NGO News Report :: “Bangladesh’s future as an emerging industrial country depends on a reputation of excellence – not only with regard to the quality of its products, but just as much in terms of compliance with internationally agreed social standards. These standards need to be established, controlled and monitored. A well trained and adequately equipped public inspection system is needed to avoid any repetition of the Tazreen and Rana Plaza disasters. Germany remains committed to help. Factory inspectors need to be mobile, and today, GIZ provides transport capability”, German Ambassador Dr Albrecht Conze said, addressing a handover ceremony today (26th January 2014) at the CIRDAP auditorium where the German Development Cooperation, GIZ, presented 20 motorcycles to the Labour Inspectors under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE).
Welcoming the initiative, the Ambassador further added that the labour inspectors are the most important component of the labour inspection system. “Currently there is a shortage of both manpower and transport facilities with over 5,500 factories in the Ready-Made Garment sector alone, he said. “These motorcycles will foster transparency through surprise visits, and enhance the frequency and mobility of the inspectors by making them less dependent on factory owners who erstwhile provided vehicles for inspections”.
The motorcycles were distributed under the Promotion of Social and Environmental Standards (PSES) project, a joint initiative of the Governments of Bangladesh and Germany, and the European Union (EU), implemented by Deutsche GesellschaftfürInternationaleZusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH aiming at supporting frequency and convenience of factory inspections. PSES has been supporting the social compliance and inspection techniques for MoLELabour Inspectors since 2006, through regular trainings and other logistical support.
The handover ceremony was attended by the Honorable State Minister for Labour and Employment, Md. Mojibul Haque Chunnu and the Secretary of the Ministry, Mikail Shipar.
“Recruitment of more Labour Inspectors is underway. I am very happy that GIZ is going to handover 20 motorcycles for the inspectors. It will certainly assist them to perform their duties effectively”, commented the Honorable Minister.
“We appreciate the continuing support and cooperation of the Government of Germany to keep the industries safe and compliant. We hope they will continue the support for the welfare of the workers of Bangladesh.” Mr. Shipar said.
Country Director of GIZ, Tobias Becker and the Program Coordinator of the PSES project Magnus Schimd also spoke at the occasion. Both of them reiterated GIZ’s long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE). They also informed that a guideline is being provided to the Labour Inspectors to ensure proper use of the motorcycles and foster an ecological, independent and motivational mode of transportation to carry out effective factory inspections.
GIZ, an innovative partner for the global challenges of tomorrow —The wide range of services offered by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH are based on a wealth of regional and technicalexpertise and on tried and tested management know-how. We are a German federalenterprise and offer workable, sustainable and effective solutions in political,economic and social change processes.
Most of our work is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). However, GIZ also operates on behalf of other German ministries and public and private bodies in Germany and abroad. These include governments of other countries, the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank. We are equally committed to helping our clients in the private sector attain their goals.
GIZ operates throughout Germany and in more than 130 countries worldwide. Our registered offices are in Bonn and Eschborn. We have more than 17,000 staff members around the globe, some 70% of whom are employed locally as national personnel. GIZ’s business volume was about EUR 2 billion as at 31 December 2011.
