Bangladesh: Remedies Towards a Better Workplace

Collaborative supply chain mapping as part of the project for promoting children’s rights in garment and textile facilities in Bangladesh

The part of the project is an effort to bring togethertwo companies based in the Netherlands – Coolinvestments Group and Hunkemöller, their agents, their progressive and dedicated CMT supplying factories based in Bangladesh – to collaboratively map and visualize the garments supply chain in a transparent manner. This activity is part of a large comprehensive project in Bangladesh and South-India with
the objective to improve conditions and procedures at the factory level to enhance children’s rights and to jointly prevent and mitigate child labour risks.

Project Objectives

Map the upstream supply chain of the brands and their suppliers including subcontractors and (material) suppliers
Help establish concrete policies and procedures with the participating suppliers in order for them to be able to identify and remediate labour issues in a timely manner, including those at their (sub) suppliers

The collaborative activities undertaken in the project assist brands and buying companies:

To understand how supply chains function and to get better visibility of actors involved in the supply chain
To work towards sourcing of ethically produced garments
To support supplying business partners and their suppliers
to enhance the application of the local legislations and
social standards
To support an engaged and responsible garment sector in
Bangladesh which respects and supports children’s rights and contributes to the sustainable development of the country

The collaborative activities assist business partners and manufactures:

To gain insights in supply chain performance and to get better visibility of actors involved in the supply chain
To strengthen general awareness on labour standards among management and workers
Strengthen factory reputation towards workers and the community to attract more business partners

Approach for supply chain mapping

The Dutch brands collaborate with all of their suppliers to map their supply chain in Bangladesh.
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) provided support and guidance in supply chain mapping activities starting from the headquarters of the two companies based in the Netherlands. As a second step, orientation meetings are planned with their agents and suppliers in Bangladesh to provide them with the tools and necessary coaching to conduct supply chain mapping of their sub-suppliers.

Finally, a risk assessment will be undertaken to be used as input for companies and suppliers to develop joint action plans to gain better visibility of working conditions and child labour risks in the upstream supply chain. This will assist companies and suppliers in keeping up with the emerging regulations and transparency requirements.

Focus on children’s rights

UNICEF implements its Better Business for Children Programme and collaborates with two prior selected factories and their suppliers to implement a due diligence programme with a special emphasis on children’s rights, focusing on child labour prevention, protection of young workers and safety of children. UNICEF provides support to the factories to implement a 6-step programme towards supply chain due diligence with a focus on the rights of children. In collaboration with all stakeholders a plan of action is designed to strengthen the positive impact and mitigate the risks.