Bangladesh hosts Social Responsibility Asia Conference2013

NGO News Report ::  Bangladesh is the host country for the 2^nd annual international conference for “Social Responsibility” (SR) Asia at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) in Dhaka, between 29-30^th of November 2013.

Hazardous waste is considered to be one of the prime dangersin Bangladesh and its negative implication to environment and occupational health and safety is widespread. This year’s theme at the conference was “Responsible business Conduct”, streamlined to address the host country’s issues. The conference aimed to deliberate on global perspectives and trends on responsible business conduct.Focus has been on waste management system and impacts in developing countries, where waste generation is comparatively very high due to low technology, poor or no infrastructure, lack of implementation, unskilled labour, policy framework, etc.

The conference is supported by Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards in the Industry (PSES), a joint project of the governments of Bangladesh and Germany, implemented by Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.Swisscontact, CIRDAP and other international organizations have also been supporting the conference. PSES is the chief technical partner, adding values through its expertise on the subject of environment and waste management.

Stakeholders from all arenas including the government, private sector, NGOs, academia and International Agencies were invited to discuss different strategies to promote the transformation to a “green” environment.

S.K Sur Chowdhury, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, inaugurated the conference and addressed the occasion, among other eminent guests.