Press release: ILO welcome landmark agreement in Cambodia's garment industry

ILO News (Bangkok): The International Labour Organization (ILO) [1] has welcomed the landmark agreement reached by Cambodia’s garment sector unions and manufacturers, to improve relations in the industry.

The new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday 28 September 2010. It covers important aspects of collective bargaining, arbitration, and productivity, and incudes specific measures for implementation. It was signed by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), which represents some 300 of the largest factories employing about 300,000 workers, and six major union confederations and federations who together represent the vast majority of those workers.

"This agreement represents an important step forward in creating harmonious labour relations in the garment industry, which will benefit the industry and the country," said Bill Salter, Director, ILO Decent Work Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific. “It shows the enormous progress that workers and employers have made in strengthening their relationship. The ILO enthusiastically supports this MOU. We look forward to working with the employers, workers and the buyers to promote awareness of this agreement throughout the industry”.

According to the Garment Manufacturers of Cambodia and the Union Confederations and Federations of Cambodia the agreement is “a landmark…which provides for substantial improvements in the relations between the two parties.” Among the key points of the MoU are:

• A commitment by both parties to abide by the law
• A commitment by minority unions not to interfere with the right of the majority union to engage in collective bargaining with employers.
• An agreement to use the Arbitration Council’s binding arbitration procedures for disputes over rights, allegations of violations of the law (or Prakas) or the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
• Agreement that there will be no lockouts, strikes, or further claims during the term of the current CBA.

In addition, the MoU (which comes into effect on 1 January 2011) allows both parties to monitor and review the implementation of the agreement. They agree to act in good faith to adhere to the MoU, and if breeches of its terms are suspected they agree to use to take corrective action through dialogue. Either party may declare the MoU null and void one year after the date of signature.

In a joint press release issued by the Garment Manufacturers and the Union Confederations and Federations of Cambodia, Mr. Van Sou Ieng, Chairman of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said; “This agreement marks an important step in improving the relations between unions and employers. It presents a challenge for both parties to implement, and GMAC is committed to meeting this challenge. The union side must do the same.”

Mr. Ath Thorn, President of Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) praised the MoU as an important step towards building trust between the parties and upholding the rule of law. “All of the unions that signed will do their utmost to implement the MoU, and we expect the same commitment from the employers’ side. We must make a great effort to promote the agreement to all workers and employers in the garment industry.”

Mr Hang Soriya, Vice President of Khmer Youth Federation of Trade Unions and another of the signatories, said; “This MoU reflects the growing maturity in relations between the two parties, to use dialogue to reach agreement on important issues.”

The MoU applies to current and future members of the GMAC, and the current and future affiliates (at federation and enterprise level) of the workers’ confederations and federations who signed it. All sides have also committed themselves to promote the MoU to employers and workers who are not directly party to it.

For more information please contact:

Sophy Fisher

ILO Regional Information Officer

fisher@ilo.org

02 288 2584

John Richotte

ILO Specialist in Labour Relations

richotte@ilo.org

02 288 2226

Mr Ken Loo, Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia: +855 122 82288

Ms. Morm Nimh, Cambodia National Confederation: +855 128 24640

Mr Ath Thorn, Cambodian Labour Confederation: +855 129 98906

Mr Som Aun, National Union Alliance Chamber of Cambodia: +855 128 66682

Mr. Rong Chhun, Cambodian Confederation of Unions: +855 129 30706)

Mr. Vong Sovann, Cambodian Confederation of Trade Unions: +855 127 85890

Mr. Mai Rottana, Khmer Youth Federation of Trade Unions: +855 173 70363

Apparel exporters to pass benchmark

Vietnam News

September, 28 2010

HA NOI — The textile and garment sector's export value is expected to earn US$7.5 billion during the first nine months, a 17-per -cent increase against the same period last year, reports the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association.

The industry is likely to surpass its scheduled $10.5 billion benchmark for the year.

The sector's solid performance is attributed to an increase in orders from foreign clients and the products' prices increased by 15-20 per cent.

Export growth to the European market keep stagnant, while other markets remain accelerating during the period.

The country's export to US market increases around 20 per cent and to Japan raises by 15 per cent and to ASEAN nations goes up by 17 per cent.

Especially, the trade agreement between ASEAN with South Korea has helped boost Vietnamese garments' export to the market with the sharp increase of 80 per cent.

The association reported that many garment makers had so far received enough orders for export this year, and signed contracts for export next year.

However, the association claimed that the early orders may shrink profit of the enterprises amid on-rising prices of input materials, accessories and higher salaries.

To satisfy increasing demand of international contracts, ten companies under the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) have recently made production expansion investments to meet increasing orders from foreign partners as well as higher demand at the local market.

The Nha Be Garment Joint stock Co has approved a plan to inject thousands of billions of dong to implement tens of projects on textile, garment, washing and dyeing.

The Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Co invested nearly VND100 billion ($5.13 million) in a new factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh. It was put into operation in February and has the capacity to produce 9 million products annually.

Nguyen Dang Luan, chairman of Dap Cau Co said the new facility would help the firm meet the rising number of export contracts.

"When the factory was prepared to begin operating the first 16 production lines the firm had already signed export deals for the whole year with three partners, generating 1,800 jobs," Luan said. — VNS

Top brands fret about Cambodia garment industry unrest

(AFP) – 27 September 2010

PHNOM PENH — Clothing brands Adidas, Gap, H&M and Levi's expressed "great concern" at recent unrest in the Cambodian garment industry, as talks between unions and manufacturers kicked off on Monday.

Tens of thousands of textile workers staged a four-day walkout earlier this month to demand higher wages -- the latest bout of industrial action in Asia.

In a letter sent to unions and the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC) on Friday and seen by AFP on Monday, the major foreign buyers said they had been closely following the recent developments in the industry.

"It is now with great concern that we watch the direction the process is taking," they wrote.

The letter -- which was also signed by The Walt Disney Company -- urged both sides to find a "long-term solution" and called for "mature industrial relations".

GMAC secretary general Ken Loo said nothing had been agreed in the first meeting between manufacturers and unions on Monday, and both sides are to submit a list of five negotiators to the Ministry of Labour by Wednesday.

He added that the unions had not pressed for a minimum wage increase -- GMAC had made clear beforehand that was not an option -- but asked for an attendance bonus, a seniority bonus, daily food allowances and a living wage allowance.

Ken Loo said there was room to negotiate about the allowances and a deal "is possible."

Union leader Ath Thun, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, told AFP: "We are hopeful that we will get those demands because all sides have agreed to negotiate to end the issue."

The garment industry is a key source of foreign income for Cambodia and employs about 345,000 workers.

The strike followed a deal between the government and industry that set the minimum monthly wage for garment staff at 61 dollars, whereas unions want a base salary of 93 dollars.

Unions say about 200,000 workers took part in the walkout but GMAC puts the number at just 45,000, with only around half that actually picketing outside the factory.

The strike ended on September 16 when the government arranged talks between the two sides.

Cambodian leader says meeting with Thai PM restored bilateral confidence

Source: The Canadian Press.
29 September 2010

By Sopheng Cheang (CP)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday his country's relationship with Thailand has improved after he met his counterpart last week.

Hun Sen said the 40-minute meeting in New York with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva restored confidence and co-operation between the two countries, which have been feuding over disputed border territory and other issues. The two leaders were attending the U.N. General Assembly meeting.

