Urmi Group, a leading Bangladeshi Ready-Made Garment (RMG) and textile manufacturer employing 16,317 people, represented Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector at the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum 2026, held from 14 to 17 September at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok under the theme “Building Resilience, Advancing Rights.” ABM Faqrul Alam, Head of Sustainability at Urmi Group, was the sole representative from Bangladesh’s RMG and textile industry speaking from a manufacturer’s perspective at this year’s Forum — a distinction that placed Urmi Group’s on-the-ground experience directly before a global audience of governments, brands, investors, trade unions, and civil society.
Mr. Alam spoke on the panel “Responsible Purchasing Practices for Resilient Supply Chains: From Shared Principles to Practical Action,” organized by the Fair Wear Foundation and the Social & Labour Convergence Program (SLCP). He was joined by Jason Mandels (Fair Wear Foundation), Shafiar Rana (SLCP), and Quang Tran (Evolution Lab SGN), with the session moderated by Hong Anh of Fair Wear.
The panel examined how responsible purchasing practices can move from shared industry principles into everyday commercial decisions between brands and suppliers. Drawing directly on Urmi Group’s own operating experience, Mr. Alam emphasized that sustainability and wage commitments require sustained, multi-year commercial commitment from buyers to justify the capital investment suppliers must make at the factory level.
“Sustainability and wage progress require long-term customer commitment and commercial support. The SLCP framework has empowered Urmi Group’s facilities to systematically address social sustainability challenges while providing a clear roadmap for continuous improvement.” — ABM Faqrul Alam, Head of Sustainability, Urmi Group
Also Read: Urmi Group Earns Four Recognitions at ESG Excellence Awards 2026
Discussion during the session reinforced that resilient, rights-respecting supply chains depend on stable order volumes, predictable planning, and shared responsibility between brands and manufacturers, rather than compliance treated as a one-sided supplier obligation. Panelists noted that forecasting, pricing, and order timing directly affect wages, overtime, and worker wellbeing on the factory floor, and that recent tariff-related market uncertainty has reinforced the need for stronger contracting mechanisms to protect both suppliers and workers.
“Building resilient supply chains means understanding risks, listening to workers and affected stakeholders, using credible data, and creating the conditions for meaningful dialogue and action.” — Shafiar Rana, SLCP
“Human rights due diligence can reduce volatility and strengthen business resilience.” — Jason Mandels, Fair Wear Foundation
The session also highlighted the Common Framework for Responsible Purchasing Practices (CFRPP) and Purchasing Practices Due Diligence (PP-DD) as shared reference points that help align expectations between brands and suppliers and translate principle into practical action.
Urmi Group: A Bangladesh-Based Model for Data-Driven Sustainability
Urmi Group’s presence on the panel reflected more than a single speaking engagement — it drew on nearly a decade of measurable, verifiable progress across the Group’s facilities. As a signatory to the Social & Labour Convergence Program, Urmi Group has grown its adoption of the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework from 13 percent of facilities in 2019 to 80 percent in 2026, 672 hours of audit time recovered. Eight of the Group’s buyer partners, representing 40 percent of its customer base, now accept SLCP-verified data in place of separate, duplicative social audits — a direct, quantified demonstration of how supply chain convergence reduces audit fatigue while strengthening data integrity for brands and workers alike. This journey was independently recognized as Bangladesh’s first published SLCP company case study, and was further honored with the UNGC Award 2025 for Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability and Business Practice in the RMG sector.
Urmi Group’s sustainability programme extends well beyond social compliance. Across a workforce of 16,317 employees, the Group has achieved a HIGG Facility Environmental Module (FEM) score of 86 and has adopted the Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM), while advancing its ESG digitization through SATTVA, SPHERA, and other leading platforms. On traceability, Urmi Group has completed a Digital Product Passport (DPP) pilot with Greenstitch, is part of a BGMEA-led DPP pilot with DG Prod Pass, and is collaborating with Micelio Data and BRAC University to strengthen traceability, circularity, and readiness for evolving EU requirements.
The Group has also installed batch-level Energy and Water Monitoring through a Building Management System-based Energy Management System (BMS/EnMS), and is the first Bangladeshi group with SBTi-validated decarbonization targets — having already achieved a 30 percent reduction in GHG intensity since 2017, supported by 6.52 MWp of installed solar capacity against a 2027 target of 8.18 MWp.
The Group has published its 5th GRI-based Sustainability Report (2024-25) and is preparing its first CSRD-aligned Sustainability Report for 2026. Urmi Group is also executing a five-phase B-Corp roadmap running from December 2025 to May 2027, embedding impact assessments across governance, workforce, and environment toward verified certification. This integrated approach was further recognized with four honors at the ESG Excellence Awards 2026, underscoring how social compliance, environmental performance, and transparent reporting reinforce one another at Urmi Group rather than operating in isolation.
Urmi Group continues to advocate for wider industry convergence around SLCP as a credible, shared foundation for human rights due diligence — reducing audit duplication industry-wide while directing recovered time and resources toward direct worker welfare investment across Bangladesh’s manufacturing base.