Deep Dive

Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration and Co-Learning: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Third-Party Grievance Mechanism in Bangladesh’s Ready-Made Garment Sector

ORGANIZED BY

The Remedy Project, LRQA

14-Sep

16:30-17:15

Conference Room 4

Primark, The Remedy Project and Amader Kotha Helpline (operated in partnership with LRQA) collaborated to evaluate the Helpline's effectiveness as a third-party GM in Bangladesh ready-made garment sector. This session discusses key insights from the evaluation, how it supports co-learning and continuous improvement of GMs to strengthen access to remedy under the UNGPs.

Topic in Focus

How does collaboration among actors in the remedy ecosystem enables an assessment of effectiveness of a grievance mechanism (GM) by applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) as a baseline framework?

Overview

Primark, The Remedy Project, and Amader Kotha Helpline (operated in partnership with LRQA) collaborated to evaluate the Helpline’s effectiveness as a third-party GM in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector. The evaluation has co-created a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of non-State-based GMs by applying the UNGPs effectiveness criteria, not as a "ceiling" but a "floor", to the Amader Kotha Helpline. The session will discuss key insights from the evaluation and how continuous improvement of GMs depends on stakeholder perspectives and collaboration across the remedy ecosystem, including brands, factories, and workers as rightsholders.

Why it matters

Many businesses establish or participate in GMs as part of human rights due diligence (HRDD), but there remains a gap in understanding and assessing to what extent these mechanisms are effective. Using the evaluation of the Amader Kotha Helpline as an example, the session will invite participants to reflect on the practical issues and challenges involved in translating the UNGPs effectiveness criteria into a contextualised, co-owned evaluation approach.

Who should attend?

Businesses, GM providers and operators, civil society organisations, trade unions, and worker communities that engage with GMs, NGOs, and ESG benchmarks.

What participants will gain

A practical example of how a brand, a third-party GM, and an independent expert, can collaborate to evaluate GM effectiveness by applying the UNGPs effective criteria as a baseline and interpreted through the lens of stakeholder perspectives and realities of supply chain contexts.
Insights on how resilient remediation systems require more than the availability of a GM but understanding and ensuring its effectiveness through the lens of remedy as a process (being accessible and trusted by workers) and an outcome (being appropriate and meaningful from workers' perspective).
Practical takeaways on how a GM evaluation can support effective HRDD by strengthening access to remedy, informing risk prioritisation and continuous improvement, and helping businesses better understand and address risks and outcomes for workers.

Archana Kotecha

Executive Director at ReAct Asia, Founder and CEO at The Remedy Project, Chief Impact Officer at Diginex,

Archana is a UK-qualified barrister, CEDR-accredited mediator, and leading voice in business and human rights, with over 18 years of experience advising on forced labour, human trafficking, and responsible business conduct across Asia. The rights-holder perspective is central in her legal approach, which seeks creative solutions within the context of commercial requirements and complex regulatory challenges. As Founder and CEO of The Remedy Project and ReAct Asia, and Chief Impact Officer of Diginex, Archana leads advisory engagements on human rights due diligence, grievance mechanisms, and remedy frameworks for private and public sector clients. At ReAct, she leads stakeholder engagement, tests creative frameworks for worker protection and pushes new industry benchmarks for responsible business conduct.

Kelly Davina Scott

Associate Director, LRQA

Kelly is an Associate Director in LRQA's Consulting team. Kelly has over 15 years of experience in business and human rights across a number of sectors, including extractives (oil, gas and mining), FBA, apparel, technology, electronics, and automotives. Prior to joining LRQA, Kelly worked as a Human Rights Manager at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) where she managed a diverse range of projects on the implementation of human rights due diligence with member companies. Prior to this, Kelly worked as a Child Rights and Business Specialist at Unicef UK, where she managed a nominated portfolio of Unicef UK partners (governments, business and civil society) to coordinate efforts to achieve effective change in UK business policy and practice (particularly in operations and supply chains) which supports children’s rights, in the realm of health, education and environment. Kelly also spent 6 years at the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), where she managed its Kenya –based program on human rights due diligence in the extractive sector in East Africa, including leading outreach and engagement, formulating and implementing advocacy strategies and fundraising. She worked with governments, companies and civil society organizations to successfully launch and lead IHRB’s project: The Nairobi Process: A Pact for Responsible Business, which aimed to embed human rights due diligence in East Africa’s extractive sector. Kelly holds an M.A. in International Studies and Diplomacy and an LLM in International Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London.

Neelanjana Khan

Country Project Manager, Primark

Leads Solution programme of Primark under Ethical Trade department in Bangladesh, overseeing the design and delivery of worker rights, wellbeing and social impact initiatives across the supply chain. Drives programmes that strengthen labour standards, support responsible business practices, and deliver sustainable improvements for workers.

Vishal Gadhavi

Senior Manager, Primark

Leads the development and implementation of a social impact monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) strategy across the retailer Primark's supply chain as delivered by Primark's Ethical Trade programme.