if real reform is to occur on the ground, hard, complex questions must be asked and answered
Contents contributed and discussions participated by Mr. Mohan
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The Cost of Saving Lives in Bangladesh - Ben W. Heineman Jr. - The Atlantic - 13 views
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consumers across the globe looking for cheap prices
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global garment retailers who want the incur the lowest cost--and offer the lowest price--to compete in developed markets but who do not want to be complicit in publicized worker tragedies in developing markets
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$38 dollars per month
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whether Bangladesh has the means to enforce such laws
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International Labor Organization
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Inadequate government is a huge obstacle to change
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only about one percent of Bangladesh garment factories have good standards.
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garment factory owners are willing to allow workers to organize in unions or associations in order to have a voice in health and safety conditions
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"who pays" and "who is accountable"
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Approximately 60 percent of the clothing made there goes to United States or the European Union
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there are several problems
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standards may depend on local law
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buyers may simply cut off the suppliers rather than helping them improve their practices
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global buyers simply leave the country when they conclude that conditions are so bad
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question then becomes whether international buyers are willing to go beyond imposition of standards and supplier cut offs and to pay, in some form, for the undetermined costs
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actually implementing major substantive change
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significant challenge in a weak state like Bangladesh.
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Can a robust consumer movement arise among those shopping for discount clothing in response to the Bangladesh building collapse?
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What are the standards? What is the cost? Who is accountable?
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drawn an analogy between the collapse of the Rana Plaza in the Bangladesh Capital of Dhaka and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York which claimed 146 lives
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Rana Plaza catastrophe represents a more complicated set of fractured global relationships, responsibilities and financial capabilities.
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Iraq Holding First Election since U.S. Troop Withdrawal | United States Institute of Peace - 5 views
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s itself a triumph of sorts
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The process does, however, face some challenges.
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three provinces forming the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) hold their elections separately.
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Kirkuk
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parties representing the ethnic and religious diversity of the province have not been able to agree to hold elections
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Baghdad decided to postpone elections in the Sunni-majority western provinces, Anbar and Nineveh, for security reasons
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harbinger
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In terms of a national identity, it might imply that certain provinces are less important than others
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Given the toxic political environment, the rivalries and electoral history in Iraq, the integrity of elections will come into question by some.
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Political and other differences are normal, but it is important that they are dealt with peacefully through a process of dialogue and problem-solving
Mr. Mohan