Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Do the factories pollute the environment in these areas?

One particular topic that concerns the industry of RMG and how it develops the country are the human rights of the workers in the factories. The RMG industry as aforementioned is leading Bangladesh’s exports and has a big contribution to its revenues, however as Miedema (2020) explains, Bangladesh has built its attractiveness to global apparel brands and retailers on the basis of a reputation to be cheap and lax on labour regulations. This can be seen from multiple examples. From child labouring to extremely low wages and other including no benefits and no pay for overtime work.

The first issue that will be analysed is child labour, and its effects on development. In his “Garment factory owners prefer girls under 15 years because they work for less, are more likely to be unmarried with no children or domestic responsibilities. Mostly child workers are appointed as apprentices or helpers for months and are not issued identification or time cards even after completing their apprenticeship period” (Ahmed, 2011). “They frequently work long hours, sometimes six or seven days a week, often, receiving less than the minimum wage, and are usually not paid for overtime work.”(Ahmed, 2011). Even though this paper may be considered a bit old, we have to think about the many years that this was going on until reported. If we take that Bangladesh has developed throughout the years and has made progress since the beginning of the RMG industry, one could only imagine the situation regarding child laboring during the 80’s, when there was almost no media to cover these stories and expose them. On another note, child laboring sets the country was back regarding development, as the children are not educated and have no chances to chase their dreams and a different carrier. (Look at how child laboring is not helping the development of countries)

After the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building, which resulted to over one thousand deaths and more than two and a half thousand injured, factory owners and the government had to take measures. Bossavie et al (2019) consider it the worst accident in the history of the global garment industry. After this tragic event, it was necessary for the government and for the apparels brands to start implement new policies and start meeting some of the workers’ needs, as the matter had global attention. This is when the Accord came into place, showing that the apparel brands and the government took drastic measures. “The Accord is a legally binding agreement between global brands & retailers and IndustriALL Global Union & UNI Global Union and their Bangladeshi affiliated unions to work towards a safe and healthy garment and textile industry in Bangladesh.” (Sumon, 2020). Even though this agreement happened after a disaster and in order to stop the disapproval, it was an immense progress for a development path in Bangladesh and a leading example for other countries.

Economic overview of Bangladesh:

In this section we will discuss how Bangladesh went from depending on agriculture to becoming one of the greatest exporters of RMGs.

(Bangladesh is heavily depended on RMG industry which is 100% export oriented.)

More than 80% of Bangladesh’s exports are from the rmg industry.

It provides work for over 4 million people.

The majority of the workers are women that helps in women empowerment.

It has helped the country to start scaling up to becoming a middle income country. “As Bangladesh graduates from least-developed to middle-income country status in the next few years” (McKinsey, 2021)

To what extent did the 2008 crisis affect Bangladesh?

SDG 8:
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Social overview of RMG industry in Bangladesh:

In this section we will discuss the effects that these RMG factories have to the local communities. How have they promoted their everyday life, how they treat their workers and their families.

SDG 3:
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Discuss the Accord and how that has developed such actions.

SGD 9:
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Have they built roads and developed the infrastructure of the cities that they are located?
To what extent have they promoted inclusive and sustainable industrialization?
Have they fostered innovation?

SDG 13:
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Do the factories pollute the environment in these areas?
Is there any climate hazard coming with the infrastructure?
Have there been actions regarding the pollution of the climate and if so what actions?

How did Covid-19 affect the rmg industry in these factories?
How many cancellations were they?
How many people lose their jobs?
Has Bangladesh recovered from it?
How did Bangladesh as a whole experience Covid-19?

Islam, M. R. (2019) ‘Economic Growth Rates and Exports of Bangladesh: The Bengal Tiger?’, South Asia Research, 39(3), pp. 285–303. doi: 10.1177/0262728019861760.

Berg, A., Chhaparia, H., Hedrich, S. and Magnus, K.-H. (2021). What’s next for Bangladesh’s garment industry, after a decade of growth? McKinsey & Company. [online] 25 Mar. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/whats-next-for-bangladeshs-garment-industry-after-a-decade-of-growth.