International labour standards
Thirteen leading universities in Bangladesh to integrate International Labour Standards in labour law curricula
Thirteen public and private universities across Bangladesh signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ILO to integrate International Labour Standards (ILS) in their labour law curricula.
8 May 2025
DHAKA (ILO News)- A H M Shafiquzzaman, Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment remarked; "It is a significant day today as ILO and universities in Bangladesh have joined forces to build capacity of lecturers to integrate International Labour Standards into their labour law curricula. This will be a good foundation to initiate similar capacity building for labour judiciary and inspectors. We need to link trade unions, government, and industry with academia to provide hands-on training for students such as through internships in industrial areas." The labour law exists so that workers of Bangladesh have access to justice, the Secretary emphasised.
Recognizing the vital role universities play in shaping future legal professionals, the partnership aims to strengthen the capacity of labour law lecturers and enable them to design and deliver a model curriculum grounded in ILS and enriched with real-world insights.
This initiative will not only advance the curricula of labour laws in Bangladesh but will also capacitate lecturers to cultivate a new generation of socially conscious labour lawyers deeply attuned to the evolving demands of the labour market and the realities faced by workers in Bangladesh.
The participating universities including American International University of Bangladesh, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology, Daffodil International University, Dhaka International University, Eastern University, East West University, Green University, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Jahangirnagar University, Manarat International University, Premier University Chittagong, Presidency University and University of Dhaka.
“This initiative underscores the ILO’s commitment to promoting decent work, built on ILS. We are also pleased to share that several other universities in Bangladesh have expressed interest in joining this initiative, and we anticipate a second cohort signing soon,” said Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director, ILO Country Office in Bangladesh.
Representing the Team Europe Initiative, Thijs Woudstra, Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Bangladesh, said ILS are a part of human rights and human dignity. Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, Chairperson of Labour Reform Commission said; “Recognizes that the seeds of change are being planted today, and we need to nurture them, so these seeds can become banyan trees of a just society. The lecturers will create an enabling environment so that they can reach their full potentials and serve the workers and communities to protect their rights and dignities”.
Professor Dr. Mohammad Anwar Hossen, Member of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, emphasized the need to bridge the gap between law and society in protecting marginalized workers. This must be accomplished through the education system with special focus on informal workers like rickshaw pullers and day labourers.
The initiative is a part of the Advancing Decent Work in Bangladesh (ADWIB) project under the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Decent Work in Bangladesh funded by the European Union, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
A key component of the project aims at ensuring that Bangladesh's labour laws align more closely with ILS and that the application of these laws is enhanced.