“I’m trying to continue, but I don’t know how long I can.”
That’s Nazma Akter, founder and executive director of the Awaj Foundation, a grassroots organization that relies on funding from the U.S. government—the now taboo “foreign aid”—to support 600,000 garment workers across Bangladesh. The nonprofit not only teaches workers about their rights and how to negotiate for better working conditions, but it also tackles issues such as reproductive health, domestic violence and children’s education.
It was seemingly overnight when the Awaj Foundation lost 25-30 percent of its funding, resulting in the termination of 30 of its 150 employees and the closure of four of its Dhaka and Chittagong offices. The timing is terrible: Bangladesh is at a critical juncture where worker discontent about jobs and wages continues to run high.
