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HR, environmental issues both threat and opportunity

Meeting on Global Compact told

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
Promoting human rights, dignity of labour and improvement of environment pose not only a challenge but also an opportunity for Bangladesh businesses, speakers observed at a meeting yesterday.
Speaking at the meeting, Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF) President Iftekharul Alam said global compact poses a challenge as well as an opportunity for Bangladesh business community.
Global compact encompasses nine principles drawn from the universal declaration of human rights, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) fundamental principles on rights at work and the Rio principles on environment and
development.
The meeting on Global Compact was organised by BEF in collaboration with the ILO at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry conference hall in Dhaka.
"This is ingrained within its very framework -- it is not a code of conduct, but a voluntary agreement to self-judge an enterprise's role in upholding social justice. Admittedly, the application of the nine principles of global compact will depend to a large extent on the socio-economic situation of the country."
However, Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, executive director of BRAC, said these issues are not being practiced by rich countries,
rather they are using these issues to protect the interest of their manufacturers.
Referring to the EU, US, he said a country like Bangladesh is being forced to compete with their highly subsidised agricultural produces, which is not fair.
Nasim Manzur, director of Apex Footwear, underscored the need for improving uniform code of conduct, saying manufacturers are paying the cost for different code of conduct of buyers from different countries.
Dr Rajen Mehrotra, senior specialist on employers' activities for South Asia, International Labour Organisation, said at present there are 717 companies subscribing to the global compact and
the highest number is in Spain with 118, followed by Philippines 90 and India 86.
In the USA, there are 44 companies subscribing to the global compact and in the UK 21.
Nazrul Islam Khan, secretary general of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said many Bangladeshi employers are practicing the global compact. Trade union people support these issues for their own interests, he added.
Roy Chacko, specialist on employers' federation, ILO, Geneva, Jorgen Lissner, resident representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Gopal Bhattacharya, director of ILO, Dhaka, also spoke at the meeting.