Kalpona Akter

Kalpona Akter is a woman human rights defender and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS). Kalpona campaigns for worker safety, fair wages and the right to labour unions. She has been a key player in urging Western brands to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, following the Rana Plaza collapse. Her US Congress testimony helped frame legislation against slave-labour conditions for clothing.

She began working at garment factories since 12 years of age, and since 2000 has devoted herself to trade unions and activism for textile and garment workers in the country. Akter has been instrumental in engaging stakeholders, from UN Agencies to fast-fashion brands like Inditex.

Along with Human Rights Watch, she conducts investigations and analyses of workers’ conditions. She also works to ensure worker groups’ involvement in the European Union’s Sustainability Compact, designed to improve labour standards in Bangladesh.