Relations took a turn for the worse last year, with both countries withdrawing their ambassadors, after Hun Sen made former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra an official adviser and hosted him like a VIP.

Thaksin, ousted by a 2006 military coup, is a fugitive from Thai justice, sentenced in absentia to two years in jail after being convicted of a conflict of interest charge in 2008. Hun Sen said Thaksin had been unfairly convicted for political reasons.

The envoys resumed their posts last month after Thaksin quit his appointment, citing time constraints.

Cambodia's relations with Thailand have been contentious for years, with the focus mostly on a border dispute. They have had a series of small but sometimes deadly skirmishes over the demarcation of their border near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

Relations worsened after Abhisit, a political opponent of Thaksin, became prime minister in December 2008.

Hun Sen described his meeting with Abhisit as "very vital" to ensuring confidence and increasing co-operation.

"I can say that the meeting was very fruitful for resolving differences," he said on the sidelines of a school graduation ceremony.

Hun Sen said he and Abhisit discussed a wide range of issues, including the border dispute, frontier security, trade and drug trafficking.

The two leaders also agreed to try to resolve all differences by peaceful means, he said.

Brands sourcing locally to become more competitive

Source: The Economic Times
29 Sep, 2010, 12.00AM IST, Durba Ghosh & Pramugdha Mamgain,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Several international fashion brands such as Cadini, DKNY, , which have been importing their entire merchandise for India, have started apparels locally to become more competitive and profitable in a booming market.

By shedding inhibitions towards sourcing from within the country, these brands can significantly cut down tax outgo and reduce production costs by about 20%, helping them to reduce prices and reach the market faster, say analysts.

Local sourcing will help companies do away with import duties, which are as high as 40% on apparels, and save on longer supply cycles, says Harminder Sahni, managing director of consultancy firm Wazir Advisors. “Besides, they can either bring down prices or make extra margins equal to the amount of customs duty,” he adds.

Donna Karan New York, or DKNY, already source about 6% of its merchandise from the country, says Ashesh Amin, president – and retail at S Kumar’s Nationwide, which has the global franchise for menswear in all geographies except Japan.

The US-based clothier Hartmarx Corp, which S Kumar’s acquired in 2009, sources merchandise worth about Rs 40 crore from India. The company, which shot into fame for designing a suit for US president Barack Obama, plans to increase its sourcing base in India further in next two years.

“Local sourcing is beneficial to us; it offers higher margin and better time-to-market,” says Mr Amin. “We are expecting additional business of over Rs 800 crore this fiscal on the back of local sourcing.”

Arvind Brands, a subsidiary of textile firm Arvind Mills, is in talks with the UK-based premium lifestyle brand Gant to start sourcing its merchandise in India. Gant currently imports the entire collection for sale here.
The firm is also set to launch Italian menswear label Energie in India, which will have 75% of its merchandise sourced locally, says J Suresh, CEO of the Rs 230-crore Arvind Brands.

The company already has a local sourcing model in place for its other international brands such as Arrow, Izod, USPA and Cherokee that are buying merchandise from suppliers in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Ludhiana.

However, the international brands are playing safe while choosing suppliers in India after UK retailer Marks & Spencer severed ties with one of its local suppliers following allegations of unfair practices.

Anand Nair, brand head of Boggi Milano, says, “We are carrying out intense screening procedures to ensure that our Indian suppliers match our quality standards and working conditions.”

DLF Brands, the retail arm of top real estate firm DLF, retails the Italian premium menswear brand in India.
Marks & Spencer Reliance India, the joint venture between Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries and the UK retailer, had recently announced plans to increase sourcing from India to more than 70% from about 40% now.

One of the earlier entrants to the domestic market, United Colors of Benetton sources its entire range locally.

Other than the tax savings, another factor driving fashion brands to India is the rising labour costs in China, say analysts. Recent labour unrest in places like Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam too may work in favour of India.

Most these brands have no immediate plans to source merchandise for their global operations from India, but will integrate their India supply chain with their global distribution network in the long term.

Blues Clothing, which has licence to retail Italian fashion labels Versace, Corneliani and in India, plans to leverage its source base is India for global operations soon. The company is currently sampling few export-oriented factories to source merchandise for premium menswear brand Cadini, according to its MD Abhay Gupta.

Brands such as Boggi Milano and Cadini, which import 100% of their merchandise, feel that local sourcing will help them expand faster.

“Local sourcing will certainly improve our logistic and supply chain, and the pace of expansion will improve,” says Mr Nair of Boggi Milano.

International brands are estimated to account for nearly 20% of the Rs 32,000-crore Indian organised branded apparel market, which is growing at 15-20% a year.

Cambodian clothes workers fight to stitch a living

September 27, 2010
AFP

Garment workers ride the Remork on the way back home after work in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, August 5. Cambodian garment exports rose 12 per cent in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period last year, hitting $1.25 billion, thanks to a recovery in the U.S. market, an independent think tank said.

Photograph by: Chor Sokunthea, Reuters

PHNOM PENH - It's mid-morning in the Cambodian capital and Pat La is one of dozens of workers breaking for lunch at the Pine Great Garments plant, which makes clothes for US retailers like Gap and Walmart.

The 30-year-old mother was among the tens of thousands of textile workers who took part in a four-day mass strike earlier this month to demand higher wages -- the latest bout of worker unrest in Asia.

She says she joined the stoppage because she cannot get by on the 50 dollars a month she earns making T-shirts.

"I am working to survive," the softly-spoken woman, who left her home province of Prey Veng east of Phnom Penh to eke out a living in the capital, tells AFP as she scans nearby stalls for a bite to eat after the early shift.

Half her wages are spent on rent, she explains, and after paying for food, bills and baby formula for her four-month-old daughter, "there is nothing left".

By putting in overtime beyond the basic eight-hour day and working six days a week, Pat La can push her monthly income up to 60 or 70 dollars.

It is more than many people earn in Cambodia, where gross national income per capita stood at 640 dollars in 2008, or roughly 53 dollars a month, according to the World Bank.

The country has a big rich-poor gap, with about 30 percent of the population living below the poverty line in 2007, according to the Bank's data.

Pat La's colleague Chhom Saroth, 22, who also took part in the walkout, says working at the plant "is a good job".

"But if we don't do overtime, we cannot survive on our basic salary," she adds.

The mass strike from September 13 to September 16 came after the government and industry set the minimum wage for garment and footwear staff at 61 dollars a month.

That is more that a textile worker would take home in Bangladesh, where thousands of garment workers also took to the streets of the capital in August to demand higher wages.

But Cambodia's unions say it is not enough to cover living expenses and want a base salary of 93 dollars.

The industrial action only ended when the government stepped in and arranged talks between the two sides that started on Monday.

Pat La has low expectations for the negotiations and says she is willing to settle for less than unions are demanding.

"Maybe from 80 dollars a month -- that would do," she says.

Union leaders say that at the height of the strike, some 200,000 garment workers across the country failed to show up for work.

But secretary general Ken Loo of the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC) estimates that 45,000 people missed work during the stoppages, of which about 20,000 picketed outside factories.

Ahead of Monday's talks, manufacturers warned that increasing the minimum wage was out of the question, "but there is always room for negotiation with respect to other allowances or bonuses", says Ken Loo.

Union leader Ath Thun, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, accepts that the employers are unlikely to budge on the wage issue, and says the unions will instead seek other concessions, such as daily food allowances.

Cambodia's garment industry -- which also produces items for brands such as Benetton, Adidas and Puma -- is a key source of foreign income for the country and employs about 345,000 workers, mainly women.

