SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

With the ratification of ILO Convention No. 138 (Minimum Age Convention) in 2022 Bangladesh has now ratified all of the conventions in matters of human rights, labour rights, environment, and good governance listed in the GSP Regulation. Nevertheless, the EU "enhanced engagement" with Bangladesh continues since 2017 due to concerns with the country's overall adherence to human and labour rights.

Over the period 2023 to 2025, Bangladesh went through significant political and economic changes. The political landscape in 2023 was marked by heightened polarisation and tensions between the ruling party and opposition forces, which eventually led to the fall of the government that had been in power for 15 years. From August 2024, Bangladesh was governed by an interim administration which prepared the path to genuinely competitive parliamentary elections and a referendum which took place in a peaceful atmosphere on 12 February 2026.

Aided by the enhanced engagement process, the following positive developments were noted in the period:

• Human rights: Bangladesh ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OP-CAT) in 2025; withdrew its long-standing reservation against CAT Article 14(1) as from 3 February 2026, enabling individual communications and aligning with long-standing international recommendations; submitted a periodic report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPED). Legislative initiatives include the Sexual Harassment Prevention Ordinance (2026) and the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance (2025).
• Labour rights: Bangladesh’s recent ratifications of ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), ILO Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187), and ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) in 2025, have been important positive steps. In 2025 the Government issued an Ordinance amending the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA), a comprehensive review that introduces positive changes in a number of areas. Regarding child labour, the list of hazardous work prohibited to children has been updated, with five new sectors included.

Remaining issues and priorities for future engagement are:

• Human rights: Core flaws in legislation continue to threaten the freedom of expression. Unresolved issues on discrimination, militarization impacts, and indigenous land and participation rights remain, and legal gaps on sexual violence - including the restrictive scope of marital rape provisions - continue to impede gender-equality compliance. Various pieces of legislation, including the penal code, foresee imprisonment with the possibility of forced labour.
• Labour rights: Significant efforts are still needed to translate labour commitments into measurable outcomes, particularly on Export Processing Zone (EPZ) rights, union registration/anti-union discrimination, inspection coverage and quality (including forced labour indicators), gaps in implementing occupational health and safety, and reductions in child labour in informal and hazardous work. Important restrictions persist on freedom of association and on registration of trade unions. A significant number of children are still involved in hazardous work. The Government needs to continue strengthening the capacities of the law enforcement bodies with regard to child labour and ensure that dissuasive penalties are imposed.

For more information about Bangladesh's compliance with the GSP conventions, see the convention compliance database. Also see the factsheet on Bangladesh.

Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards

Ratified

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
• International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
• Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
• Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
• Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
• Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
• Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
• Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
• Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
• Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
• Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)

Additional Conventions

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
• Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
• Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
• United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
• United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
• United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
• United Nations Convention against Corruption (2004)

Access all info about EU-Bangladesh relations on the International Partnerships website.