Labour rights, workplace safety remain top priority

FE Report
US Ambassador-designate to Bangladesh Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat testified before a parliamentary panel that labour rights and workplace safety in Bangladesh remained a top priority of the United States, apart from unsettled political matters.  
"Labour rights and workplace safety in Bangladesh remain a top US priority. We need Bangladeshis to ensure there will be no more heart-rending tragedies like the Rana Plaza building collapse or the Tazreen Fashions factory fire," she said while giving her testimony before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations ahead of confirmation of her assignment.
Bernicat, currently Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State, said she will actively further US efforts to strengthen respect for labour rights and to improve workplace safety in Bangladesh.
Bernicat is going to succeed incumbent Ambassador Dan W Mozena.
"With the support from the United States and other international partners, Bangladesh has begun to make progress in transforming its garment sector.  If confirmed, I pledge to you that I will actively further our efforts to strengthen respect for labour rights and to improve workplace safety in Bangladesh," she said before the Senate body.
The Ambassador-designate noted that with an annual economic growth rate of roughly six per cent each year, Bangladesh aspires to become a middle-income country and is an increasingly important trading partner and destination for US investment.
"It is strategically situated between a growing India and a newly opening Burma, and, therefore, is well-positioned to play a key role in linking South and Southeast Asia," she also said.
Bernicat observed that Bangladesh's growth extends beyond its economy, as the country is on pace to meet many key UN Millennium Development Goals.
She said Bangladesh has been a development success story over the past two and a half decades and the United States has been proud to assist Bangladesh in achieving these successes.   Bangladesh is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance in Asia outside of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
She said it is a focus country for three of the President's key development efforts:  Global Health, Global Climate Change, and Feed the Future.
The United States has also worked closely with Bangladesh to combat trafficking in persons and mitigate the threat of natural disasters, to which Bangladesh, due to its geography, is particularly prone.
"I look forward to the opportunity, if confirmed, to continue to support these important partnership efforts.  In addition, if confirmed, I look forward to continuing to advance our cooperation on strengthening security, including on issues of counterterrorism, maritime security, peacekeeping and combatting trafficking in drugs and arms," she added.
Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat told the panel that she would work hard to support efforts to promote accountability and strengthen human rights and democracy in Bangladesh, saying parliamentary elections of January 5 were 'undeniably flawed'.
"Bangladesh's main political parties urgently need to engage in constructive dialogue that leads to a more representative government. If confirmed, I'll work hard to support efforts to promote accountability and strengthen human rights and democracy in Bangladesh," she said.   
She mentioned that she would passionately advocate policies that enshrine peaceful democratic values, including respect for human rights and diversity, room for civil society to flourish, space for the free and peaceful discussion of political differences unmarred by violence, and adherence to the rule of law by an independent judiciary.
Bernicat said the United States supports bringing to justice those who committed atrocities in the 1971 war, but those trials should be fair and transparent, and in accordance with international standards.
"We'll also continue to support the right of impressive Bangladeshi civil-society organizations to operate independently and to express their views openly, recognizing that such institutions play an important role in any flourishing democracy," she added.
The new envoy also had a word on the Grameen Bank issue. She said, "We also encourage the government to ensure the continued effectiveness of Grameen Bank and protect its unique governance structure."