Position Statement - Statement by Biagio Chiarolanza, CEO of Benetton Group, in conjunction with the 6-month anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy

What happened at the Rana Plaza was an immense human tragedy, and has profoundly affected everyone at our company. So it’s important be proactive and find lasting solutions to the problems facing the garment industry in Bangladesh: above all to ensure the safety of workers.

These problems cannot be tackled alone. So immediately after the tragedy, we formed a partnership with the Bangladesh-based NGO BRAC*, the largest non-governmental organization in the world, to deliver support on the ground. Moreover, Benetton joined others in the industry – companies, NGOs and trade unions - to form the Bangladesh Fire & Building Safety Accord. The Group, as an active member of the Accord, is working to raise standards for factory workers across the entire garment industry in that country in the longer term. The Accord is now in effect and our programme with BRAC is providing medical assistance and support to families of the victims.

However there’s more to do. Benetton Group is currently part of a multi-stakeholder committee led by the ILO, which includes among others brands/companies, unions, ngo’s and representatives of the Bangladesh government, to create a going forward framework for the payment of compensation to victims of similar accidents.

 

23 October 2013

*Established in 1972, BRAC is the largest non-governmental organisation in the world working to support individuals and communities affected by poverty, illiteracy or social injustice. It provides help in various fields, from social and gender discrimination to education and from microcredit to human rights, employment and the environment reaching out to 126 million people worldwide. Born in a remote village of Bangladesh, where it still operates supporting local communities, BRAC is now spreading solutions to ten other countries around the world and was recently ranked number 1 NGO in the world by Global Journal for its impact, innovation and sustainability model. To ensure the effectiveness of its work, BRAC has put in place training, research and monitoring systems across all our activities and financial checks and balances in the form of audits.