News

Climate Change in Bangladesh Lecture | November 17, 2020 | 9-10:30 a.m. | Zoom

Rights of Rivers, Rights of Nature: Turning Intentions into Action
Lecture | November 11, 2020 | 2-3 a.m. | Zoom

Samik Bandyopadhyay | Tagore: Through the Wars Lecture | November 10, 2020 | 9-10:20 a.m. | Zoom

Fakrul Alam | “I’ve caught uncatchable loveliness in rhyme’s binds”: Translating Rabindranath Tagore’s Songs 
Lecture | October 16, 2020 | 9-10:20 a.m. | Zoom

More than seven years after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, issues related to fire, electrical and structural safety in hundreds of the nation's garment factories have improved from before. For example, according to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety's website, 84 percent of factories under the Accord have corrected their outstanding structural issues. Covid-19, however, has put a spotlight on just how "safe" workers really are. While building structures have been made safer over the years, the larger structure of the global supply chain was intentionally left intact.

Covid-19 Experience: Garment Workers’ Perspective from Bangladesh
September 30, 2020 | 9-10:30 a.m.

Mushfiq Mobarak| Migration and the Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 In Bangladesh and Nepal.
Lecture | September 3, 2020 | 9-10:30 a.m.

Refugees say that they are trapped on a bare hillside in a foreign country with no hope

It’s been three years, but the memory still haunts Yasmin in her dreams.

Torrential rains have submerged at least a quarter of Bangladesh, washing away the few things that count as assets for some of the world’s poorest people — their goats and chickens, houses of mud and tin, sacks of rice stored for the lean season.

Covid Conversations: Reflections from South Asia
Vulnerable Populations and COVID-19: Bangladesh During a Global Pandemic 
May 27, 2020

This event on the impact of the coronavirus in Bangladesh features a conversation between:

From Fragility to Resilience: The Unique Position of Bangladesh in Global Supply Chains Panel Discussion | May 7 | 5-7 a.m.

Seven years ago, one of the worst industrial disasters in history — the collapse of an eight-story commercial building in Rana Plaza, Dhaka — demonstrated to the world the heavy price of producing cheap clothing to fuel the ‘fast fashion’ industry for consumers in the global North

The mass social distancing strategy being used to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and Europe doesn’t easily translate to a developing country like Bangladesh, which lacks the capacity to impose restrictions or provide a social safety net for the unemployed. We talked with Yale SOM development economist Mushfiq Mobarak about how he is repurposing his research infrastructure in Bangladesh to gather information and test approaches to spreading public health messages.

Growing up in a house composed of doctors and public health professionals, I am no stranger to dinner conversations quickly turning to blood, mucus and infectious diseases. In high population countries like Bangladesh, health systems are constantly overwhelmed; WHO estimates the doctor-patient ratio to be 3.05 physicians for every 10,000 people.

In an age of dog-whistle scaremongering, a Union minister alleged on February 9 that, “half of Bangladesh will come to India if citizenship is offered.” But no crystal ball prediction could be more deluded. This year Bangladesh’s economic growth rate has surpassed India.

Beyond the Crisis Narrative:
Rohingya Statelessness and its implications for Bangladesh

Friday, February 7, 2020
UC Berkeley

(Please click on links for corresponding videos)

Welcome Remarks

SANCHITA SAXENA, Director, Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, UC Berkeley
RICK SPEES, Executive Director, CAORC