[T]he Bangladesh Investor Initiative, comprising over 200 investors from 12 countries, has borne witness to the significant progress made by the Accord in remediating some of the sector’s most urgent systemic issues...

While the Accord has made impressive headway, the deep work to transform the Bangladesh garment sector is not yet finished...

Investors were pleased to see that leading brands and trade unions signed a new agreement to extend the initiative until May 2021. However, the 150 signatories to the Bangladesh Investor Initiative’s public statement released January 25 are concerned that, of the 220 companies that signed the 2013 Accord, barely 60 have signed the new agreement. Again, we believe strongly that the strength of the Accord comes from the collective leverage brands are able assert over their suppliers...

Last week, the OECD [...] sponsored a Forum on due diligence in the garment and footwear sector. This forum was an extraordinary opportunity for investors to join the dialogue with governments, businesses, NGOs and trade unions on what “due diligence” in responsible supply chains means. Investors at this forum sited the Accord as a positive example of collective action to assess, address and report on fire and building safety but voiced their strong concern that participation on the part of major brands remains low.