Drishtipat is a non-profit, non-partisan volunteer organization, composed of students and young professionals worldwide, committed to safeguarding human rights in Bangladesh through action-oriented projects that provide direct assistance to those individuals whose voices remain unheard today. For more information, please visit www.drishtipat.org.

Drishtipat London Chapter Launch. Here is a full featured description of the launch event. Also Drishtipat arranged the screening of Arek Kansat and Ontorjatra in October and November, 2006.

WHEN: Sunday, July 2, 2006 from 4-6pm
WHERE: Oxford House, Bethnal Green London, Map

WHAT:

THE GIRL WITH RED RIBBONS
Experimental bi-lingual dance drama on the life of a garments worker

Click here for the flyer

Click here for the Sponsorship opportunities

AND

Discussion and Q/A: Keys to strong and sustainable future for the RMG industry in Bangladesh and the role of social compliance - different perspectives

Panel Members:

Neil Kearney
General Secretary
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation
Labour's Perspective

Neil is the General Secretary International of the ITGLWF , first elected in 1988. In this position he has visited more than 140 different countries worldwide. At the same time, ITGLWF membership has more than doubled. Recently he participated in the Report Review Committee for this year's Nike CSR report.Neil's awards include in 1998, 'Il Natale, La Notta della Vita, an international award for his work on the elimination of child labour worldwide. In 1999 he received the1999 Work and Environment Award of the Associazione Ambiente e Lavoro for his efforts to improve working conditions, especially in developing countries.
 

Laksmi Bhatia
Manager, Global Partnerships (Europe & Africa), Gap Inc.
Buyers Perspective

Lakshmi joined Gap Inc.'s Global Compliance department eight years ago. Prior to joining Gap Inc. Lakshmi was working with various non-profit organisations based in India. Formerly, Lakshmi was responsible for monitoring factory compliance against Gap Inc.'s Code of Vendor Conduct in North India and Nepal. She has had the unique opportunity to observe the development and evolution of Gap Inc.'s Global Compliance program and its successes and challenges. She is currently Gap Inc.'s Global Partnership Manager responsible for Europe and Africa and is responsible for stakeholder engagement and various collaborative projects with civil society organisations related to supply chain issues. Lakshmi serves on the Ethical Trading Initiative's Board of Directors. 

Barrister Jenefa Jabbar
Compliance Consultant
BGMEA
Owner's perspective

Jenefa Jabbar is currently a practicing lawyear at the Supreme court specializing in labour law, human rights, industrial relations, constitutional law, administrative law and arbitration. She is a partner at Mahmood Jabbar Khan, Barristers and Advocates and also a member of the Task force on Labour and Welfare under the Social Compliance Forum headed by the Minister for commerce. She is also a consultant on Social Compliance of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

  

Naila Kabeer
Research Fellow
Institute of Development Studies

Naila Kabeer is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. She is a social economist and works primarily on poverty, gender, and social policy issues. She is the author of Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought (Vero 1994) and The Power to Choose: Bangladeshi Women and Labour Market Decisions in London and Dhaka

Saida Muna Tasneem
Counsellor(Political),Bangladesh High Commission, London
Bangladesh High Commission
Government's perspective

Saida Muna Tasneem looks after bilateral political relations between Bangladesh and the UK and is the Bangladesh liaison officer in the Commonwealth. She is a career diplomat and has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangladesh Permanent Mission in the UN in New York. Before coming to London she was Director for SAARC and BIMSTEC at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. She also worked as Director for South Asia and in the UN and Human rRghts Wing at the Ministry. She has represented the Government of Bangladesh in numerous international meetings on peace and security, human rights and humanitarian law, environment and counter-terrorism matters at the UN, Commonwealth, SAARC, BIMSTEC and other multilateral and regional forums. She graduated from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology(BUET), Dhaka.

Martin Hearson is the campaign coordinator of the Labour Behind Label (LBL). LBL is also the UK chapter of Clean Clothes Campaign, which has been very vocal on workers' rights issue in Bangladesh notably since the Spectrum Disaster in April last year.

Deborah Isaacs
General Manager
People Tree UK Operations

The Fair Trade Company (FTCo) in Japan and its UK branch People Tree have successfully demonstrated that even in the fast-moving, highly volatile fashion and garment industry, Fair Trade can hold its own. People Tree builds its image on being fashionable and "high street". People Tree is currently developing a Fair Trade fashion retail concept for the Japanese and British markets. In addition, Safia Minney, its founder, also talks to conventional companies to convince them to retail fair trade products and review their sourcing strategies.

The Issue:

Our focus for this year is the issue of garments workers safety and security in Bangladesh. As you are aware, the garments sector in Bangladesh is among the most competitive in the world, and it has contributed enormously to the economic growth of the country in the last 20 years. Moreover, it has provided employment to nearly 2 million people in over 3,000 factories.

This success has been made possible by the patronage of companies such as yours, which have stepped forward and provided Bangladeshi garments a niche in the global marketplace. The European market is of considerable significance to the RMG sector in Bangladesh particularly now inthe post MFA period.

However, this success has come at a price. Lack of awareness on safety issue, certain purchasing practices by the buyers, overall vision on the future of the industry and lack of monitoring are cited as reasons among others for contributing to a unacceptable working condition and dismal accident history. This has resulted in worker's unrest which threatens the future of RMG industry in Bangladesh. Whatever the reason, there is a real human cost to ignoring this issue. We, at Drishtipat, believe that installing the basic safety measures do not threaten the competitiveness of the sector; indeed it helps us in terms of credibility in a global trading environment where Fair Trade is an increasingly important consideration to Western consumers. Its imperative that all stakeholders realise that social and environmental compliance is one of the keys to the very survival of the industry in the future. We also want to highlight the compliant factories in Bangladesh who are not jeopardising their business by maintaining good working atmosphere.


If you'd like to work with us, please email us at info@london.drishtipat.org and come attend the general meeting to share your enthusiasm, ideas and spirit!