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Key Highlights

“We need to adapt to some new realities. The 90s there was the child labour issues, then the fire issue, then the infrastructure issue...I think this decade is focused on rights at work and environmental sustainability. What do we expect to see by 2030 – we expect to see conducive work environments, we expect to see women at all levels.”

SK Jenefa K Jabbar, Director, Social  Compliance and Safeguarding,

We are not only ticking the box, but trying to find the loopholes – what is the reason behind human rights violation, the gender inequality. When we are talking about human rights, the Bangladesh RMG sector wants to be a champion human rights due diligence.

Sheikh H M Mustafiz, RMG Sustainability Council, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association

“If we would have union representation in the factory, workers could discuss in house. They wouldn’t need to go to the street and shout. This realization needs to come to the factory owners: to let workers exercise their union rights freely.”

Kalpona Akter, Executive Director, Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity

“Ultimately, it comes down to earnings sustainability. If you have a business model where you rely on – or the current earnings rely on – abused workers, underpaid workers, or even illegal activities like modern slavery, those earnings will not be sustainable. And not in a world where there is increased regulation.”

Måns Carlsson, Head of ESG, Ausbil Investment Management

“What a benchmark – like the CHRB – does is it puts companies on notice, but it also more importantly creates windows for engagement. These could be between companies and consumers, companies and investors, companies and regulators, or companies and civil society organizations. And it has worked in the past to change behavior through these practices.”

Surya Deva, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development and Professor at Macquarie Law School