At a time when international bodies and rights groups are harping on improving the workers ’ rights in the Bangladesh RMG sector , a comprehensive survey on RMG sector conducted by the |
Centre for Policy Dialogue ( CPD ) found that almost 97.5 per cent factories do not have trade unions .
Khondaker Golam Moazzem , Project Director of the Study and Research Director of CPD ,
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and Abeer Khandker , a Visiting Research Associate at CPD , presented the findings of the survey report at a seminar titled , ‘ Conference on Transformation in the RMG Sector in Post-Rana Plaza Period ’ in Dhaka recently .
Participating in the event , President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries ( FBCCI ) Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin reportedly admitted that there is lack of trade union activities in the RMG sector but maintained that workers welfare committees in the factories are working to protect the interest of the workers .
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Presiding over the inaugural session of the seminar , CPD Chairman Prof . Rehman Sobhan said that a global consultation is required for social improvement of the RMG workers who should be given the credit for success of the garment sector .
Sobhan also called upon the President of the Inter- Parliamentary Union ( IPU ) Saber Hossain Chowdhury who is also a member of the current Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Textile and Jute , to draw global attention towards the social improvement of the garment workers .
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The hotshot of the fast-fashion industry , Sweden-based H & M has returned with the Global Change Award for the year 2019 to acknowledge innovators that are making monumental efforts to make the fashion and apparel industry more sustainable .
The H & M Foundation , which is the non-profit organisation of H & M , recently launched the fourth edition of the annual Global Change Award . The sole aim of the venture is to challenge trailblazers to generate ideas and innovative techniques to make the apparel industry more circular . Their focus is revolving around digital innovation for the coming year 2019 . The application process will remain open through October 17 and the winners will be finally announced in April 2019 .
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Last year , due to the equivalent talent and excellent efforts of the five finalists , a public vote decided to divide the prize money among all finalists . The largest portion of the funds was awarded to ‘ Crop-A- Porter ’, which was a sustainable concept that was designed to utilise the harvest remains of crops to produce useful bio-fibres like bananas and hemp for making textiles . |
Speaking on innovation and sustainability , Karl-Johan Persson , Board Member of the H & M Foundation and CEO of H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB , stated that , “ New ideas are the foundation for change , but scaling them is an enormous challenge for every innovator . Together with our partners , Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology , we ’ ve seen previous winners cut |
years off their timeline through our accelerator program .”
Confirming the digital innovation focus for this year , Erik Bang , Innovation Lead , H & M Foundation , said that , “ This year we will keep an extra eye on digital innovations which can make significant impact on efficiency , planning and resource use – all the way from making raw material to a garment ’ s end of life .”
The winning innovators will receive € 1 million in funding and free coaching . Since its inception in 2015 , the handsome prize and the zeal for sustainability has attracted more than 8,000 entries from 151 countries across the globe . The Global Change Award is a collaborative effort of the H & M Foundation along with Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm .
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