Social and ethical groups are calling on brands and retailers to urgently contribute compensation to the victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy.

Disaster: more than 400 lives were lost in the Rana Plaza collapse. The factory was being used by Primark and Mango

The Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and Social Accountability International (SAI) is specifically calling on those companies that sourced from Rana Plaza but have not yet “stepped up” to contribute urgently.

ETI director Peter McAllister said: “It is unacceptable that nearly two years after the Rana Plaza disaster, some victims and their families are still waiting for the compensation they are due. We hope this joint call with BSCI and SAI sends a strong signal to companies that sourced from Rana Plaza and have not yet made payments. We also hope this spurs donations from others that source from Bangladesh, so that victims and their families can get on with living their lives.”

The Rana Plaza Arrangement was created following the disaster to co-ordinate aid payments, but groups are calling for further contributions because some companies have yet to pay and the organisation has therefore not fully met its goal of providing financial support to victims, their families and dependants.

SAI president Alice Tepper Marlin added: “Nearly two years since the Rana Plaza disaster there is a dire need for the families of the victims to receive compensation. SAI would like to offer words of commendation for those organisations and companies that have already made a contribution and would like to prompt Bangladeshi partners to take decisive action and contribute to make the final Trust Fund disbursement possible”.

As the two-year anniversary approaches on April 25, the organisation hopes this call to action will spur those who haven’t paid to contribute.

Many retailers have been criticised for their lack or late payments to the fund. But last month, Benetton finally agreed to pay compensation.

The biggest contributor has been named as Primark. It was quicker off the mark to pay $12m (£8m) compensation payments to victims. It pledged to make a $9m (£6m) payment to workers or dependants who worked for the Primark supplier, as well as a further $1m to workers who were not involved in its own supply chain bringing its total payment to non-Primark workers to $3m.

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