BRAC, H&M Foundation to host global conference on Bangladesh apparel industry
News Desk, bdnews24.com
Published: 17 Jun 2021 06:06 PM BdST Updated: 17 Jun 2021 06:06 PM BdST
-
Workers enter a garment factory in Dhaka's Tejgaon by maintaining physical distancing on Monday, Apr 5, 2021 as a weeklong lockdown began to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi
A three-day global conference to safeguard the livelihood of the women workers in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh is set to begin on Jun 22.
The event will be organised virtually as part of the project “Safeguarding through innovation and technology challenge” or STITCH of BRAC and H&M Foundation, a concern of the global apparel giant H&M Group.
The project aims at mapping the road for sustainable growth of the RMG industry through a multi-stakeholder approach.
The conference will bring together industry experts from around the world in a bid to protect the livelihoods of women garment workers caused mainly by automation.
Helena Helmersson, chief executive officer of H&M Group, and Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, among others, will attend the conference, the organisers said in a statement on Thursday.
Anyone interested can apply for registration through stitchforrmg.brac.net free of cost until Jun 19.
The project, currently a 13-month pilot from December 2020 to December 2021, is working together with buyers, suppliers, and innovators through a series of cross-sector dialogues to create new avenues for employment of women, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to sustain their livelihoods in the future dominated by automation.
Although readymade garments still comprise the overwhelming share of Bangladesh’s export basket, around 83 percent in 2020, the RMG industry is experiencing increasing competition from other nations in the sector as they are progressively opting for automation, offering the buyers better efficiency and value.
It is estimated that around 60 percent workers in the sector will lose their jobs due to automation by 2041, the majority being women.
The insights and knowledge generated at the conference will be used to curate a global innovation challenge to bring ideas to increase relevant skill sets and enhance safeguarding of the workplace environment for women workers.
The winners of this innovation challenge will be nurtured and prototyped under the supervision of BRAC.
A fund worth $180,000 will be provided as grants to the winners for pilot implementation.
“Our long-term goal is to prepare and equip the women to work successfully alongside artificial intelligence and automation, and by this safeguard their livelihoods. The new technology can significantly improve female participation in economic life and enhance the social autonomy of women. Also, certain technologies might offer women the potential to bypass, or leapfrog, some of the traditional cultural and mobility barriers they face offline,” says Charlotte Brunnstrom, strategy lead at the H&M Foundation.
Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC, said, “Women have played a big role in powering Bangladesh’s consistent economic growth. RMG's rise can be singularly attributed to the participation of women in its workforce.
“As the sector is going through a shift, we can't leave the women behind. Through this project, we hope to mainstream innovations that can re-skill them and also scale up innovations that can make the industry ready for a future which is technology-driven and more equal.”
-
Shakib’s firms told to explain commodity exchange business
-
BSEC extends margin loan limit as stocks fall
-
Western business reborn in Russia under new names
-
Tesla brand threatened by Musk harassment claim
-
Pulse prices rise as soaring dollar, war hurt imports
-
Liverpool, another direct freight route from Chattogram
-
BRICS bank to set up office in India
-
How a trash-talking crypto bro caused a $40bn crash
-
BSEC asks Shakib’s firms to explain commodity exchange business
-
Bangladesh regulator raises margin loan limit as stocks plunge
-
The Great Rebrand: Western business reborn in Russia under new names
-
Tesla brand threatened by Musk harassment claim, criticism of Democrats
-
Pulse prices rise in Bangladesh as soaring dollar, Ukraine war hurt imports
-
Liverpool is latest on the list of Chattogram’s direct freight routes
Most Read
- High Court denies 4 North South University trustees anticipatory bail, turns them over to police
- Reserves rise slightly past $42bn as Bangladesh scrambles to calm a dwindling currency market
- Bangladesh issues alert at airports as Europe reports monkeypox cases
- Sentenced to 10 years in prison for wealth beyond means, MP Haji Salim lands in jail
- Woman attacked at Bangladesh railway station for her outfit
- Bangabandhu biopic director Shyam Benegal puzzled by criticism of trailer
- BB bars release of foreign currencies for overseas training, seminar, workshop
- Bangladesh Bank devalues taka again as US dollar hits record high
- BSEC asks Shakib’s firms to explain commodity exchange business
- Slowly but steadily, Sylhet flooding begins to improve