Development partners exchanged views with CPD professionals on securing the promised deliverables in view of the Rana Plaza Tragedy. It transpired from their discussion that ensuring transparency in the various initiatives taken by major involved parties, improving the quality of coordination in implementation and enforcing compliance at enterprise level were the major challenges confronting the task to secure post- Rana Plaza Deliverables.
These views were voiced at a policy dialogue at the CPD office on Wednesday, 21 August 2013.
The discussion commenced with a presentation by Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Research Director, CPD on the first independent monitoring report titled “100 Days of Rana Plaza Tragedy: A Report on Commitments and Delivery.”
The report documented the initiatives taken by various stakeholders in the areas of compensation, treatment, rehabilitation, ensuring compliance, legal help, rights of workers etc. The report also presented updates on the state of progress as regards some of these initiatives.
It was noted that the International Labour Organization (ILO) is expected to take the lead role in coordinating the initiatives being taken by various stakeholders. The report also highlighted the role of government and the BGMEA in the implementation of two major global initiatives – EU Accord and North American Alliance. Particular emphasis was given to the disclosure of various inquiry reports prepared by the government and other stakeholders to ensure transparency and accountability.
Development partners reported on what their respective organisations were doing and the challenges they were facing. They underscored the need for more proactive role of the government agencies in implementing the action plan and the tripartite agreement. They all said in unison that they intend to do everything in their home country and in Bangladesh to ensure that the action agendas get required fund and technical assistance for successful implementation.
This discussion with the development partners was the fourth follow-up activity of Post-Rana Plaza Monitoring: A Civil Society Initiative. The initiative, spearheaded by the CPD with support from its partners, intends to keep the issue alive in the public discourse, and bring transparency and collective accountability in the process of implementing the post- Rana Plaza deliverables by various actors and agencies.