"I believe working conditions are generally good for the garment workers," says Tun Sophorn, a national coordinator at the International Labour Organisation, who has visited dozens of Cambodian factories.

"Labour inspections have intensified" and there are "strong unions" in the workplace, he explains.

The industry was hit hard last year when the global economic crisis saw exports drop to 2.7 billion dollars, from 3.1 billion dollars in 2008.

However, during the first seven months of this year, exports increased 13.4 percent to 1.6 billion dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

GMAC says the strike cost the sector 15 million dollars and harmed its reputation abroad.

"We know that a few factories have had their orders cancelled" as buyers worry about possible damage to their brand image, Ken Loo says, declining to name the plants or customers involved.

But Pat La, who doesn't know the retailers she is sewing for, has more pressing concerns on her mind.

Taking part in the walkout cost her four days' pay so she expects to take home just 40 dollars this month -- not enough to make ends meet -- and going on strike again would be a luxury she cannot afford.

"I am broke now," she says with a shy smile.

© Copyright (c) AFP

Fighting Corruption

Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation
By SEN. EDGARDO J. ANGARA

September 25, 2010, 9:53pm

A REPORT by the Transparency International reveals that corruption has greatly held back efforts towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Where there are more corrupt practices, there is less progress on education (MDG2), maternal health (MDG5), and access to clean water (MDG7).

In the 2009 Corruption Perception Index, the Philippines ranked 139th out of 180 countries. The survey was topped by New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore as the countries with the least corruption. Our neighbors Thailand (84th), Indonesia (111th), and Malaysia (56th) have overtaken us. In the region, we only bested Timor-Leste (146th), Cambodia (158th), and Myanmar (178th).

The fight against corruption is a continuous struggle and is not limited by borders or cultures. That is the rationale behind the Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC). As the only Asian representative in GOPAC’s Executive Board, I took the lead in organizing the regional chapter, the Southeast Asian Parliamentarians against Corruption (SEAPAC) in 2005.

By linking with other parliaments, we build a strategy to combat corruption on an international level, while making a pact to fight corruption in each of our own governments and societies.

Strengthening institutions and enhancing governance mechanisms must be hallmark of every democratic system. This is where we, as parliamentarians, have the best chance to contribute. Parliamentarians are in the best position to ensure institutional integrity. We achieve this by crafting effective sanction policies through the passage of laws. In this sense we plot, not just track, our national anti-corruption agendas.

Of course, we should also go beyond merely crafting legislation. Our capacity to ensure institutional integrity requires that we monitor the implementation of these laws.

This coming Thursday, September 30, GOPAC’s Task Force on the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) will hold a two-day meeting in Manila. At the same time, SEAPAC will hold its Regional Meeting and discuss a plan of action for anti-corruption in the region. This is very much in tune with the Aquino administration’s current flagship program of anti-corruption.

High on the agenda is equipping lawmakers with tools to implement the UNCAC. The UNCAC, which the Philippines ratified in 2006, is the first international legally binding anti-corruption tool which obliges countries to implement changes in laws and institutions.

Corruption is a real obstacle to development and directly affects our people. On the other hand, putting in place anti-corruption and good governance mechanisms – like transparency, accountability, and integrity – have huge payoffs. Elimintating corruption through oversight institutions and legal frameworks – and ensuring their effective enforcement – will aid economic growth and bring back public trust in institutions.

Unions condemn job losses

The Phnom Penh Post Friday, 24 September 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis

Garment workers chant slogans during a strike outside a factory in Kandal province on Wednesday. Photo by: Pha Lina

UNION leaders have moved to defend the legality of the large-scale strikes that swept the nation last week, condemning factory owners and the courts for the suspension and firings of more than 300 union leaders and activists.

The Cambodian Labour Confederation and the Cambodian National Confederation released a joint statement Wednesday evening in which they “reject the argument that loss of income is a legitimate reason for punishing workers and union leaders who are pursuing their legitimate
interests”.

“The purpose of a strike is to withhold labour from the employer in order to achieve union demands,” the statement read.

“This inevitably leads to a loss of income by both the employer, who loses production, and the workers, who lose wages. Therefore, to punish workers for the loss of production is to undermine the basis of the right to strike.” The statement also said that courts ordered the suspension of 159 union leaders and activists from 17 factories “for practicing their right to strike”, and that employers had fired a further 151 people for “leading strikes”.

These suspensions and firings violate Article 333 of Cambodia’s Labour Code, which says employers are “prohibited from imposing any sanction on a worker because of his participation in a strike”, it argued.

The statement came as a second round of strikes continued in Kandal province, and an industry representative warned that factories have had to begin reducing worker numbers as a result of a downturn in business caused by the strikes.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said Wednesday that it is a “fact of life” that factories have to reduce the number of employees when business slows.

“We know that one or two factories have had to seek suspension of workers due to the fact that buyers have cancelled orders,” he said. “This is what we said would happen.”

He declined to give further details about which factories had suspended workers or how much business had been lost, though GMAC previously estimated that the garment industry lost more than US$15 million as a result of the strike.

Industry representatives have also justified the court-ordered suspensions, saying the strikes had been deemed illegal.

In their statement, however, the unions argue that the strikes were legal and claim that they have “no confidence in the independence of the courts in Cambodia”.

Loo said yesterday that this argument was irrelevant. “It is not for GMAC, nor the factories, nor the NGOs, nor the unions to decide whether the strikes were legal or otherwise,” he said. “We all must defer to the courts on this matter.”

Last week’s strike, which began on Monday and was scheduled to last for five days, was largely spurred by a July decision that set the minimum wage for garment workers at $61 per month, far below the $93 that some union leaders had campaigned for.

Labour leaders called off the strike on Thursday after the Ministry of Social Affairs called for a meeting to discuss potential “benefits” for workers earning the minimum wage.

But fresh strikes began at some factories on Friday afternoon following reports that more than 200 union representatives accused of inciting the original strike had been suspended.

Workers from three factories in Kandal province have continued to strike throughout the week, agitating for their representatives to be reinstated.

Loo said yesterday that about 7,000 workers remained absent from work in three factories in Kandal province, around 1,500 of whom were striking outside the factories.

The meeting at the Ministry of Social Affairs is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Bridges go up along border

The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 24 September 2010 15:02 Thet Sambath

A Cambodian soldier speaks with Thai troops along the border close to Preah Vihear temple in 2008. Photo by: Heng Chivoan

THE Royal Cambodian Armed Forces are building 15 concrete bridges to connect roads between Preah Vihear temple and a nearby military base in an effort to facilitate the transport of ammunition and food to soldiers based near the border.

The bridges will connect roads between the Preah Vihear temple and Ta Thav, an area that military officials say will be used in the future as a border gate but is now used as a military compound. Ta Thav is located roughly 7 kilometres north of the temple.

Preah Vihear deputy provincial governor Sor Thavy said yesterday that the construction of the bridges was ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen and was being completed by the military’s engineering unit.

Sem Yo, commander of RCAF border battalion 404, said the bridges will make travelling between the two areas easier. Previously, any food and weaponry had to be transported back and forth by foot.

“When the bridges are built, this road will become strong and it is very useful for soldiers to move and transport food and weapons for soldiers standing at the border,” he said, and added that the roads would be paved once the bridges were completed.

Kvan Siem, commander of RCAF’s engineering unit, said yesterday that the unit also plans to build a road along the Thai-Cambodian border, connecting Poipet Town to Koh Kong province.

