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Good day,

today you will receive the first newsletter of the association FEMNET e.V. We would like to inform in loose succession about our work as well as current topics and developments. We are looking forward to suggestions or ideas for contributions, events or surfing tips.

Have fun reading for the first time!

Gisela Burckhardt, Ines Holthaus and Anna Hoff

News from our work

Moroccan activists visiting Düsseldorf

You can read the report "Spagat Between Fashion and Morality" about the event. The documentary was also shown: On February 1, the FEMNET project Fair-Schnitt and the campaign for clean clothing were together with two Moroccan activists at the private Akademie Mode & Design (AMD) in Düsseldorf. As part of their round trip on responsible public procurement, Naima Naim and Lamyae Azouz told students about working conditions in Moroccan clothing factories. As former seamstresses, we stand up for the rights of employees. on dirty working conditions at the gates of Europe on behalf of our cities and communities. It was created together with the study "Made in Morocco", which presents the system of public procurement of workwear in Europe and the problems of precarious working conditions using the example of the supplier country Morocco. The film on DVD can be ordered in the Saxony fair office of the ENS for 10,00 EUR incl. shipping. The students were very impressed and moved by the event. In

Students' Fashion Blog

"Losing the thread" In recent months, important international regulations on corporate responsibility have been adopted by the United Nations and the EU. The United Nations Human Rights Council, for example,New developments on corporate responsibility

. They ask companies to assess the consequences of their actions in advance and to ensure that no damage (to nature and people) is done. On 25 October 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights Responsibility of Multinational Corporations

It refers to the UN Guiding Principles. The new strategy for the years 2011-14 is remarkable in that the EU's CSR definition is far more far-reaching than the German one adopted in October 2010. Together with the campaign for clean clothing and the network CorA, FEMNET e.V. participates in the Commission adopts new strategy on corporate social responsibility (CSR)

for an obligation to disclose the supply chain of companies.

• Transparency Initiative
  With its policy of purely voluntary disclosure of information within the EU, the Federal Government adopts a very business-friendly position. The EU, on the other hand, plans to also legally oblige companies to disclose supply chain data. CSR reports and CSR communication are still more for image maintenance than honest and open accountability. We call on the Federal Government to introduce legal disclosure requirements for sustainability reporting for companies in order to encourage them to behave in a socially responsible manner.

Background information, demands and current developments

around the topic of corporate responsibility

Download available

• Title of the book Myth CSR

The 250-page anthology on the myth of CSR deals with the question of corporate responsibility between voluntariness and regulation in global supply chains. The volume shows the gaps in the state protection obligation in Germany/Europe and asks about the effect of CSR measures by companies on working conditions. The topic of transparency and reporting obligations of companies is also explained in several articles. In the last chapter, based on the analysis prepared, the demands on the Federal Government are presented so that companies fulfil their duty of care and the state fulfils its duty of protection.

PDF version of the book...

• First donations for solidarity funds received
  
  

The solidarity fund for seamstresses set up by FEMNET e.V. at the end of 2011 has received its first donations Thank you for this! This allows us to support the work of the National Textile Workers' Union (NGWF) in Bangladesh and Munnade in India. Find out about these two projects. Of course, we are happy about further payment receipts.

Project information...

• TV Reports and Interviews

In recent weeks, FEMNET Board Member Dr. Gisela Burckhardt and Fair-Schnitt Project Officer Steffi Holz have been interviewed several times for TV and radio broadcasts as experts on corporate responsibility and the production and working conditions of textile workers in supplier companies. A compilation of these articles can be found in the press area on our homepage.

Archive of interviews...

Women's rights worldwide

• Nicaragua: New law against violence against women adopted
  

On 26 January 2012, the Nicaraguan parliament passed by a large majority a new law against violence against women, which provides for harsher penalties for the perpetrators, but also preventive measures and assistance for the victims. This is a great success for the national women's organisations, which had repeatedly stressed the problem of gender-based violence in their work. The law defines various forms of violence against women as new offences, including feminicide, psychological and physical violence, and hatred of women, and increases penalties.

