Business
African Business Leaders Join Global Counterparts To Promote Need For ‘Plan B’
Sudanese billionaire, Mo Ibrahim and Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined other global business leaders including Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, to push the need for businesses to always have a plan B, a year after over 1,100 Bangladeshi garment workers lost their lives when, despite prior warnings, the building in which they were working collapsed.
Over 2,500 more were injured in the disaster, some crippled for life. The victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, most of them young women, were part of a global supply chain that brings affordable garments to markets around the world. This was not the first event of its kind in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh is not the only country where industrial disasters have occurred.
World business leaders are united under the Umbrella, B Team, a non-profit initiative formed by a global group of leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit. “As members of The B Team, we recognize that these incidents violate basic human rights, they are avoidable and they must stop,” a statement by the group read.
The statement also said, “We know that change is possible. More than a century ago, industrial disasters in Great Britain and the United States became the focus of national campaigns that led to improved working conditions and greater societal concern for worker safety. Problems such as blocked exits, locked doors and inadequate inspections of factory conditions were addressed generations ago in these parts of the world.”
In response to the Rana Plaza disaster, two separate initiatives involving global apparel brands have taken shape over the past year: The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Safety” and the ‘Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety’. Both are a critical part of wider efforts by governments, international organizations, domestic manufacturers and local civil society organizations to ensure such accidents do not happen again.
These initiatives, as well as the Rana Plaza Arrangement, which is the only coordinated and systematic approach to ensure all the victims, their families and dependents will receive entitlements to cover their losses, are clear steps in the right direction, but more is needed.
The statement also said, “Ultimately, we believe business should be a driving force for wellbeing.” Furthermore, the statement indicated, “That is why we have committed to listen to the needs of employees throughout our businesses and supply chains and to make sure they are treated with dignity.” This means building an enabling environment for employee development, in line with international human rights and labor standards, with workers receiving a fair value in wages for their work.
