Doctoral Researcher
Supervisor/advisor: Prof. Dr. Almut Schilling-Vacaflor del Carpio
Contact: adiba.afros@fau.de
Short Bio
Adiba Afros is a doctoral researcher in the International Doctoral Programme on Business and Human Rights at FAU, and is based at the Chair of International Business, Society and Sustainability (IBSS). She holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration (minor in Economics) from Ithaca College and an M.A. in the Research Training Programme in Social Sciences from Humboldt University of Berlin. She has over 12 years of experience collaborating with civil society, international organisations and multi-stakeholder initiatives focusing on labour governance, gender justice and sustainability in global value chains, primarily in the garment and textile sectors. Examples of professional collaborations include working for the ILO-IFC Better Work Programme in Bangladesh and Jordan, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Bangladesh Labour Reform Commission, the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (PST) and FEMNET e.V. (Advisory Board member since 2026). Prior academic collaborations include working for the interdisciplinary research project titled “Changes in the Governance of Garment Global Production Networks: Lead Firm, Supplier and Institutional Responses to the Rana Plaza Disaster” in collaboration with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE/ UK) and Brac University (Bangladesh).
Adiba’s doctoral research examines how centring women workers’ lived experiences of well-being can shape labour governance in global and domestic garment production networks, with Bangladesh as a case study. The study advances a bottom-up approach to labour governance that extends beyond workplace-based standards to encompass both productive and reproductive spheres and contributes to broader academic and policy discourses on gender and labour governance in global production networks and sustainable livelihoods.
- Afros, A and Khanam, S. (April 18, 2026) Rana Plaza, 13 years on: No justice, no memory. The Daily Star, Dhaka. (Op-ed)
- Afros, A. (January 12, 2025) Beyond green factories: Prioritising worker well-being in a climate crisis. The Daily Star, Dhaka. (Op-ed)
- Afros, A. (2023) Workplace perspectives on empowerment and the Gender Equality and Returns (GEAR) program in Bangladesh. Better Work Discussion Paper 49. ILO, Geneva. (Report)
- Afros, A. (2022) Workers’ Voice within and beyond Participation Committees. A Case Study of Two Bangladeshi Garment Factories. Better Work Discussion Paper 46. ILO, Geneva. (Report)
- Moazzem, Khondaker G, Afros, A, et al. (2015) One Year after the Rana Plaza Tragedy: Where Do We Stand? the Victims, the Sector and the Value Chain. CPD, Dhaka. (Report)