Nicaraguan Feminists Celebrate the New Law (Spanish Website)

• UN Human Rights Council meeting discusses study on lesbian rights - new UN report on violence against women
• During its four-week 19th session, the UN Human Rights Council will discuss in a panel on 7 March 2012 a study presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights documenting globally discriminatory legislation and practices, as well as acts of violence against individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This study is the first compilation according to the Yogyakarta principles, which decline a systematic overall view on the human rights guarantee for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT). These formulated requirements to the existing and internationally binding human rights standards with regard to sexual minorities. UM-WOMEN also presents the activities of the UN Fund for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
  
  

Study on the LGBT rights of the UN High Commissioner

Report by UN WOMEN

Flower seal of quality in upheaval

• Not only in the textile industry, but also in the flower industry, women work in inhumane conditions. Germany is the fourth largest cut flower market in the world. In the retail sector, around 3.2 billion euros are spent on flowers each year. Here, too, there are quality labels that should be a guide for consumers when buying flowers. In order to produce flowers under socially and environmentally correct conditions, standards are adopted and these must be checked regularly.
• In addition to the Fair Trade Lable, the Flower Lable program is the best-known flower label in Germany. Since the association cannot currently guarantee the independent verification of the certified manufacturers due to financial problems, misuse of the label could occur. The reason for the financial problems was a large number of withdrawals and de-certifications of FLP companies. With effect from 31. 12.2011 FIAN Germany, FIAN Austria, Brot für die Welt, terre des hommes and the Ein Welt Zentrum Herne as non-governmental organisations (NGO) and the IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) as a trade union have withdrawn from the Flower Label Program e.V. (FLP). The NGOs currently recommend to observe the FairTrade seal when buying flowers.

Press release from FIAN e.V. on the background

Declaration of the FLP e.V.

Post from... AzerbaijanWhile at the moment many Germans may think of the next Eurovision Song Contest with the term Baku, our member Dr. Melanie Krebs reports on everyday encounters and anecdotes from the Azerbaijani capital. She lives there temporarily.

• “In Azerbaijan, we do not have a gender problem. We women are equal," a colleague from Baku University told me, "We are not an Islamic country." The statement is interesting for several reasons: Firstly, she assumes that only in Islamic countries there are gender problems (whatever that is in detail) and she declares her traditionally quite Muslim country as not ‘Islamic’ – a typical Azerbaijani phrase to distinguish herself from ‘really Islamic’ countries such as neighbouring Iran.

.."

Read more...

Event information

• FairSchnitt at the fashion show in Bielefeld

FairSchnitt will be a guest in Bielefeld on 28 February as part of the series "Decently earning money - ethical criteria for business management" of WEGE mbH Wirtschaftsentwicklungsgesellschaft Bielefeld and the Wirtschaftsinitiative Mikrounternehmen (WIM eG). Project Officer Steffi Holz will give the lecture: "Fancy at all costs - working conditions in the global textile industry"

Link to event

• Human Rights - Women's Rights - Labour Rights in Hannover

Every year, women from Hanover forge the alliance for International Women's Day and enter the public eye with a diverse program. Steffi Holz will be present at the kick-off event on 2 March with a lecture on fair cutting and the situation of women workers in the clothing industry.

Link to the program

Surfing tips

• New online portal: www.gruenemode.org

In order to provide clarity for consumers, the Christian Initiative Romero (CIR) has critically examined major fashion labels such as Kuyichi and Hess Natur, which have committed themselves to socially and ecologically fair fashion, as well as seals and certificates on the fashion market, including Oeko-Tex and Fair Wear Foundation, with regard to their criteria and credibility. The new online portal of the CIR now provides detailed information about the interesting results.

Heidebergenstr. 14
Surf through the new information portal here...
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Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Economy and Society

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Board of Directors: Dr. Gisela Burckhardt, Ines Holthaus, Anna Hoff
Editorial and responsible within the meaning of § 5 TMG: Ines Holthaus