Oporajita: collective action for a just climate transition in Bangladesh

Efforts to decarbonise the garment industry are today largely focused on emissions reduction, while far less attention and funding are directed towards the measures needed to help workers adapt to and benefit from the transition. As a result, critical issues such as skills development, heat stress management, social protection and women’s economic empowerment risk being overlooked – reinforcing existing inequalities in Bangladesh’s garment sector, where women make up the majority of the RMG workforce.

Decarbonisation, climate adaptation, and social equity are deeply interconnected in manufacturing hubs and Oporajita (‘Undefeated’ in Bengali) responds to this through a collective model – centred around women garment workers – that aligns climate mitigation with skills development, adaptation measures and an enabling environment. Ultimately, aiming to ensure that decarbonisation strengthens competitiveness and resilience without leaving people behind.

Oporajita demonstrates a holistic approach

Oporajita is funded by H&M Foundation, Sweden and COS and is coordinated by backbone organisation The Asia Foundation. The initiative brings together 11 partners alongside manufacturers, women garment workers, brands, civil society, policymakers and other industry actors. Each partner in Oporajita brings a unique expertise, enabling us to work across systems while staying grounded in women’s realities. It is built in line with the Collective Impact method and is structured around four mutually reinforcing thematic areas.

1. Enabling environment

Just decarbonisation depends on systems that allow women to participate and progress. Oporajita addresses structural barriers such as gender norms, access to social protection, childcare, water and sanitation, and public understanding of what a just transition requires.

Partners: CARE Bangladesh (funded by COS), C‑cab, Save the Children Bangladesh, WaterAid Bangladesh and UNCDF – who address social protection, WASH, financial inclusion, childcare and education and climate‑linked risk mitigation.

2. Climate mitigation

To decarbonise, factories need viable technologies, financing and operational capacity. Oporajita supports the adoption of energy‑efficient and renewable solutions, circular practices and low‑carbon production models – explicitly linking technical change to workforce readiness and business competitiveness.

Partners: Swisscontact (funded by Sweden), LightCastle Partners and BUILD Bangladesh support factories, entrepreneurs and policymakers to adopt low‑carbon solutions while strengthening competitiveness and policy alignment.

3. Skilling

As production systems evolve, job roles change and skilling is the bridge between climate ambition, implementation and social outcomes. Oporajita invests in upskilling women garment workers, reskilling out‑of‑work women and building pathways into emerging roles in a circular economy.

Partners: CARE Bangladesh, iDE, Swisscontact and the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory (CAIF) work with women workers, factories and MSMEs to build skills aligned with low‑carbon and circular production.

4. Climate adaptation

Climate impacts are already affecting workers’ health, income and living conditions. Oporajita strengthens resilience through improved access to WASH services, climate‑linked financial protection and community‑level services that help workers and their families cope with climate shocks.

Partners: CARE Bangladesh, WaterAid Bangladesh, UNCDF, Save the Children Bangladesh and C‑Cab work across workplaces, households and communities to deliver climate adaptation solutions, ensuring workers are protected as climate risks intensify.

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A recap of Oporajita 2022-2024

The starting point of Oporajita were a number of pilots that kicked off in 2020, including response to the urgent needs of women garment workers affected by Covid-19. In 2022, the holistic initiative Oporajita was launched involving multiple partners working in a highly structured form of collaboration.

The activities within the Oporajita initiative were defined, implemented and evaluated together with the women garment workers themselves and cover multiple needs within three thematic areas that significantly impact their lives; Enabling environment, Skills training and RMG sector competitiveness – the climate aspect was fully integrated for Phase 2.

Key outcomes included:

• Over 160,000 primary actors reached, with women representing more than three‑quarters of participants
• Provided more than 10,000 workers with factory-based skills training.
• Nearly 46,000 women trained in digital financial literacy, strengthening economic resilience
• More than 13,000 women accessing social protection systems
• 1,500 women trained for circular economy roles
• 17 factories adopting improved workplace models
• 31 tech‑enabled innovations supported, accelerating practical low‑carbon solutions
• Improved access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene for workers and families
• More than 56,000 people reached with perception change activities.

These were the involved organisations during Phase 1

The Asia Foundation Build Bangladesh CAIF CARE Bangladesh
C-Cab COS FSG Inc.iDE LightCastle Partners Save the Children Bangladesh Shimmy Sweden, Swisscontact, UNCDF WaterAid Bangladesh