Words from Marco Reyes, Board Member -Walmart
Good afternoon everyone and thank you all for joining us today. My name is Marco Reyes and I represent Walmart on the Nirapon Board of Directors. Everyone here already knows the critically important role that the Bangladesh garment industry plays in supporting the livelihoods of nearly four million people – over 80% of whom are women. It is a major driver of the Bangladesh economy, accounting for 80% of the nation`s export earnings and making Bangladesh the world`s second largest producer of garments. The Rana Plaza incident six years ago served as an important wakeup call for all of us on the need for urgent reforms. As we know, since the global RMG brands along with the Bangladesh Government and factory owners came together in an unprecedented effort to bring safety to the Bangladesh RMG sector. And each day we are continuing to sustain the safety achievements we’ve secured thus far. We can all agree that worker safety is our top priority. From a brand`s perspective, we believe that Bangladesh is a special sourcing country. Safety has been an integral part of our supply chain and we, the brands, along with factory management,the Government of Bangladesh, BGMEA and other stakeholders are working together so that workplace safety can be protected for all. On that note, I would like to introduce you to our Nirapon Board members here today (members stand as they are named)and our Nirapon Board Chair, Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, whom most of you know and who will give more insight on Nirapon’s efforts to make the Bangladesh RMG sector safer.
Words from Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury – Board Chair
Thank you, Marco, for the introduction and good afternoon to all the members of the press who are present here today. I am proud to announce the inauguration of a brand-initiated, locally-oriented organization, “Nirapon,”whose mission is to sustain the safety achievements the Bangladesh RMG industry has made so far.
Nirapon is an amalgamation of two Bangla words “Nirapodh” and “Abashon” which evokes safe place in Bangla.Despite being global competitors, more than 20 RMG Brands have pooled their expertise and resources under the Nirapon model. As the Board Chair, I am excited about the opportunity to work with the Nirapon Board and team to help protect and grow the safety achievements of the last five years. Theunprecedented partnership that is Nirapon will help build capacity towards a locally sustainable culture of factory safety. This Nirapon platform represents a welcome step towards greater worker safety in the Bangladesh RMG industry. Nirapon is not in any way a regulating body. Instead it will use a brand-led approach of safety monitoring, oversight and reporting services for our subscribed members based on the laws of Bangladesh to help member factories build their own self-sustaining culture of safety. The member factories will perform routine maintenance and safety training and continue to work with an already proven effective helpline. The factories will provide regular updates, including documentary evidence, to the brand and to Nirapon of their performance in these areas and work with vetted, local training and engineering firms who will conduct regular safety and training audits. Nirapon will provide oversight and quality assurance of the work of the factories and their engineering and training consultants. The brands will work with the factories to help the factories address any problems that may arise. In the last few years, we helped prevent future fire and structural tragedies in part by training and empowering workers and managers to spot potential safety issues and to save themselves during an emergency. Today we see that hundreds of factories have been remediated as per the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) and millions of workers and factory managers are trained and empowered. Nirapon will build on this impressive base. On that note, I would like to introduce Nirapon`s CEO, Ms. Moushumi Khan who will share more about Nirapon.
Words from Moushumi Khan – CEO
Thank you, honourable Board Chair, for the introduction. Thank you, the Nirapon Board and member brands for your support. Thank you press for being here today. As a Bangladeshi-American, it is my unique honor to represent “Nirapon”as we all continue the journey towards a safer Bangladesh RMG industry. Today we should take a moment to reflect and to remember the collective work of so many in helping to create a safer industry for every garment worker in Bangladesh. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity that my role as CEO of Nirapon provides to serve my country of origin and to build on all the hard work thus far. I am well aware that the journey has not always been easy, that many competing interests and various stakeholders came together to remediate the industry to a safety standard that we can proudly grow from. I thank the brands who initiated this change, the factory owners and managers who spent immense time, money and effort, the Government of Bangladesh who enabled this sea change, the industry leaders including BGMEA who supported it and most importantly the workers who collectively made this worthwhile. I honor your efforts and pledge my commitment to continue to work with everyone sharing the goal of worker safety in Bangladesh. I come with deep respect and appreciation for our nation’s rich textile history, our more recent evolution as a global leader in RMG production and now our leadership in worker safety. Nirapon was created as a common platform by Global RMG brands for whom Bangladesh is an important sourcing destination to sustain and build on the remarkable safety achievements of the past six years. As of today, there are 21-member brands and more than 600 factories under Nirapon. All of these Nirapon member brand factories are required to: Continue to meet the National Action Plan harmonized standards for physical safety (structural, fire, and electrical). Have implemented standardized training programs focused on worker safety. Continue to make the helpline service, Amader Kotha available to their factory workers.
While Nirapon builds on the achievements of the Alliance’s successful remediation efforts, and our goal of worker safety remains the same, the Nirapon model is fundamentally different.
The Alliance worked directly with factories to drive remediation and training programs, however, Nirapon’s role is of oversight and independent verification of safety and training compliance and reporting these results to its members. It cannot and will not suspend factories nor share factory information other than to its members.Rather, factories will now work directly with third party service providers with guidance from their Nirapon member brands and oversight from Nirapon. In this transition to help build a more locally sustainable safety culture, Nirapon will vet, test and train local engineering and training service providers who will be selected and retained by factories themselves to give independent assessments of a factory’s compliance to building safety and Nirapon processes. Nirapon will quality control and review these inspection findings and the regular, evidence-backed 60-day factory reporting and conduct the final verification visits of factories. It will then share its findings with member brands to help inform their sourcing decisions. Only in this way will a true local safety monitoring culture develop that will grow long term capacity and accountability by factories themselves. In conclusion, I look forward to listening and learning to continue this journey together towards a self-sustaining culture of safety within the Bangladesh RMG industry. Bangladesh is a resilient and resourceful nation and it can and will continue to protect Bangladesh industry and its people. Nirapon stands ready to help. Thank you again for your time and we are now happy to take questions.
