...an International Labour Organisation factory monitoring and improvement programme, which has improved conditions for Cambodia's 270,000 garment workers and is boosting the local clothing industry at a time of intensifying competition. The initiative is now being recognised in the global rag trade as a model of how western buyers, developing country governments, local factories and organised labour can collaborate to tackle sweatshops and improve the work environment for some of the world economy's most exploited labourers. Next year, the programme, known as Better Factories Cambodia, will receive its first financial support from big western companies: Gap, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Levi Strauss, Sears, Wal-Mart, Hennes and Mauritz, the Children's Place Retail Stores and Disney.