Corporate Social Responsibility to Workers in the Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters units in Bang

1
Corporate Social Responsibility to Workers in the
Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters units in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)
2
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Introduction

• Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
  Association was formed in 1996 by the all out
  efforts of few knitwear manufacturers.
• Soon after the formation it undertook activities
  to look after the interest of the knitwear sector
  of the country.
• Today it is an association of 1131 knitwear
  manufacturers and exporters that represent the
  largest export earning sector of the country.
• Approximately 4 billion US dollar earned from the
  last year through export. In last F/Y(2005-2006),
  the total export growth rate was 35.38.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Activities

• Protect the Interest of the Sector.
• Promotion Development of the Market.
• Promotion Development of the Sector.
• Capacity Building of the Sector.
• Social Compliance Status Enhancement.
• Basic Rights Education and Awareness Raising.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Efforts

• BKMEA is putting tireless efforts to enhance
  productivity of its members, enhance social
  compliance status and workers welfare, diversify
  export market, and better market access of the
  countrys knitwear products to EU, USA, China,
  and other countries.
• BKMEA is working with German Technical
  Cooperation (GTZ), South Asia Enterprise
  Development Facility (SEDF), European Commission
  (EC), and other related organizations in this
  regard.

5
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Socio-Economic Situation of
Bangladesh

• Bangladesh has a population of 140 million
  people.
• Total unemployed are 2521.4 thousand. (UNDP,HRD
  2006).
• 65 millions peoples are below the age of 18.
• 52.6 percents are employed and 47.4 percents are
  unemployed below the age of 18.
• 44.6 percent are employed in the age of 14-18.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Socio-Economic Situation of
Bangladesh

• We believe that few hundreds of thousands of
  adolescents between the age of 14-18 are either
  engaged in hazardous work, or some are looking
  for new job for their survival or some are
  engaged in anti-social activities. (hijacking,
  drug addiction, female are involved in
  prostitution, etc).

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Declaration of Child Labor

• No member unit of BKMEA uses any Child Laborer.
• Through regular inspection, it ensures that no
  child worker is working in any of the factories.
• Child Labor Standing Committee is very active and
  frequently meets in this regard to protect the
  use of child labor.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Law of the Country on
Adolescent and Adult workers

• As per Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 adult workers
  are those who have completed 18 years of age.
• Beside the adult workers the Labor Act, 2006 also
  allows the workers, between the age of 14 and
  above and below 18 considering them as adolescent
  to work for five hours and with other
  considerations.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Employment status of RMG
sector

• RMG sector is one of the largest employment
  sector in Bangladesh, where above 2 million
  people are directly and 10 million are indirectly
  employed, 85 of them are woman workers.
• Competitively, the working environment of RMG
  sector is safe and secured than the other working
  sectors like hazardous work places, such as brick
  field, welding, automobile workshops, etc.
• Though lot of people are engaged in RMG sector,
  most of them are illiterate, unskilled and not
  properly trained up.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Employment status of RMG
sector cont..

• Some of the workers who work as the assistants of
  the Machine Operators and do very light job like
  thread cutting, trimming, assisting to fold the
  garments, etc., are in no way hazardous and
  harmful to them.
• The current Law of the country do allow them to
  work in the above mentioned nature, which are
  soft, not unsafe and do not hamper their
  educational activities for five hours time
  period.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Thought to Develop the
skilled workers supply
Currently, All the member units are facing
problem of skilled adult workers seriously
specially, to operate the machines.Skilled and
trained workers are required for the development
of RMG sector.To provide supply of the skilled
workers, training is necessary to the workers of
this industry.
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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Thought to Develop the
workers supply cont..

• BKMEA in collaboration with Save the Children
  Sweden-Denmark in Bangladesh wants to strengthen
  the capacity of its member units absorbing the
  workers working as the assistants who would
  receive basic vocational training and would
  become the trained , skilled adult workers.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Thought to Develop the
workers supply cont..

• Beside the workers working as the assistants in
  the garments sector, BKMEA also wants to pick up
  the workers working in the hazardous working
  places and the unemployed children (under the age
  group 15-19, there are 322 thousands persons
  unemployed. Source ILO, 2003 ) of the society in
  the vocational training program as a social
  responsibility to them.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Thought to Develop the
workers supply cont..

• The adolescent, who are engaged in hazardous
  work and also looking for new job, it would be
  beneficial for them if a vocational garments
  training institute under the joint effort of
  Save the Children BKMEA could be established
  for their training and upgrading skill.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)Thought to Develop the
workers supply

• To run the education and vocational garments
  training activities, BKMEA will help in the
  following ways
• would help to prepare a training module and also
  training for trainers (ToT).
• After completion the training, BKMEA would help
  to provide job placement for them.

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Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)

• We hope, the opportunity for new employment will
  be created if this plan is implemented in due
  manner.

17
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers Exporters
Association (BKMEA)

• Thanks
• For
• Patience hearing