Talks @ Pulitzer: Bangladesh Factory Workers - Rights and Reforms

A year after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, garment factories are being inspected. But even the well-lit ones with workers paid above minimum wage still have problems, including a lack of emergency exits. This is the kind of violation that should shut down a factory until fixed, except that in Bangladesh today, inspectors have no enforcement authority: they merely make recommendations.

Pulitzer Center grantees Jason Motlagh and Ken Weiss are joined by Sajeda Amin, senior associate at the Population Council, on Wednesday, April 16 for a conversation on the lessons that can be learned from this tragedy.

For his project, "Bangladesh: The Real Cost of Fast Fashion," Jason Motlagh traveled to Bangladesh to investigate the systemic failures that led to the Rana Plaza building's collapse, exposing the dark side of the country's $20 billion-a-year export garment industry. His in-depth investigation is featured in the forthcoming issue of VQR.

Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Pulitzer Center grantee whose reporting seeks the perspectives of Bangladeshi women who toil in sweatshop conditions, but find empowerment in an option that provides them with an income, however small, and a job to do.

Sajeda Amin, who leads the Population Council's work on livelihoods for adolescent girls, is a senior sociologist and demographer with decades of experience generating evidence on empowerment programs for girls and women. Before joining the Population Council in 1993, she served as a research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in Dhaka.

We'll start the evening with a light reception at 5:30 pm, followed by remarks at 6 pm.
Space is limited so reserve your seat today: [email protected]—specify in subject line: "April 16 Talks @ Pulitzer."

Wednesday, April 16
5:30-7pm

Pulitzer Center

1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 615

Washington, DC 20036

Closest Metro: Dupont Circle

The event will be livestreamed using Google Hangout on Air. Watch above (refresh the page if you do not see a video) or on YouTube. Tweet your questions to @pulitzercenter.