“This is the government’s plan, ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen, to build roads along the border,” he said.

He adding that the construction of the bridges and roads should be completed “some time next year”.

Bangladesh exports jump 31% in August

Daily Times

Friday, September 24, 2010

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s exports in August surged 31.25 percent to $1.79 billion from a year earlier, led by strong demand for the country’s readymade garments, data showed on Thursday. In the fiscal year that ended in June, exports rose 4.11 percent to $16.2 billion as the global economy gradually recovered, although that was still 7.9 percent below the government’s target amount. Sales in July rose 26.5 percent to $1.82 billion, the impoverished south Asian country’s highest ever. Earning from knit textiles in July-August, the first two months of the current fiscal year, rose 32 percent to nearly $1.6 billion from the previous year, while woven garments rose 30 percent to $1.3 billion, the Export Promotion Bureau said. Orders for clothes, which account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s overseas sales, are growing from its key markets the United States and Europe. Traders and officials said the garment sector had seen a steady recovery since January, along with the recovery in the global economy. Bangladesh is fast becoming part of the global supply chain for low-end textiles and clothing because of its cheap labour costs. In late July, the government nearly doubled the minimum monthly wage for millions of workers in the garment industry to 3,000 taka ($43), which will take effect in November, but wages are still low compared with rivals such as China, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Bangladesh makes garments for international brands such JC Penney, Wal-Mart, H&M, Kohl’s, Marks & Spencer and Carrefour. Meanwhile, the government has increased the amount of credits available, cut tax and offered cash incentives to explore new markets to garments exporters. reuters The government expects exports to climb 14 percent this fiscal year to $18.5 billion, with targets of $7 billion from knitwear and $6.6 billion from woven garments.

The millennium development goals need progressive UK leadership

By pursuing a global standard for transparency in oil, gas and mining, the UK could play a key role in Nigeria and globally

By Juanita During Thursday 23 September 2010 17.17 BST guardian.co.uk

Juanita During has asked Nick Clegg to help reinvigorate the adoption of a global standard for transparency in oil, gas and mining. Photograph: Justin Tallis/Bond

Yesterday was the final day of the critical UN millennium development goals (MDGs) summit, where world leaders gathered to review progress against ambitious targets including halving world poverty, achieving universal primary education, fighting killer diseases, empowering women, and delivering water and sanitation, all by 2015. The outcomes are crucial to gaining increased support and momentum towards these and other MDG aspirations.

Last week, I was privileged to speak at an event convened by Bond (the membership body for 370 UK NGOs working in international development), where Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, and Andrew Mitchell, the secretary of state for international development, set out the UK government's plans for the summit, with a focus on maternal mortality and malaria. It is vital we make progress in these areas: every minute, a woman dies from a pregnancy or child-related cause, and malaria causes nearly a million deaths each year.

For progress to be made on these and other targets, policymakers need to recognise that the MDGs are interwoven. So, when a particular target is very off track, it holds back all the others. Good management of water resources and proper drainage, for example, can make a real difference in reducing transmission of malaria and other water-borne diseases, while progress on maternal health and mortality requires not only improved healthcare systems, but also safe sanitation, water and sound hygiene practices to ensure infection-free births and good chances of child survival in the first month of life.

Without sanitation, safe water and hygiene, we will fail to reach the MDGs across large parts of the developing world. In Nigeria, where I live, the statistics on water and sanitation are shocking: only half the population has access to safe water, and less than a third has proper sanitation. As a result, 150,000 children under the age of five die every year from diarrhoea. In Africa, diarrhoea is now the biggest killer of children, claiming the lives of almost one in five children before their fifth birthday - more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

With a population of 140m, Nigeria has the third highest number of people living in poverty of any country in the world. It will be difficult to claim successful delivery of global MDG ambitions without achieving success in Nigeria. Yet according to the national 2010 countdown strategy, achieving the MDGs could cost as much as $170bn by 2015. A substantial portion of this is expected to come from the oil and gas industries. Government revenues are estimated at around $40bn a year, but with such a huge population, there is a vast shortfall to make up.

Last week in London, I asked Mr Clegg whether the UK government had any plans to breathe new life into the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The body was set up by the previous UK government to set a global standard for transparency in oil, gas and mining, and he has promised me he will look into it. Although the EITI does not carry a high profile in terms of the MDGs, for a country like Nigeria it has huge potential to make a difference.

The UK has a role to play by supporting the implementation of the Nigerian EITI. I would ask Mr Clegg to ensure that the UK government promotes financial transparency of UK-regulated companies operating in Africa with a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption. If the UK government can help ensure British (and other OECD) companies meet their obligations in respect to the transparency initiative, they will be doing an important service for the poor of Nigeria.

It is clear that Nigeria will only deliver MDG progress if the revenues from oil and gas are directed by the government - at national, regional and local levels - to where the need is greatest. Those areas include tackling extreme poverty and hunger, strengthening health and education, diversifying our economy, bringing greater gender equality and delivering sustainable access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.

However, oil and gas revenues alone will not be sufficient for meeting Nigeria's MDGs by 2015. Action and reform are urgently needed across many policy areas, but Nigeria also needs international aid – to strengthen governance and institutions and address the overwhelming levels of poverty. There must be a sense of urgency and even impatience to address the lagging and critical sectors, such as sanitation, if world leaders are to honour the promises they have made and stop Africa losing too many of our children for lack of the bare essentials such as safe water and sanitation.

With only five years to go to 2015, and many MDGs off track, progressive UK leadership on development is needed more than ever to help accelerate progress towards attaining the vital, and achievable, millennium development goals.

• Juanita During is head of governance at WaterAid in Nigeria. She joined WaterAid in January 2008, having previously spent seven years with Unicef in Nigeria.

VIDEO: BARACK OBAMA: U.N. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MDGs @ U.N. (UNTV)

VIDEO: BARACK OBAMA: U.N. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MDGs @ U.N. (UNTV) (MaximsNewsNetwork)

UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNewsNetwork - 23 September 2010 - UNTV: United Nations, New York – United States (US) President Barack Obama yesterday launched a new US global policy aimed at revamping his administration’s development strategy around the world; in his speech to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly during the summit of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Obama said that hundreds of millions of people around the world, “have been lifted from extreme poverty” in the last ten years, but progress has been uneven and for some of the goals set ten years ago, it “has not come nearly fast enough.”

The MDGs, eight internationally agreed targets that aim to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality and environmental degradation, were adopted in 2000 and are targeted to be achieved by 2015.

Obama said that with “just five years before our development targets come due, we must do better”, but insisted that “progress is possible.”

Announcing the new US global development policy, he said it was “the first of its kind by an American administration”, and “is rooted in America’s enduring commitment to the dignity and potential of every human being”.

He added that “it outlines our new approach and the new thinking that would guide our overall development efforts.”

The program he announced has four approaches, including changing the definition of development and how the ultimate goal of development is viewed. It also puts emphasis on economic growth and accountability.

Obama said that the US will “insist on more responsibility” and “mutual accountability” and promised top “work with congress to better match our investments with the priorities of our partner countries”.

He stressed that the US “will invest in programmes that work and end those that don’t” and said that the aim of the policy is “to be big hearted, but also hard headed in our approach to development.”

...... ( UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION: UNTV )

A Cambodian woman dries silk thread at a weaving center outside Phnom Penh.

