National conference on
ship breakingYoung Power in Social Action (YPSA), a NGO, is working to improve
the conditions in the Chittagong shipbreaking yards. To do this we are:
- Running a campaign and
doing advocacy to raise awareness in the community and at the national level.
- Trying to influence
international policy makers for ensuring environment friendly ship dismantling.
- Aiming to influence the
policy makers to ensure that the necessary measures are taken to uphold the
rights of workers and that shipbreaking is conducted in a safe and
environmentally friendly way.
- Conducting research,
monitoring and fact finding activities at the grassroots level on the
conditions and impact of shipbreaking activities in Chittagong.
- Providing support and
assistance to injured shipbreaking workers and the families of deceased workers
along with different development programs in the surrounding villages.
- Project implementetion:Advocacy
for a Public Policy to Ensure Human Rights in Shipbreaking Industry
Duration: August 2003 to
October 2008
Situation
A severe cyclone in 1960
drove a Greek ship onto Sitakunda Upazilla's shores, and could not be refloated.
In 1964 the ship was bought and scrapped by Chittagong Steel House. The
shipping industry was born.
The ship breaking industry
boomed in the 1980s. Developed countries such as United Kingdom, Taiwan, and
Spain wanted to get rid of the industry since it did not comply with the new
environmental protection standards. Bangladeshi industrialists took the
opportunity to adopt ship breaking, as it raked in much profit. Today 52% of
large ships are scrapped in Bangladesh.
Today YPSA is working to
improve public policies for a direct influence on 50 000 ship breaking workers.
The problems of ship breaking are mostly related to the rights of the workers'
rights, health and working environment. Examples include a lack of working
conditions such as safety, hygiene, and protective gear. There is also a lack
of appropriate policies and laws that will protect the workers from accidental
deaths (e.g., one injury per day is common to the ship breaking yards), and
environmental hazards (i.e., illnesses caused by exposure to toxins). In
addition there are no emergency services, treatment or compensation for the
workers.
Initiatives
YPSA is the first
non-governmental organization to address the basic rights and needs of ship
breaking workers. They meet the challenge with the following primary
activities:
1. Research
Research is an important
component, as it helps gives concrete proof about the legal and real situation
of all stakeholders' rights (i.e., workers, contractors, etc.). The subsequent
documents have been published as a result:
- Workers in Ship breaking
Industries: A Baseline Survey of Chittagong (Bangladesh)
- Ship Breaking Activities
and its Impact on the Coastal Zone of Chittagong , Bangladesh : Towards
Sustainable Management' by Dr. Md. M. Maruf Hossain and Mohammad Mahmudul Islam
2.
Sensitization and Awareness
Since YPSA is the first
NGO to work on ship breaking issues, it has the task of sensitizing the media
and other stakeholders, (e.g., local and national government, political
parties, ship breaking contractors, etc) and making them responsible to the
worker's rights. YPSA does this by:
- Building a rapport with
all the stakeholders as well as the administration and policy makers (e.g.,
contractors)
- Local and national
awareness building through publications and campaigns (e.g., rallies, Human
Rights Day, etc.)
- Formation of forums such
as the Ship breaking Watch Forum, Ship breaking Social Forum, and Students'
Forum for Ship breaking
- Building network,
coalition and alliance with different groups and organizations
3.
Mobilization
To
mobilize the policy makers and society about the real challenges of the ship
breaking industry, YPSA:
- Educates shipyard
workers on their rights and specific ship breaking policies
- Organizes shipyard
workers to act as pressure groups to initiate media and local government
interest
- Uses the Information,
Education and Motivation (IEM) approach to make stakeholders more responsive
and active towards worker's rights
- Acts with the
international community on ship breaking to create pressure on policy makers
and ship breaking owners
- Pressures policy makers
to reformulate policies at the international and national level to formulate
the policy
- Strengthens existing
forums, associations, professional bodies/groups to raise collective voices in
favor of ship breaking policy (e.g., professors, students, ship breaking
workers)
Outcomes
National conferenceAs a
result of dedication and hard work from the Advocacy and Publication unit
staff, ship breaking workers becoming aware of their basic labour rights. People
are more aware of the locations where the shipyards are concentrated, and at
the district level government officials have become more active. Policy makers
have also started to be aware about the crisis. Specifically, Bangladesh's
Department of Environment and Shipping is in the process of making a guideline
for ship breaking. Owners have even agreed to build a hospital for the workers.
There are still a lot of
challenges to meet, but YPSA is further expanding their good relations with
international organizations like GREENPEACE. For example, an international
report was published jointly with GREENPEACE. YPSA also has membership to an
NGO platform on ship breaking based in Brussels.
They continue to do in
depth research about workers' problems and their rights, as well as bring
national awareness to the issue. There is no official policy up to date, so
YPSA must meet face obstacles such as getting legal aid for workers and their
families, and acquiring a draft policy. To gain more public awareness, they
would like to develop photography and video documentaries, as well as a website
dedicated to ship breaking.
Supporting organizations:
Manusher Jonno Foundation
Source:
YPSA
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