LightCastle Partners Signs the Working Group Charters at the Second Convening of Oporajita Phase 2: Just Transition for Women in the RMG Ecosystem 

From 20 to 22 January 2026, LightCastle Partners participated in a focused three-day convening organised by The Asia Foundation under the Oporajita Phase II – Just Transition for Women in the RMG Ecosystem initiative. The convening brought together 10 implementing partners working to support women garment workers as the industry adapts to rapid technological change and prepares for Bangladesh’s transition beyond Least Developed Country status.

The gathering provided a collaborative space to align on shared values, strengthen partnerships, and turn earlier discussions into action. Partners reviewed Oporajita’s Shared Measurement System indicators, identified areas of synergy from previous workshops, and worked to operationalize coordinated action plans for collective impact.

As automation and digitalisation reshape the global apparel sector, the initiative focuses on preparing women garment workers in Bangladesh for an uncertain and evolving future. With the RMG industry at a critical stage, protecting women’s livelihoods is key to maintaining Bangladesh’s competitiveness while enabling a just, inclusive, and sustainable transition toward decarbonising the entire value chain. Ensuring that women, the backbone of the sector, are not left behind is both an economic and social imperative.

Towards the end of the convening, partners joined a Model Community Initiative blueprint workshop. The session allowed participants to identify priority interventions, visualise where they would be implemented, and agree on a collaborative approach to data sharing in support of the initiative.

Shoumik Shahriar, Project Manager and Senior Business Consultant, Sakina Binte Belayet, and Sadia Karim, Business Consultants, represented LightCastle Partners at the convening. 

As part of the three-year-long program, LightCastle team is actively mapping potential transition scenarios and assessing policy priorities through a growing portfolio of knowledge products and policy advocacy sessions. They are also fostering partnerships across sectors and planning to convene a national-level event involving innovators, key industry figures, and policymakers among others.