Cambodia Slowly Reweaves Its Silk Industry

Chor Sokunthea/Reuters

By SIMON MARKS

Published: September 22, 2010

PHNOM PENH — Far from the glamour at fashion weeks in America and Europe, Cambodia’s silk industry is struggling to regain the foothold it lost during years of political and civil unrest.

The government recently named silk as one of eight priority export items to be developed by the Ministry of Commerce. And experts agree that the quality of the country’s handmade gold-colored silk is far superior to the mass-produced white silk turned out by China, Vietnam and Thailand.

But Cambodia is producing just five tons of silk a year, even though demand is estimated to be about 400 tons.

And that silk is selling for around $70 a kilogram, or $32 a pound, much more than the $50 a kilogram paid for imported silk, making it much less competitive when attracting buyers from abroad.

In Cambodia, “the skill and the design are not there,” said Sokunthy Heng, export manager for the Kearny Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on trade links.

Still, there are some early signs that the industry is experiencing a revival. In 2008, the British department store chain Marks & Spencer started to source silk pillowcases from 200 families in Prey Veng Province, and so far 500 kilograms of the product have been exported.

In January, Kearny Alliance created a sourcing report for silk fashion accessories so buyers could locate quality suppliers in Cambodia more easily. (Ms. Heng said she did not know whether the report had led to any deals yet.)

And the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is helping to fund silk sector development. Last year the agency financed a $475,000 project to work with the government to create a production center for silkworm eggs. Seven demonstration farms are also being established to train local residents in rearing silkworms.

The U.N. agency estimates that, if the silk sector develops to meet domestic demand, it will generate employment for 25,000 people and result in import savings of around $10 million per year.

Silk production in Cambodia has always been a modest affair, mainly produced by women living in rural areas that often lack basics like electricity and modernized roads. Many of them also are subsistence rice farmers, focused on planting crops between May and July when the monsoon rains arrive and harvesting in December, tasks that take time away from producing silk.

The silk trade here dates from the 13th century, when villagers started to breed silkworms along the banks of the Mekong and Bassac rivers. Villagers now breed a variety of caterpillar known as bombyx mori, which feeds on mulberry tree leaves for three weeks and then spins a golden cocoon. The silk yarn that forms the cocoons is washed, dyed and eventually woven.

But during the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, between 1975 and 1979, people were forced to cultivate rice on collective farms, devastating the silk industry.

Recovery has been painfully slow — so slow, in fact, that only 2 percent of the thread used to create Cambodian silk today is actually produced in Cambodia, noted Kellianne Karatau, 40, who co-owns and designs clothes for Jasmine Boutique, one of only a handful of high-end fashion stores in Phnom Penh. The rest of the silk thread is imported from a variety of locations.

“As the world supply for silk increases, it affects the price and also the availability of silk thread,” Ms. Karatau said. “So to secure our silk supply we would have to see Cambodia develop its silk yarn production.”

Health Inequity Slows Decline in Child Mortality

Source: IPS
By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Sep 21 , 2010 (IPS) - Cambodia’s partial success in reducing child mortality rates has exposed a fault line of inequity, one that underscores the advantage that the country’s urban population has had over the rural poor.

Yet the South-east Asian kingdom, 35 percent of whose 14 million population live below the poverty line, is not alone in having this mixed record of reducing child mortality, say child rights experts.

Some of the other countries in the region reflect a similar trend 10 years after world leaders committed to meet a set of eight targets to help the world’s poor by 2015. The fourth of the eight U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seeks to achieve a two-thirds reduction in child mortality rates by 2015.

"To be fair to governments in South-east Asia, child mortality rates are going down everywhere," said Ben Phillips, director of strategy at the Asia office of Save the Children, a British-based humanitarian organisation. "But the rate of decline is less than the rate they committed in 2000."

"In South-east Asia, child mortality rates have almost halved from 2000 levels," he told IPS. "But the region is substantially behind from meeting the two-thirds target, which is five years away."

A recent report by Save the Children, entitled ‘A Fair Chance At Life’, shows that Cambodia has seen a 32 percent drop in child mortality figures among the country’s "richest 20 percent", but only an 18 percent reduction in child mortality among the "poorest 20 percent".

Indonesia, the region’s giant where 16 percent of its 225 million people live below the poverty line, has recorded "equitable progress," noted the 37-page report. The poorest 20 percent has seen child mortality figures drop by 29 percent, while the richest 20 percent has witnessed a nine percent decline.

Military-ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, lags behind all with the worst child mortality figures. It reportedly has 104 children under five years dying for every 1,000 live births. Cambodia, by contrast, has 82 deaths of children under five years of age per 1,000 live births. Laos, the third of this region’s poorest countries, has 75 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Child rights groups have hailed Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam as being well on course to meeting the 2015 targets. The region’s richest country, the city-state of Singapore, has been singled out in a study by ‘The Lancet’, a British medical journal, as leading all countries in the world in child mortality rates, having reduced it by 75 percent since 1990.

The inequity in child mortality rates in countries like Cambodia and the Philippines, which has 32 deaths per 1,000 live births, is "partly an urban-rural divide," said Phillips. "There is no conscious discrimination, but a natural tendency for nurses and doctors to work in cities."

At times, the distance to a health care is a day away, making it costly and time consuming for a family to take a newborn to treat illnesses that lead to child deaths, such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and sepsis.

"If you live more distant from a health centre, you will be reached later unlike those who live closer to health care workers," said Basil Rodriques, regional adviser for your child survival and development at the Asia office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). "The MDGs saw the ‘low hanging fruits’ reached first."

To address this trend, countries in the region are being urged to strengthen community health initiatives in rural areas, including by tapping trained midwives who live in the villages they grew up in. "This is what is going to make the difference," Rodriques said in an interview. "Governments are looking at how to train workers who grow up and return to live in their communities."

Early diagnosis of diseases like pneumonia is key to saving a child’s life, adds Rodriques, pointing to achievements in Indonesia. "There is a growing recognition of a community-focused approach, since community health workers are trained to see the problem and offer prompt care."

Vietnam’s success with a similar community health care programme across its rural regions is also being held up as another model for the region. Its record of child mortality is 17 deaths for 1,000 live births.

"It is really hard to divorce equity from the development paradigm," said Rodriques. "The MDGs have, in a sense, acted as accelerator for governments in South-east Asia to invest more."

Save the Children’s Phillips estimates that the entire Asian region needs two million health workers, ranging from midwives, nurses and obstetricians, to meet the 2015 targets on child mortality. "India will need one million of them and South-east Asia will need a third," he said.

"This requires a dramatic shift in policy and resources made available to strengthen rural health care systems," he explained. "If you are not focused on equity, the outcome will be inequitable."

"Health workers don’t just cure; they also prevent," he said. "Governments need to be putting more people through nursing schools." (END)

Female education vital for all MDGs, says UN Goodwill Ambassador

UN News Centre

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Nawal El Moutawakel

22 September 2010 – Growing up in Morocco in the 1960s and early 1970s United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador Nawal El Moutawakel had personal experience of the ills that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seek to eliminate.

“I personally lived these difficulties… access to education, women’s empowerment, environmental protection, improvement in health,” she told the UN News Centre today on the margins of the MDG Summit in New York. “I had experiences in all these fields linked to my personal life, to that of my country.”

But by strength of will Ms. El Moutawakel went on to become the first female Muslim from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal when she came first in the 1984 400 metres hurdles. From 2007 to 2009 she was Morocco’s minister of sports.

