© FEMNET
For 15 years we have been committed to a self-determined and fair working environment for women in the textile industry as well as to a just change. At the end of the anniversary year 2022, we took the opportunity not only to look back on many successful projects, but also to make our topics accessible to even more people.
10 years after the devastating fire in the Ali Enterprises factory in Karachi, the International Accord for Pakistan was finally announced on Wednesday, 14.12.2022. The agreement is based on the Bangladesh Accord, which was signed in response to the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory in 2013. It provides for essential mechanisms to improve safety standards in factories that are legally binding on the signatory brands. Trade unions and NGOs celebrate the announcement of the agreement as a great success.
© Disposal companies Konstanz
For the technical companies (TBK) and the waste disposal companies (EBK) of the city of Konstanz, sustainability has long been relevant in purchasing. In the joint re-tendering of a framework contract for rental work clothing with laundry services, FEMNET's municipal own businesses were supported in integrating sustainability criteria on several levels.
© J. F. Briggs
It was adopted at the end of September – the General Assembly on 30 November 2022 launched the implementation of the new concept for the Textile Alliance. In the future, the work of the alliance will focus on three basic elements. Member companies are obliged to provide information on production sites and supplier data in their own supply chain and to engage with concrete projects on site in the textile production countries. The Textile Alliance wants to achieve greater impact on the ground with the help of projects.
Our student action manual is here! We have designed an inspiring and practical toolbox that shows how commitment to a socially responsible clothing industry can be lived and has an impact.
Commitment to a sustainable fashion industry in schools: With an action manual, FEMNET offers a practical guide for teachers and students to become active themselves and to help shape their own future.
© FEMNET
On the 9th In December, FEMNET conducted the first city tour on the subject of climate & clothing. 27 students from Hildegard-von-Bingen-Gymnasium walked through Ehrenfeld and got insights into a fair fashion shop, a second hand boutique and the exhibition ‘What You Wear Matters’ in small groups.
© Initiative Supply Chain Act
Extended press release of the Supply Chain Act initiative of 6 December 2022
Berlin, 06/12/2022. The European Union wants to oblige companies to protect human rights and the environment in their value chains. However, it is not clear how effective the so-called EU Supply Chain Act is. The relevant EU Council of Ministers agreed last Thursday in Brussels on a position that goes beyond the German supply chain law, but still contains numerous loopholes. Several EU governments, including Germany, continue to try to weaken the project. On the other hand, activists from the Supply Chain Act Initiative protested in Berlin today and handed over a petition addressed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz with 90,248 signatures.
© Johanna Liebl
Students from the textile/clothing sector and FEMNET have kicked off the Advent season with a repair café. As part of the repair brunch, interested parties were able to breathe a second life into their worn-out garments on the first Sunday of Advent on 27 November 2022 in the Liebig 257 in Cologne.
Joint press release by FEMNET and ECCHR
Bonn / Berlin. Today, 24 November 2022, marks the tenth anniversary of the Tazreen fire, which killed more than 110 textile workers in Bangladesh. Exactly six months later, more than 1,100 people sewing clothes for international fashion companies died in the rubble of Rana Plaza. The ‘Bangladesh Building Safety and Fire Protection Agreement’ (Bangladesh Accord) It was a response to these tragedies and has successfully helped prevent such avoidable disasters in the apparel industry, where all other programs have failed. The Accord in Bangladesh is considered to be the most successful mechanism for improving workplace safety in the world. Nevertheless, to date, some of the leading companies producing in Bangladesh have not signed either the Bangladesh Accord or its successor, the International Accord, which provides for the extension of the agreement to other countries such as Pakistan.
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With the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, textile companies reduced their orders and suppliers in the producing countries stopped paying wages and dismissed workers. Two years later, most countries have relaxed or repealed measures to combat the coronavirus. How has the pandemic changed the labour and human rights situation in the Indian clothing industry?
The report of the ARD magazine Monitor clearly shows how behind the scenes economic and political actors are influencing and trying to dilute the proposal for an EU supply chain law. A loophole for businesses. Because if they join certain industry initiatives, such as the Textile Alliance, or use state-approved certifications of due diligence, they should only be liable for damages that they have committed intentionally or grossly negligently.
"Such a dilution of the EU draft would render the law toothless and must under no circumstances exist", says Gisela Burckhardt, CEO of FEMNET. The Supply Chain Act initiative, in which FEMNET is a member together with 130 NGOs, comments on the report of the ARD policy magazine and the Federal Government's attempt to influence the EU Supply Chain Act.
