Nuremberg Int'l HR Award for a Bangladeshi

Amirul Haque Amin, an activist dedicated to promote workers' rights in the textile and garment industries in Bangladesh, has been awarded the prestigious Nuremberg International Human Rights Award 2015. This has been announced by the Jury in Nuremberg (in Germany) on 28th September 2014.

Amin is the president and co-founder of the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), a platform of trade unions in Bangladesh. The NGWF has been committed to promote rights and dignity of workers in the export-oriented readymade garment sector since 1984.

For the first time, after its introduction in 1995, the Award has been announced to an activist who has been fighting for social and economic human rights, the Jury mentioned. By doing so, the Jury would like to draw attention to three important issues referring to RMG sector in Bangladesh: protection of workers' rights at local level, consumers' conscience and awareness for responsible consumption and promotion of economic ethics. This recognition to a workers' rights activist in Bangladesh has come at a time when the issue of workplace safety and security and workers' access to freedom of association and collective bargaining have come to a forefront following two major industrial disasters, e.g. fire at Tazreen Fashions in 2012 and collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013.

Uttam Das, Ph.D.
Advocate (Attorney)
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Dhaka