ILO to launch major new programme to improve garment factory safety in Bangladesh

BANGKOK, Oct.21 (ILO Press Release) ─ The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Government of Bangladesh will launch a new programme to improve working conditions in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh, on Tuesday 22 October in Dhaka.

The three-and-a-half year initiative will focus on improving RMG factory building safety and workers’ rights and conditions in Bangladesh.

It will build on work already underway in the country since the Tazreen factory fire in 2012 and the Rana Plaza building collapse almost six months ago in which over 1,100 workers lost their lives.

The ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations, Gilbert Houngbo will present the Programme at the Hotel Ruposhi Bangla in Dhaka, alongside ILO Country Office for Bangladesh Director, Srinivas B. Reddy; the Bangladesh Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, and Labour and Employment; the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh; the Head of the Office of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Dhaka and representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations.