural women, Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, aparajitas is Bengali for “woman who never gives up”. It is also the fitting name for the women who participate in Bata’s rural sales program in partnership with the organization CARE. The program offers women in poor rural communities the chance to become entrepreneurs and earn a living from selling flip flops manufactured in Bata-owned factories in Bangladesh.

In rural Bangladesh, women lack access to economic opportunity and sustainable incomes. Bata provides sales training by district managers in collaboration with CARE representatives. The women collect their inventory from over 244 hubs in Bangladesh at wholesale prices. They then sell the products in their communities, receiving a 10-15% commission.

To date, there are more than 3,000+ Aparjitas who have brought accessibly priced flip flops to consumers in hard-to-reach communities through direct sales. Their average income of 80-100 USD represents more than the country’s minimum wage.

3,000+

aparajitas trained

30

Districts in Bangladesh

7 million+

Consumers reached