A little background...

On Friday, May 22nd, I head to Bangladesh for the summer (or 10 weeks at least).  Hearing that, you may have several questions, namely, Where the hell is Bangladesh? And why is she going there? 

Ok, so where is Bangladesh.  Well, according to this map, Bangladesh is that little light blue country (no, not Sri Lanka- the other one), almost completely encircled by India.  Although small, it is the most densely populated country in the world, if you don't count the city-states of Monaco, Singapore, and Malta (and I don't). The population stands at over 150 million, making it the 7th most populated country.  More than 40% of people live below the poverty line, including 30% who live on less than $1 a day.  Despite this poverty, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in decreasing its maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate and number of children born per woman (from 7 in 1970 to 3 today), which makes it one of the rare countries which is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals.  Currently 25% of the population lives in urban areas, although this proportion will likely increase to 50% by 2025.  Dhaka, the capital, is already a megacity, with more than 12.5 million people and is projected to grow to 17 million by 2015 and become the world's 8th most populous city.   Given that I grew up in a town of 15,000, it is hard for me to fathom a metropolis that enormous, but I'm sure staying in Dhaka this summer will show me the chaos that accompanies having so many people living in such a small area. 

Bangladesh's unusual geographic arrangement with India also deserves some explaining.  In 1947, at the end of colonial rule, India was partitioned into India and Pakistan along religious lines.  But that Pakistan is not the Pakistan we know now; that was known as West Pakistan.  East Pakistan was what is now Bangladesh.  Although East and West Pakistan had religion (Islam) in common, they shared little else, including language or a border.  Almost immediately there was resentment from East Pakistan, which was frustrated with having its fate decided by people in thousands of miles away in West Pakistan, where the state was administered.  Under the banner of the Language Movement, the 1950s and 60s saw increasing calls for independence. In 1970 a massive, devastating cyclone and the poor handling of the aftermath by the central government further inflamed tensions.  The final straw was the imprisonment of the head of the popular Bengali political party by the Pakistani president after being elected to Parliament and declaring Bangladeshi independence. This sparked an uprising by the East Pakistani people, and a reactionary military assault by the government. The Liberation War lasted for nine months, with the Bangladeshis supported by the Indian government and armed forces. Independence was finally achieved on December 16, 1971, but at the cost of as many as 3 million Bangladeshis killed, and another 10 million forced to flee the country.  

Over the next 30 years the country saw numerous coups and counter-coups, famines and cyclones, a population explosion and the implementation of a successful family planning campaign, labor strikes and economic diversification.  Although there have been a few hurdles to progress recently (i.e. implementation of an emergency caretaker government in 2007, student and Islamic fundamentalist uprisings), the nation has a booming economy and is considered one of the "Next Eleven" countries (i.e. those developing countries with the greatest investment potential).  Another recent positive sign: the Bangladesh national cricket team beat both India and South Africa in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.  Apparently that's a big deal. 

Okay, so that was probably more than you ever wanted to know about Bangladesh.  However if you are still interested, check out the government's official website, Wikipedia, Wikitravel, or the CIA World FactBook. 

Alright, so hopefully that's answered your first question.  Now on to the second: why am I going there?  To be honest, I'm not entirely sure, but here's the general explanation.  The University of Michigan has a Labor and Human Rights Standards Board which examines whether products bearing the UM name or logo are adhering to the laws and regulations which govern their production, i.e. that workers are working in safe conditions, getting paid a fair wage, etc. Bangladesh has become a major garment manufacturer in the past decade, exporting about $11 billion worth of products last year, which translates to 78% of the country's total exports. 

To produce all these goods the industry employs more than 3 million people, 85% of whom are women.  This gender disparity,  along with the general lower status of women in Bangladeshi society and the widespread poverty, have led to poor wages, unhealthy work environments, and abuse by factory owners and managers.  There are a number of NGOs and government agencies regulating the industry, but because of its size and a lack of resources, many bad practices go unnoticed.  

To help reform this situation this summer I, along with a UM law student, will be looking at how to better design and implement policies and laws to protect female garment workers from violence in the workplace.  Collaborating with both the UM Labor Standards Board and Karmojibi Nari, a local union of 500,000 women laborers, I will be doing research and policy analysis, developing monitoring and evaluation tools, and generally hanging out w/ Bangladeshi women.  Basically, its similar to what I did in Cambodia, except with garment workers instead of sex workers. 

Okay, so I think that pretty much answers those two initial questions.  Let me know if you have others, although I'm sure that they will get answered as the summer goes on.  Hopefully I will have electricity and regular Internet access this summer (for a change), so keep an eye out for regular updates.  Til then, go share your new found knowledge of Bangladesh with your friends.  Hint: bring a map.