She stressed the overriding importance of gender equality in education. “An educated woman is an educated family and an educated country since women represent more than half the population in most countries today,” she said. “When women have no access to education all other (MDG) efforts are doomed to fail.

“Access to primary education is vital since it has a run-on impact on all other MDGs, it even determines the success and survival of some, like women’s empowerment.”

Editorial: Actions to save MDGs

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 09/23/2010 10:09 AM | Editorial

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have changed the way we approach our development strategy, from development heavily oriented toward economic growth to development that promotes equality. Economic development that promotes equality will in turn improve the quality of life of most people.

Most, if not all, the eight MDG goals target lifting poor people out of poverty and improve their quality of life. The more people lifted from poverty, the more people there are to make a contribution to the economy and eventually boost economic growth. Therefore, to see if our economic development focuses more on growth or more on equity, we can look at our record in achieving our MDGs.

Looking into the official records on our MDGs so far, it seems that we are on the right track in most cases, except in the critical areas of maternal mortality rate, HIV/AIDS control, improving access to clean water and, to some extent, poverty eradication. Indonesia can still achieve its MDGs if concerted measures are taken speedily, especially in the areas where we lag behind.

In the area of improving maternal health, our target is to reduce by three quarters from 390 to 110 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015. Out maternal death rate currently stands at 228 deaths. It needs a gigantic effort to achieve the target. The main problem lies with those mothers in rural areas who have limited knowledge about maternity health or have no access to public health services. To address this problem, the central government needs to work with local governments where the maternal death rate is still high.

We also need to work hard in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS as the prevalence of people with HIV/AIDS currently stands at 5.6 per 100,000. What makes it more worrisome is that a huge proportion of young people, 33 percent, have limited knowledge on HIV/AIDS. Worse still, only 60 percent of people at high risk of contracting the disease use condoms during sex. Practical measures in this area will be most helpful, for example, the distribution of free condoms.

We are also falling short in preserving our environment, especially in providing our people with sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. In both urban and rural areas, most people exploit ground water to meet their daily needs. This over-exploitation of ground water is not good for the environment. Our local governments simply fail to provide piped water to the people. Currently, only 30 percent of people in urban areas and 9 percent of people in rural areas have access to tap water.

Facing statistics as dire as these, our targets of 67 percent and 53 percent respectively by 2015 seem impossible to achieve.

Most important of our MDGs is our pledge to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. If we look at data from the government, it seems that we are on track to achieve the target. But there are many definitions of poverty. If poverty is defined as those living on less than US$1 per day, as many government officials cite, then we have already achieved the target of 10 percent. But if we use the higher marker of those living on less than $2 a day, we are very far from achieving the target as half of our population still lives on less than $2 a day.

It’s up to us to decide which definition we use, but knowing that half of our population lives below $2 a day indicates that our development strategy does not really promote equality. We have recorded high economic growth; our gross domestic product is one of the largest in the world; and the world recognizes and includes us among the prestigious G20 group of nations. But these things do not mean a lot to us when half of our countrymen and women still live in poverty.

Poverty is the source of many problems we as a country face today. Therefore, let’s make poverty our common enemy in the next five years.

Workers continue to protest

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 21 September 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A loudspeaker is held up to amplify union leader Ath Thun’s speech during a strike at a Meanchey district factory last week.

GARMENT workers protesting the suspension of union representatives in the aftermath of last week’s coordinated strike continued their demonstrations yesterday despite the fact that they could be dismissed from work.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said roughly 10,000 workers at four factories in Phnom Penh and Kandal provinces had been involved in strikes to protest the suspensions.

GMAC advised its members last week to pursue court injunctions that would require strikers to return to work within 48 hours or face the possibility of having their employment terminated. Loo was unsure whether the 48-hour window had elapsed at the four factories, but said workers still striking at factories that had won injunctions could soon be dismissed.

“Our advice to the factories is, if the 48 hours are due and workers still do not return to work, then please prepare the official notice of termination of the employment contract for violating the court order to return to work,” Loo said. No workers or union representatives have yet been dismissed, he said.

At Kandal province’s Winner Garment Factory, union representative Sim Sokha said roughly 2,000 workers had protested after 10 union representatives were suspended.

“The workers will face more problems when they don’t have representatives to protect them when the factory abuses their rights,” Sim Sokha said.

At the Goldfame Enterprise factory, also in Kandal, unionists said roughly 5,000 workers protested the suspensions of 19 union representatives, whose photos were posted outside the factory.

“We demanded more wages to support ourselves, but now we are not allowed to work,” said union representative Chea Thyda.

Ek Sopheakdey, secretary general of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said labour leaders appealed to the government yesterday to allow the suspended representatives to return to work.

Organisers said at one point that last week’s strike could stretch for as long as one month, though it was called off in its fourth day on Thursday after the Ministry of Social Affairs wrote a letter calling for a meeting next week with union leaders to discuss benefits and other issues unrelated to the minimum wage.

A directive signed last week by Prime Minister Hun Sen authorised government officials to cooperate with garment factories to pursue legal action against alleged masterminds of last week’s strike; law enforcement officials were directed to prevent a resumption of the work stoppage.

Union leaders said 12 garment workers in Phnom Penh and Kandal were injured on Saturday during clashes with police as they protested the dismissal of the union representatives. GMAC said the garment industry lost more than US$15 million as a result of last week’s strike.

Cambodia garment workers protest low pay

Encouraged by labor agitation in the region, tens of thousands of workers stage a walkout. It nets only a government proposal to discuss benefits in the future, but organizers call the strike a success.

Cambodian workers attend a rally during a strike last week at the Chinese-owned Pine Great Cambodia Garment Co. in Phnom Penh. (Chor Sokunthea, Reuters / September 12, 2010)

Lost Angeles Times

By Brendan Brady, Special to the Los Angeles Times

September 19, 2010

Reporting from Phnom Penh, Cambodia —

Tens of thousands of garment workers staged a walkout in the Cambodian capital in recent days, encouraged by agitation across the region for improved pay and benefits in the low-paying apparel industry.

In Bangladesh, an 80% increase in the monthly minimum wage to $43, still the lowest in the region, didn't stop riots last month by workers who said the raise was not enough.

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Cambodia's work stoppage was relatively peaceful, with participants from the industry's overwhelmingly female workforce chanting slogans and occasionally pumping their fists. Work stoppages ended in the middle of last week with a government proposal to discuss workers' benefits at a later date.

Still, protest organizers called the strike a success and framed it as part of a broader movement that included protests aimed at foreign-owned factories in China's coastal provinces and Vietnam.

"Those protests [in other countries] encouraged us," said Ath Thun, who spearheaded the strike and is president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union."Garment workers in those countries received more wages when they protested, so we thought we should too, since our wages are also unacceptably low."

Chan Bopha said she didn't need outside inspiration to realize that her earnings were lean. The 26-year-old protested outside the Chung Fai Knitwear factory in Phnom Penh, where she had worked for nearly a decade.

With overtime, she earned around $80 a month. All the money goes to pay for rent, utilities, food, her children's education and to support her mother. "And then, there's nothing left for anything," she said.

Another worker, 22-year-old Soung Lin, said, "I was striking because I want to send more money home to my parents and brothers. I want my brothers to study to find a good job. I don't want them to become a garment worker like me."

Cambodia averted strikes in July by increasing the monthly minimum wage in the industry by $5 to $61, far less than the $93 that some unions had demanded. Lingering dissatisfaction spurred last week's walkout. Union leaders said more than 200,000 workers took part, but the number appeared to be more in line with the manufacturers' estimate of 30,000.

