Leadership skills for women

ILO training strengthens pathways for women workers to lead in Ethiopia’s Garment, Textile and Leather Factories

A four-day Training of Trainers in Bishoftu has equipped SCORE trainers and experts with practical leadership, coaching and mentoring skills to help more women workers move into supervisory and leadership roles across Ethiopia’s leather, textile and garment sector.

21 July 2026

Bishoftu, Ethiopia, (ILO News) — More women workers in Ethiopia’s leather, textile and garment factories are set to gain stronger pathways into supervisory and leadership roles, following an International Labour Organization Training of Trainers (ToT) that strengthened the capacity of SCORE trainers and experts with practical coaching, mentoring and facilitation skills.

Held from 7 to 10 July 2026, the the ToT on Women Leadership Development Programme (WLDP) is implemented through the ONEILO Siraye programme, under the Strengthening Climate-Resilient Leather, Textile and Garment Industry in Ethiopia Project, financed by the Government of Japan.

Building pathways to leadership

The training focused on leadership development, technical, facilitation, coaching and mentoring skills. It is designed to help SCORE trainers support women workers to build confidence, strengthen workplace skills and move into supervisory and leadership roles.

Women make up more than 80 per cent of the workforce in Ethiopia’s leather, textile and garment sector. Yet they remain underrepresented in managerial and supervisory positions. Many continue to face barriers to supervisory and decision-making roles including limited access to skills development, gender-based job segregation, cultural stereotypes, time poverty and a lack of female role models.

Trainers prepared to mentor women workers into leadership

Participants said women workers continue to face both workplace and social barriers that limit their career growth. These include unequal promotion opportunities, limited access to leadership training and mentoring, harassment or discrimination, heavy domestic and caregiving responsibilities, and the belief that leadership and technical supervision roles are more suited to men.

“Despite women making up the vast majority of the shop-floor workforce, they remain significantly underrepresented in supervisory and leadership roles,” said Helen Gebremariam, Project Coordinator at the Kaizen Excellence Center. She said women workers often face heavy domestic and caregiving responsibilities outside work, creating a “double burden” that makes balancing workplace demands with family expectations highly challenging.

For Helen, the training provided practical tools to support more inclusive workplace change.

“This ToT has equipped me with a concrete framework to design and deliver targeted, climate-sensitive and gender-inclusive development interventions. I will apply updated training approaches and interactive methods to support both mentors and mentees.”

Daniel Alemayehu, Researcher at the Leather and Leather Products Industry Research and Development Center, said women workers face “limited access to leadership training and mentoring, unequal promotion opportunities, family caregiving responsibilities, workplace harassment or discrimination, and limited networking and role models.”

He said the training strengthened his ability to support women workers’ career growth.

“This training will help me coach and mentor women workers by building their confidence, leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills.

“It also equips me with labour law and technical skills to support their career growth and prepare them for supervisory and leadership roles,” Daniel said.

Terefe Jima, Consultant at TOKA Consultancy, said one of the most important lessons from the training was learning how to coach and mentor selected women workers at enterprise level.

“The most important lesson I gained is how to coach and mentor selected women workers at enterprise level,” Terefe said.

“This training will help me encourage women workers to build confidence, improve communication and leadership skills, solve workplace problems and prepare for supervisory roles.”

Nabon Elias, General Manager at SCORE Training and Consulting PLC, said the training helped strengthen practical skills in planning, communication, coaching and mentoring.

“The training equipped me with mentoring and coaching skills, leadership styles, labour law and effective communication,” Nabon said. “These skills will help me encourage women workers to participate, build confidence and become willing and ready to take on managerial roles.”

Participants also emphasized that the training could contribute to wider workplace change. They said they hope to see more women promoted into supervisory and leadership positions, stronger participation of women in decision-making, more inclusive work environment, improved teamwork and higher productivity.

“I hope to see more women promoted to supervisory and leadership positions, a more inclusive and respectful workplace, equal opportunities for career advancement, improved teamwork, higher productivity and stronger participation of women in decision-making,” said Daniel.

From training to factory-level change

The WLDP will be rolled out across 12 garment, textile and leather factories. It is expected to directly support at least 100 women workers, 75 senior supervisors and create learning opportunities for at least 200 employees.

The programme builds on ONEILO’s Siraye programme previous experience, where earlier rounds of WLDP supported women workers in textile and garment factories. To date, five rounds of WLDP have engaged 234 women workers and 178 senior supervisors across 18 factories, with an average of 57 percent of trained workers promoted to leadership positions with salary increases.

By equipping trainers with practical coaching and mentoring tools, the training aims to create impact beyond the classroom. It supports factories to recognize women’s skills, promote more inclusive career pathways and strengthen productivity through better use of talent.

As the programme moves from training to factory-level implementation, its success will be measured not only by the number of people trained, but by the doors it opens for women workers to lead.

About the Project

Implemented under the ONEILO Siraye Programme with support from the Government of Japan, the Strengthening Climate-Resilient Leather, Textile and Garment Industry in Ethiopia Project helps factories become safer, greener, more productive and more inclusive. Through SCORE Training, Kaizen practices, digital OSH systems and the Women’s Leadership Development Programme, enterprises improve efficiency, reduce waste and energy use, strengthen workplace safety, and equip women and workers with disabilities with supervisory and leadership skills. At the national level, social dialogue, policy assessments and technical support help align labour governance and industrial policy with Ethiopia’s climate commitments. Together, these actions strengthen enterprise competitiveness, support better-quality jobs and advance a just transition to a low-carbon economy.