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The cotton flower - a symbol of subtlety and union
  • The cotton flower symbolizes the most essential material in the textile sector
  • The flower is soft and delicate but the overlaps of the cotton protect the flower and provide it with strength against the wind.
  • The receptacle provides strength and supports the flower to stay safe.

We at GIZ sincerely believe that similar to the cotton, the labour force is the backbone of the textile industry, which with proper protection, Shurokkha, can take the industry forward.

Decoding the Shurokkha logo
  • The individual petals represent the workers.
  • The overlaps between the petals represent the trade unions providing protection to the workers.
  • The stalk of the flower represents the element of protection, in form of e.g. the overall EII, the employers, the government and other stakeholders working together to keep the employees safe.

Overall the different elements of the flower play a role in providing protection, Shurokkha, to the single petal, i.e. the workers.

Apparel supplier to the world – that is how Bangladesh is seen today. With an export volume of USD 28 billion in 2017, the country is the second largest exporter and one of the major players in the global garment industry. Approximately 4,500 factories employ over four million people.

Major industrial accidents in 2012 (fire broke out on 24 November 2012, in the Tazreen Fashion factory) and 2013 (the collapse of the Rana Plaza building on 24 April 2013) clearly demonstrated that workers are not fully protected while facing the risks of workplace accidents or occupational diseases in the country.

Even since 2013, after the tragic event of Rana Plaza, Bangladesh still lacks a comprehensive employment injury insurance. Therefore, workers in Bangladesh do not receive the benefits they are entitled to as per globally agreed standards for employment injury insurance (EII) of the ILO convention 121. Additionally, Bangladesh is the only country in the top 20 RMG exporters that does not have any form of social insurance scheme, including an EII.

The Government of Bangladesh is aware of the issues and plans to introduce an employment injury protection scheme for the working class, starting with the RMG sector, in Bangladesh which will include the holistic approach of prevention, rehabilitation and compensation. However, the legislative framework, administrative structures as well as processes required for the roll-out of a statutory employment injury protection scheme are not yet in place.

GIZ and ILO have been collaborating in supporting the Government and social partners of Bangladesh for the development of an EII. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to raise awareness and increase the knowledge on EII among the tripartite stakeholders comprising government, employer, and worker representatives.

In 2020, the Laudes Foundation commissioned GIZ to implement the project Shurokkha (Advocacy for Employment Injury Insurance) with the general objective to build a political consensus for the adoption of an EII in Bangladesh’s RMG sector.

What is Shurokkha?

Shurokkha – Advocacy for Employment Injury Insurance funded by the Laudes Foundation with the objective to build a political consensus for the adoption of an Employment Injury Insurance (EII) in Bangladesh. Supporting the medium to long-term purpose to gain EII for workers, the project builds the capacity of workers to advocate effectively. The project not only fosters grassroot support and creates awareness regarding the benefits of an EII among workers, the Government and the employers, but it also strengthens the capacity of the civil society as well as media representatives for an effective agenda-setting. Implementation partner is the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

Facts and figures:

Why Shurokkha?

Shurokkha – the Bangla word for “protection” – underlines the overall vision of this initiative. Workers are at the core of the fashion industry, but all too often their rights are ignored or negatively impacted. Despite Bangladesh being the 2nd most relevant sourcing destination, the country still does not have a holistic system to protect employees in the event of accidents and occupational diseases. However, since social protection is a human right, the aim of this project is to support the introduction of an EII. This scheme has the primary objectives of protecting the workers, their points of view and their voices. By creating a more conducive environment, we help transform the industry for good. Shurokkha is an important part of this process.

An EII presents one of the basic social protection schemes for the working population of a country. It protects the employees from workplace injuries and occupational diseases. Furthermore, the scheme allows for rehabilitation services to be provided along with compensation while workers are out of work due to workplace related injuries. In the case of death and permanent disability, the scheme protects the workers’ dependents with a secured income guarantee.

What Shurokkha does:

Shurokkha works hand in hand with local stakeholders to pilot an approach based on three key components:

  • Training Phase
  • Awareness Raising
  • Multi Stakeholder Dialogue


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The objectives are to increase the workers’ participation in the political debate advocating for the adoption of a statutory EII according to ILO standards as well as to increase the coordination among federations to jointly support the workers’ demand for an EII. Nevertheless, increasing knowledge on EII for different target groups are also foreseen under this activity. The target groups primarily include the garment workers followed by journalists, civil society organizations, employers and representatives from the Government of Bangladesh.

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The aim is to increase the visibility of the benefits of an EII as one of the major social insurance schemes through extensive media coverage as well as a proactively initiated political debate with civil society organisations.

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For establishing a permanent structure of an EII in Bangladesh, the tripartite constituents will engage in a discussion forum to jointly decide on the specificities of the scheme.

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International Training Center of the ILO-ITCILO

Our partner in providing trainings to different project stakeholders

ActionAid Bangladesh

Our partner for worker`s trainings on the general knowledge of EII

Bangladesh University of Health and Sciences - BUHS

associated with project baseline, midline and endline study

Collective Leadership Institute -CLI

Our partner in capacity building of the multi-stakeholder dialogue process

Asiatic EXP

associated with overall project communication strategy and awareness campaigns

International

Johannes Forster

Project Director

Dr. Silvia Popp

Project Manager

Mateo Garcia

Comunication Expert

Victoria Hohenhausen

M&E Specialist

National

Moazzem Hussain

Technical Lead

Asaduzzaman Ruman

Technical Advisor

Mubarra Morshed

Finance Manager

Ahamed Jishen

Admin Officer

On behalf of
Implemented by
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Advocacy for Employment Injury Insurance

© Project Shurokkha