The garment sector has been the main engine of Cambodia's economic growth since the late 1990s, when the country stabilized politically after years of revolution and civil strife. Garments accounted for 70% of Cambodia's exports in the first half of 2010, according to the government. Gap and Nike are among the major brands that have suppliers in Cambodia.

The garment and footwear industry employs about 350,000 people and supports an additional 1.6 million Cambodians through remittances sent home by workers, according to the United Nations. An estimated 60,000 textile jobs were lost during the global economic downturn in 2008 and 2009.

Garment workers' wage dissatisfaction stems in part from job losses during the economic crisis, said Tuomo Poutiainen, the International Labor Organization's chief technical advisor for its Better Factories Cambodia program. Their hardship was worsened by inflation, especially in food prices.

What's overlooked, says Ken Loo, the secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Assn. of Cambodia, is that factories are feeling the same squeeze. "Our costs have also risen because of inflation, but because of the bad economy, [retailers'] buying prices have gone down."

The Cambodian garment industry has become more vulnerable to competition. It benefited in recent years from U.S. trade preferences predicated on assurances by the International Labor Organization of proper working conditions and from U.S. and European tariffs on garments from China and Vietnam. Those tariffs have been lifted.

Wage disputes in the region raise the risk of obscuring the fundamental driver of garment incomes, productivity, says Tep Mona, director of a nonprofit vocational training group, the Garment Industry Productivity Center, in Phnom Penh. She said that at most of the 70 factories where her group has conducted training in Cambodia, workers' monthly salaries have risen above $110 because of performance bonuses.

Many factories have limited interest in paying for worker training, however, and uneducated workers intimidated by change also resist, she said.

Brady is a special correspondent.

Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times

Millennium development goals: Tracking progress on HIV/Aids

An examination of global efforts to achieve MDG6 to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids

• From IRIN, part of the Guardian Development Network
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 September 2010 12.21 BST
• Article history

Millennium development goal six is off track, which means people who are HIV-positive, such as those in the female ward of Queen Elizabeth central hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, still need to fight for treatment. Photograph: Martin Godwin

Significant strides have been made in the global fight against HIV, but major gaps remain that could prevent many countries from achieving UN millennium development goal (MDG) six relating to HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

IRIN/PlusNews examines global efforts to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Access to treatment - More than five million people currently have access to life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs, a 12-fold increase over the past six years. However, this still represents just one third of people who need HIV treatment.

In 2008, 38 percent of the 730,000 children estimated to need antiretrovirals (ARVs) in low- and middle-income countries had access to them.

UNAIDS is calling for the implementation of a new treatment approach called "Treatment 2.0", to drastically scale up testing and treatment; it estimates that successful implementation of "Treatment 2.0" could avert 10 million deaths by 2025, and reduce new infections by a third.

New infections - Twenty-two of the worst affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reduced HIV incidence by more than 25 percent in the last eight years, according to UNAIDS. Some of the best performers in reducing new infections are Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe; HIV incidence is on the rise in Uganda, once a leader in the fight against HIV.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia remain the only regions where incidence is increasing.

Globally, there are still five new infections for every two people put on ARVs.

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission - According to the UN World Health Organization's (WHO) 2009 report, Towards Universal Access, the 20 countries with the highest burden of HIV among pregnant women have scaled up HIV counselling and testing to at least 75 percent of their antenatal care facilities.

Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia are among the countries that provided HIV testing to 60-80 percent of pregnant women, while Botswana, Namibia and São Tomé and Principe exceeded the 80 percent mark.

In 2008, 45 percent of pregnant women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries received ARVs to prevent HIV transmission to their infants - up from just 10 percent in 2004.

HIV-related maternal and child mortality - In 2008, 9 percent of all maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa were HIV related, according to a new report, Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990-2008 by WHO and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF. In Latin America and the Caribbean, HIV/AIDS was responsible for 5.2 percent of maternal deaths.

The report notes that there is evidence that women with HIV infection have a higher risk of maternal death.

Access to prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) improves outcomes for children as well, with studies showing that in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, child mortality declined by 34 percent following improvement in PMTCT. According to UNICEF, HIV is one of four diseases that accounted for 43 percent of all deaths in children under five worldwide in 2008.

Condom availability and use - Globally, condom use has doubled over the past five years, according to UNAIDS. An estimated 13 billion condoms per year will be needed by 2015 to help halt the spread of HIV, but only four condoms were available for every adult male of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa.

Female condoms are even less accessible. According to the UN Population Fund, UNFPA, in 2009, one female condom was distributed for every 36 women worldwide.

Condom use remains low in many high prevalence countries. According to UNAIDS, in South Africa, the proportion of adults reporting condom use during last sex rose from 31 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2008, but in Burundi, only about one in five people reported using a condom during commercial sex episodes.

New prevention technologies - The first positive results from a microbicide trial have injected fresh hope into efforts to halt the spread of the virus; the gel, containing the ARV Tenofovir, was found to be 39 percent effective in reducing a woman's risk of becoming infected with HIV.

"Treatment 2.0" also promises benefits for prevention, with evidence showing that people on ARV treatment are much less likely to transmit the virus.

A Thai vaccine trial completed in 2009 also provided the first evidence that a vaccine can provide some protection against HIV.

Several trials are under way to test the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) whereby HIV-negative people take a single ARV drug or a combination of drugs with the hope that it will lower their risk of infection if exposed to HIV.

Male circumcision, proven to reduce men's risk of infection through sexual intercourse by up to 60 percent, is being rolled out in several African countries.

Tuberculosis - TB remains a major cause of death for people living with HIV. WHO estimates that in 2008, there were 1.4 million TB cases among people living with HIV and over 500,000 deaths. Drug-resistant TB is on the rise in several countries, but diagnosis remains very low.

TB research remains under-funded and the most widely used TB diagnostics are over 100 years old. For many co-infected patients in the developing world, late diagnosis leads to death.

The authors of a recent article published in medical journal The Lancet argue that TB control is crucial to achieving the MDGs, given its link to HIV mortality as well as maternal and child mortality.

Recent developments such as a new drug to treat TB and rapid, more accurate TB tests could lead to improvements in the diagnosis and management of the highly infectious disease.

New research showing that starting TB patients on ARVs earlier leads to better outcomes could also reduce mortality in co-infected patients.

ANALYSIS: Garment bodies at loggerheads over Cambodia strikes

Just Style

By: Ngo Tuan | 21 September 2010

Textile and garment exports are currently the backbone of Cambodia's economy, meaning that an internal dispute over minimum wages and the continued threat of national strikes presents a real challenge.

Early this September, a huge strike of garment workers in Bangladesh brought tough consequences for its textile and garment industry - and last week the same was repeated in Cambodia.

In fact, the strike threat in Cambodia's garment industry first broke out in June 2009, but it seemed that the minimum wage issues had been resolved by July when the The Labor Advisory Committee decided to increase the minimum wage from US$50 to $61/month.

However, unions and protesters want the minimum wage to reach $93 per month, and held mass strikes in Phnom Penh last week. Accounts of the number of workers involved in the strikes vary from union claims of 80,000 people, to just 20,000 according to the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia (GMAC).

The dispute has since continued between the unions and manufacturers, with legal action over the strikes being threatened.

