By Judith Ugwumadu  | 24 April 2014

The UK Department for International Development has pledged £1.8m in new aid funding to improve Bangladesh’s garment sector, which it said would be vital to poverty reduction..

Aid funding will be spent on the Trade and Global Value Chains Initiative, designed to form partnerships between food and clothing retailers, local charities and governments to help farmers and workers employed by suppliers that operate in global supply chains. This builds on the Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector Challenge Fund, aimed at improving conditions of workers in the ready-made garment production sector.

DFID will also fund a new database of factory inspections to help British retailers make informed choices about whom they work with. 

‘The garment sector is vital to poverty reduction and the economic empowerment of women in Bangladesh,’ the department said.

‘It gives women opportunities to work outside their home, earn their own money, and help support their family.’

In April 2013, the Rana Plaza disaster killed more than 1,100 people and highlighted the conditions that workers in the developing world endured to produce cheap clothes.  

Subsequently, in October last year, the UK gave £4.8m to an International Labour Organisation programme designed to improve fire safety and protect workers in Bangladesh.