Impact of COVID-19 on the Rights of Informal Workers in Bangladesh

COVID-19 is a devastating global crisis leading to unprecedented challenges in public health, food systems, the workforce, etc. The calamity has aggravated the situation for informal workers by putting them at risk of economic fallout. The informal workers remain exceptionally vulnerable as their livelihood depends on in-person daily labor. As the pandemic unfolds worldwide, informal workers face tremendous socio-economic challenges and health-related vulnerabilities. This research sheds light on this terrain to explore the impact of COVID-19 on informal workers in Bangladesh from a socio-economic perspective. At the same time, it also analyzes the legal aspects from a critical point of view. It employs a qualitative research methodology. Primary data were collected through 30 in-depth interviews with informal laborers such as taxi-driver, street vendors, domestic workers, hotel and restaurant stewards, and private tuition providers. Ten key informant interviews were conducted with trade union leaders, relevant practitioners, and researchers. It finds that informal workers face diverse challenges, such as the inability to manage family expenditure, drop-out of their children from education, lack of information on health protection, internal migration, etc. It also reveals a significant policy implementation gap in crisis management by analyzing fiscal and monetary policy, non-therapeutic measures, and social safety programs.

Impact of COVID-19 on Ready-made Garments Workers in Bangladesh

COVID-19 is an overwhelming crisis that has touched almost every sector. As the Ready-made Garments (RMG) sector is closely integrated with the global supply chain, it is important to understand the implications of COVID-19 on RMG workers as they are the most vulnerable in this situation. This article aims to explore the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic on RMG workers in Bangladesh. Particularly, it investigates the impact on health, safety and security, employment, livelihood, and social relations of the workers. The research also explores the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in this regard. The study followed qualitative methodology. The primary data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, and key informant interviews. The findings revealed that COVID-19 implicated detrimental consequences in terms of health, safety and security, and social relations. The workers also faced a livelihood crisis as their earnings were curtailed

Pandemic Experiences and the Possibility of Global Health Diplomacy

Diplomacy is one of the most prominent parts of statecraft. This research paper illustrates how the COVID-19 situation expands the importance of the incorporation of health issues into diplomatic channels. It also analyzes how the simultaneous interaction of state and non-state actors in global health issues can reduce the danger of pandemic implications rather than a nationalistic approach. Moreover, this analysis underpins how the countries of today’s world are more interdependent than ever in terms of politics and economics dealing with trade and business, people’s movement, information technology, climate change etc. Though there are theoretical and ideological disagreements in the course of diplomacy and statecraft, modern diplomacy does not avoid health issues as an element of its table of contents. It is relevant to mention that the COVID-19 pandemic spreads to all regions of the world and it is no longer an issue of a particular country. Pandemic is not new in the world, but this case is overwhelming, most rapid and unprecedented. And today’s world is more complex than ever. This situation is intertwined with several issues of politics, economics, security etc. Following the qualitative approach based on secondary sources, analyzing the recent and previous cases, examining the duel factors of national and international perspectives, the study finds that the Global Health Diplomacy characterized by cooperation, dialogue, information sharing, capacity building is needed in the battle with a pandemic like COVID-19. It also suggests transparency, accountability and integrity to achieve this goal