On Thursday 18 May, Dhaka will host the third monitoring meeting on the 'sustainability compact' for Bangladesh, in order to assess progress on how the compact is being implemented. The meeting will focus on the freedom of assembly and the respect of collective bargaining, and will also examine prospects for the future.
In response to the collapse of the Rhana Plaza textile factory in Dhaka on 24 April 2013, which left over 1,100 victims, the EU, USA and International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched a multi-party initiative in summer 2013, in collaboration with Bangladesh. The initiative was called the 'sustainability compact' and it was intended to improve working standards and conditions, and the safety of work premises in the textile industry in Bangladesh. At the last monitoring meeting in 2016, the initiative was joined by Canada.
Two monitoring meetings were organised to follow the progress of this initiative – one in Brussels in October 2014 (see EUROPE 11181) and the other in Dhaka in January 2016 (see EUROPE 11480).
On the third anniversary of the Rhana Plaza disaster, the European Commission announced that the EU reaffirmed its long-term commitment to this initiative. The Commission hailed the concrete progress at that time on workers' rights, but called for crucial reforms on the effective respect of union rights and the fostering of a true social dialogue (see EUROPE 11538). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)