The Clean Clothes Campaign and the Community Legal Education Center (Cambodia) have released a new report, 10 Years of the Better Factories Cambodia Project: A critical evaluation.
The report discusses the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program from a worker rights’ perspective. Started in 2001, the goal of the BFC program is to assess and report on working conditions in Cambodian garment factories and help factories to improve working conditions and productivity. BFC was the precursor to the Better Work program, a joint effort by the International Finance Corporation and the International Labour Organization, which is now operating in seven countries, including Nicaragua.
According to the report, Cambodian labour rights organisations consider the BFC as a positive development, though working conditions in Cambodia’s garment industry remain very poor generally. The report includes recommendations for improvements to the BFC program, including: promoting sanctions for factories violating labour laws; increasing union involvement; expanding its scope to subcontracted factories; improving the monitoring process; improving transparency; and, finally, taking buyer responsibilities seriously.