A number of unions joined forces to start last week's mass strike, including the Cambodian Labor Confederation (CLC) and the Cambodian National Confederation (CNC) and CCAWDU. They blamed the foreign brands and asked them to take responsibility for labour issues.

In opposition, the GMAC, representing most garment manufacturers in the country, insisted that the strikes and demonstrations were illegal and that the recent minimum wage rise was fair.

GMAC argues that although the minimum wage for garment workers stands at $61, the real pay for most workers exceeds this figure. The association provided evidence of an average monthly wage of $94, and said workers also benefited from bonuses for attendance, performance and seniority.

Last week's strikes were put to an end when the Government promised to host a meeting where all relevant bodies and unions will discuss the benefits of workers and the minimum wage.

For now though, the dispute continues as factories file for compensation and the unions carry on with their campaign.

According to the GMAC, Cambodia's the textile and garment industry has been suffering from "illegal strikes" and demonstrations, including an estimated financial loss of US$15m in addition to its damaged reputation.

Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia, gave one example of a strike at Winner Knitting Factory. “Workers blocked the gates of factories preventing vehicles and staff from entering or leaving factory premises. In this case, even the vehicle of the director of the factory was sequestered,” he told just-style.

However, the unions insist that their activities were legal. “Workers’ demand for a fair income, security in the workplace, health protection and decent living conditions can only lead to more productivity that can benefit employers and the economy as a whole,” said the Sam Rainsy Party, which represents the workers.

GMAC insists it will "continue to defend the interest and the future of the garment industry in Cambodia", and that next week's (27 September) meeting will be an important moment for the sector.

Decent Work Crucial For Development

21 September 2010

By Jaya Ramachandran

IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BRUSSELS (IDN) - Decent work can serve as a catalyst to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new report, which comes at the mid-way point of a United Nations gathering of heads of government and state in New York, convened to review progress made in the past ten years to alleviate poverty.

The report entitled 'Decent work and the Millennium Development Goals – A Promising Partnership' looks at the implementation of the International Labour Organisation's Decent Work Agenda and its success in contributing to achieving all the MDGs.

Decent work comprises four strategic objectives: fundamental principles and rights at work and international labour standards; employment and income opportunities; social protection and social security; and social dialogue and tripartism.

These objectives hold for all workers, women and men, in both formal and informal economies; in wage employment or working on their own account; in the fields, factories and offices; in their home or in the community.

The report released September 21 by the 'Global Network' wants the heads of government and state to renew their commitment to the Decent Work Agenda.

The Global Network aims at achieving the objective of decent work for all. It works to empower women and men who are activists in non-government organisations (NGOs), trade unions, associations of informal workers and grassroots movements to build capacity, exchange experiences and coordinate joint actions, at both regional and international level.

The project is coordinated by SOLIDAR and the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations.

Prospects for achieving the MDGs are currently looking slim; but this Global Network report shows that national implementation of the Decent Work Agenda has enabled households in developing countries to break the cycle of poverty by improving access to income, social security, education and health.

In Cambodia, for example, employees in International Labour Organisation (ILO) Better Work apparel factories earn an average wage of 77 U.S. dollars, whereas the average monthly income of an entire household in rural areas is 40 dollars. Families and even relatives now have sufficient income to keep their children at school. In addition, health and safety in factories has also improved.

"Despite this and many more success stories, decent work has never been a mainstream development strategy," says Elizabeth Tang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and Co-Chair of The Global Network.

She adds: "And whilst many developing countries have taken a first step towards change by putting in place decent work country programmes, national commitments are simply not enough if global commitments do not follow."

Better Work is a unique partnership programme between ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Launched in February 2007, the programme aims to improve both compliance with labour standards and competitiveness in global supply chains.

Another example, according to the Global Network report, is in Jordan where a Better Work Programme started in mid-2008 has already achieved significant results. 25 factories in the free trade manufacturing zones, representing 50 percent of the labour force and over 80 percent of the exports have joined the programme. Working conditions have improved and overtime work has decreased.

"Under the pretext of the financial crisis and with the austerity measures that many countries have put in place, we see many European governments not respecting their aid commitments. And yet the latest figures from Eurostat say that 64 percent of Europeans believe that governments should increase aid in line with their promises or even beyond this. Shouldn’t EU leaders be listening to their public?" asks Conny Reuter, SOLIDAR Secretary General.

"It is crucial that the leaders present at the UN MDG Review Summit show a renewed commitment to the Decent Work Agenda and redistributive growth strategies that would put people first," adds Keith Sonnet, Deputy Secretary General of UNISON and Co-Chair of the Global Network.

COUNTRIES AND ORGANISATIONS

The Global Network currently operates in 36 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Middle East. In Africa it is composed of 10 organisations from 10 countries: Burkina Faso; Ghana; Kenya; Mozambique; Nigeria; Namibia; South Africa; Swaziland; Zambia; Zambia; and Zimbabwe. In the Arab countries it comprises of 11 organisations in 6 countries:Jordan; Lebanon; Mauritania; Morocco; Palestine; and Tunisia.

The Global Network Asia has 10 organisations from 9 different countries: Philippines; Hong Kong; Korea; Thailand; Bangladesh; India; Pakistan; Cambodia; and Sri Lanka. In Latin America it has members in Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; El Salvador; Colombia; Chile; Ecuador; México; Peru; and Uruguay.

The Global Network actions take place within the framework of decent work focusing on three main fields: trade and investment, migration and social protection. It also produces and disseminates research reports.

PROJECTS

The Global Network is currently working on three projects:

1. Globalising Decent Work -- The project, funded by EuropeAid, aims to contribute to reinforcing the capacity of men and women from trade unions and labour organisations to act together and in alliances with others for the achievement of Decent Work. It aims to:

-- Develop and implement advocacy strategies ensuring that Decent Work is the outcome of international, regional and national trade policy and instruments in the areas of migration, social protection and trade and investment.

-- Reinforce the capacity of trade unions and labour organisations, NGOs and social organisations to work together and in alliances

-- Mobilise public support amongst citizens to lobby governments to implement Decent Work commitments

-- Ensure the voices of the most marginalised groups in the developing world (women, migrants, informal economy workers) are heard within government and the wider community.

2. Migration and Decent Work -- The project, funded by EuropeAid Co-operation Office (AIDCO), aims to contribute to the recognition, understanding and popularisation of the link between Decent Work, migration and development. It aims to:

-- Demonstrate that deficits in Decent Work are part of the driving forces in cross-border migration (migration out of necessity).

-- Mobilise European citizens' support for ensuring that Decent Workis put at the centre of development cooperation policies as a condition to give people in developing countries the choice to live in or leave their countries (migration out of choice).

-- Engage citizens in advocating a rights-based approach to labour migration and for policy coherence for development.

-- Reinforce the capacity of national and European actors to develop joint national and European advocacy and awareness-raising initiatives to ensure that Decent Work is the outcome of international, European and national policy and instruments in the areas of migration and development cooperation in close partnership with southern organisations.

3. Realising Social Protection and Decent Work for All -- The goal of this project, funded by UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the Civil Society Challenge Fund and managed by SOLIDAR and UNISON, is to contribute to the eradication of poverty by ensuring the provision of social protection for all, as put forward in the ILO's Decent Work Agenda.

The project aims to empower trade unions and social organisations to work in alliances and advocate for social protection in line with the Decent Work Agenda, and will particularly benefit people and organisations representing women, workers in the informal economy, migrants and people affected by HIV/Aids. (IDN-InDepthNews/21.09.2010)