As part of the Post-Rana Plaza Monitoring: A Civil Society Initiative, CPD organised three Expert Group Meetings to continue the follow up on the overall progress of the initiative throughout last one year since the Rana Plaza collapse on 24 April 2013.
The three meetings on “Post Rana Plaza Development and Future Agenda” invited development partners, monitoring authorities, trade bodies, as well as RMG owners and trade union leaders, in order to have an updated scenario about the activities being undertaken by the government, buyers, different associations and development partners as part of various on-going initiatives following the Rana Plaza tragedy.
The meetings were held with i) development partners at Hotel Lake Castle in the city on Monday 7 April 2014; ii) BGMEA and BKMEA at the CPD Office on Thursday 3 April 2014 and iii) Accord, Alliance, ILO and representatives from the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) at the CPD Office on Wednesday 2 April 2014.
Among notable issues, discussants stressed on restructuring and reforms of both immediate and long-term initiatives and determining sustainability of the initiatives; hastening inspections processes; ascertaining future ownership accountability of private monitoring initiatives; maintaining effective transparency exercise; improving coordination at various levels; exploring the impact of minimum wage implementation; ensuring workers’ safety security and improve livelihood; monitoring the subcontracting activity in the RMG sector; reviewing judicial process for industrial dispute resolution; and training and education for those involved in the RMG sector.
The meetings also sought to improve understanding of the challenges faced by the RMG sector in view of the current initiatives, reform measures and attempts of restructuring. Discussants also identified potential research areas which CPD could undertake in support of the transformative journey that the export-oriented RMG sector will need to address the attendant concerns and take full advantage of the emerging opportunities.
CPD will also hold another Expert Group Meeting with Partners of Rana Plaza Initiative as the fourth follow up discussion on Rana Plaza Tragedy on 9 April 2014.