The FLA is dedicated to developing effective and innovative commercial solutions to the challenges of global labour exploitation.
In November 2019, the FLA made significant progress in its mission in South and South East Asia, engaging globally respected organisations and voicing the need for companies and stakeholders to work together, using their collective voice to leverage and demand more ethical practices and improved labour standards.
Promoting Sustainable Working Practices in Bangladesh
The DBL Group and AWAJ Foundation in Bangladesh have recently joined the FLA. DBL is one of Bangladesh’s largest apparel exporters and is committed to to be amongst the vanguard of companies driving improved labour standards both in Bangladesh as well as in their diversified international operations. The AWAJ Foundation is a large, grassroots labour rights NGO, representing over 600,000 workers in Bangladesh, focusing mainly women workers and actively advocating for migrant workers’ rights and ethical labour conditions.
Anisha Rajapakse, the FLA’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement met with Mr M. A. Jabbar, Managing Director and Mr.Mohamad Zahidulla, Chief Sustainability Officer at DBL and CEO Nazma Akter, the founder and CEO of the AWAJ Foundation to formalise their engagement with the FLA and discussed potential collaborative multi-stakeholder interventions and strategies that could engage the private sector with a wide range of innovative commercial ideas to help promote sustainable labour practices in Bangladesh and beyond.
Ethical Supply Chains in Asia
The FLA was also represented at the Issara Global Forum on Ethical Global Supply Chains in Bangkok, where Anisha met with suppliers and overseas labour recruitment agencies operating in the Asian region. A positive observation was the greater degree of interest and action evident on the part of labour recruiters to embed ethical labour practices into their operations and increasingly respond towards adhering to a business and human rights agenda. Also in Thailand, meetings were held with the European Delegation in Thailand, the IOM and the Swedish Embassy’s Development Cooperation Regional Asia and the Pacific team to discuss potential avenues for future partnership and collaboration.
Parallel to our work in Asia, the FLA continues to make good progress in its engagement with the Al Jassra Group in Qatar, helping them to embed best practice into their labour supply chains. Al Jassra is also acting as an ambassador for fair labour in Qatar and championing the move towards the eradication of labour rights violations in Qatar.
As the world (rightly) focuses on issues of environmental sustainability, we need to stress that reform of global capitalism needs to have at its heart both concerns about our natural world and the people who labour to produce the goods and services we enjoy.
For further information please contact Mr.James Sinclair, Founder of the FLA (james@ethicalinnovations.co.uk)
