UK plans £6.85m aid for garment workers in developing countries

The British government has planned to grant £6.85 million in aid for ready-made garment industry workers in different developing countries, to help the United Kingdom's (UK) fashion retailers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK government recently launched the programme to help nearly 120,000 apparel workers by improving working conditions and supporting greater access to healthcare and health information for workers in these countries.

The aid fund is made up of £4.85 million from the UK aid and £2 million from UK businesses to support supply chain workers in: Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana.

The UK's leading retailers – including Marks & Spencer, Primark, Monsoon, and VF Corporation – will also contribute to the fund to strengthen their supply chain.

The UK government's Department for International Development (DFID) on Friday announced that the new Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility is designed to help to ensure the steady supply of products to the UK high street.

UK businesses will be partnered with expert organisations such as CARE UK, the Fairtrade Foundation and the Ethical Trading Initiative to improve working conditions and support greater access to healthcare and health information for workers in these countries which are among the poorest in the world, reports just-style, an online fashion magazine.

Earlier, the European Union and the German government sanctioned a €113-million grant for around one million Bangladeshi garment workers who had either been laid off or permanently lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marks & Spencer and CARE will work together to improve health services of 80,000 Bangladeshi garment workers who produce clothes for M&S stores.

This is expected to have knock-on benefits for 300,000 more people in Bangladesh's poorest communities, according to DFID.

The UK's government hopes that this initiative will help make workplaces safer, meaning employees can return to work and supply chains can keep moving and become more resilient.

The new programme will strengthen community healthcare systems and deliver targeted health messaging in factories to help employees keep themselves and their families safe.

"At M&S, we have a robust approach to ethical fashion – we know we are only as strong as the communities where we operate and we are committed to helping improve the lives of workers in our supply chain through collaborative initiatives," said Fiona Sadler, head of ethical trading for the M&S, as quoted in just-style.

Other partners working with the fund include supermarket retailers Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco.

Bangladeshi apparel makers have welcomed this initiative but urged it be used only for the welfare of garment workers through discussion with exporters' associations.

"We have experience that most of the funds in such aid programmes are used as implementation costs by their agencies," said Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, director of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

"If they really want to do something for the workers' welfare, that will be appreciated," he added.

The apparel sector leader also urged the UK retailers to repay all the outstanding bills as many of their retailers abandoned their suppliers in Bangladesh during the pandemic.

Of the UK retailers that abandoned Bangladeshi suppliers, Debenhams, Sports Direct SPD.L and Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ltd are some of the big names.