GoodWeave International, a network of non-profits working to end child, forced and bonded labour in global supply chains, recently signed a collaborative agreement with Awaj Foundation, a labour rights organisation in Bangladesh, to provide marginalised apparel workers immediate COVID-19 relief and conduct research on the impact of the pandemic.
The project will also uncover hidden supply chains in Bangladesh’s apparel sector; remediate identified cases of child, forced and bonded labour; and build partners’ capacity to address these human rights issues long-term.GoodWeave International, a network of non-profits working to end child, forced and bonded labour in global supply chains, recently signed a collaborative agreement with Awaj Foundation, a labour rights organisation in Bangladesh, to provide marginalised apparel workers immediate COVID-19 relief and conduct research on the impact of the pandemic.#
GoodWeave International was founded by children's rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi.
The year-long project primarily funded by the The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility, with additional funding from Humanity United, will directly benefit nearly 15,000 workers.
The most extreme forms of worker exploitation often take place outside factories in hidden supply chains. Working together with major brands, such as Monsoon Accessorize and VF Corporation, the project team will map and perform a rapid assessment of outsourced production sites.
“All forms of modern slavery will increase because of the COVID-19 crisis, and we thank FCDO and Humanity United for this funding which will protect at-risk populations and help ensure apparel supply chains are more sustainable,” said Nina Smith, chief executive officer of GoodWeave International, in a press release.
“Bangladesh’s apparel sector and workers have been devastated by the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global supply chains, and we hope this initiative brings short-term relief from hunger and other life-threatening scenarios to workers, as well as long-term improvements in supply chain transparency and due diligence to provide enhanced protections for informal workers in the post-pandemic world,” said Nazma Akter, founder and executive director of Awaj Foundation.
At the end of the project, GoodWeave will submit a report to funders, policy-makers and participating brands to facilitate implementation of due diligence laws. The report will detail the nature of outsourcing in the Bangladesh readymade garment sector, provide information on geographic clusters of informal workers, wages, debt, employment terms, health and literacy, as well as include recommendations on due diligence measures to mitigate modern slavery risks.
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