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Impulses for Fair Public Procurement at the Berlin Academy of Administration. Photo: © FEMNETImpulses for Fair Public Procurement at the Berlin Academy of Administration. Photo: © FEMNETHuman rights and environmental standards are violated on a daily basis in the globalised production of goods – goods that are also purchased by the public sector. For this reason, the European and German legislators have stipulated that ecological and social criteria may or should play a major role in public procurement. How the requirements for staff in the administration have changed over the years and what the current state of public procurement law provides for was a topic in our lectures in the context of the training course ‘Grundlagen des Vergabewesens’ at the Verwaltungsakademie Berlin. However, the questions of ‘how’ were particularly exciting for the participants. The approximately 20 employees from the civil service of the districts and the state of Berlin were informed about the possibilities of using ‘quality marks’ such as the seals of fair trade. In model projects, numerous possibilities have also been developed, which we were at least able to tackle.

The two lectures were given by FEMNET employee Anne Neumann on the initiative of the Berlin promoter for municipal development policy Michael Jopp in the course of Thomas Griewald.

Our lectures and workshops can be offered free of charge at all training and further education facilities for public service employees who are involved in outreach. Information can be found in our flyer (PDF file).

Feedback on the event:

‘Fair awarding is proper awarding, is economic award - cost-effectiveness in a comprehensive sense. Deliveries and services may only be awarded by skilled and knowledgeable staff.

Due to the increasing demands on the administration - both in terms of content and quantity - and the central contracting authorities, which are not yet widespread everywhere, employees must be able to deal with the extensive requirements of public procurement law.

The methods and experience of other contracting authorities presented by the speakers are very helpful in this regard.”

Thomas Griewald,
Lecturer for basics of public procurement at the Berlin Academy of Administration

FEMNET supports the campaign for the signing of an ILO convention against gender-based violence in the workplace, which starts on 14 February 2018. The campaign runs until Women's Day on March 8. While the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the UN in 1979, does not yet have an international law requiring action against gender-based violence in the workplace.

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Signatures handed over to Primark in Bonn on 03.02.2018. Photo: ©FEMNET e.V.Signatures handed over to Primark in Bonn on 03.02.2018. Photo:© FEMNET e.V.70,000 people ask Armani and Primark to reveal where they have their clothes made

On February 3, 2018, FEMNET together with other activists handed over a golden gift box with 70,000 signatures to the low-cost manufacturer Primark in its branch in Cologne. We pointed out that Primark should be transparent about its supply chain and disclose the names of its suppliers. There were also actions in other cities in Germany, Europe and even Hong Kong.

This action was a complete success! On February 7, 2018, three working days after our promotion, Primark published its supplier list. We note: Public pressure is working! Thank you to all who have supported us in this.

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Control group of the Textile Alliance at the Klausurtagung on 23.11.2017. Photo: © Covenant of TextilesControl group of the Textile Alliance at the Klausurtagung on 23.11.2017. Photo: © Textile allianceThe Textile Alliance has been in existence for three years now, but it was only since June 2015 that the textile (trade) companies joined the alliance. Today, around 90 companies are members, responsible for around half of textile sales in Germany. In addition, the Federal Government, under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), around 20 NGOs, standard organisations such as GOTS and Fairtrade and trade unions are active differently in the alliance depending on the organisation.

The year 2017 marks the end of an intensive test phase in the Textile Alliance: All members had to create individual action plans (roadmaps) for 2017. These action plans were thoroughly examined to see whether they were in line with the Alliance's self-imposed objectives and constituted progress for the respective member. Finally, at the end of November, the Steering Committee of the Textile Alliance adopted binding time and quantity targets for the years 2018 to 2020, which each member must work on. So a lot has happened in the Textile Alliance – and yet important decisions are still to be made in 2018.

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Today, four years ago, on November 25, 2013, the fashion group H&M made a landmark announcement. By 2018, the approximately 850,000 seamstresses producing for the company are to receive a living wage. In Bangladesh, seamstresses in H&M supplier factories currently earn around $87 per month. This average income is just below the poverty line of $88 per month calculated by the World Bank.

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Spinning mill in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Photo: © Gisela BurckhardtSpinning mill in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Photo: © Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNETPress release of the Clean Clothes Campaign

For 2017, the members of the Textile Alliance had to set targets for the implementation of environmental and social standards in their supply chains for the first time in so-called roadmaps. The publication of these roadmaps is still voluntary this year, but mandatory from 2018. The first roadmap process was therefore still in the ‘trial run’ this year and thus a challenge. Contrary to civil society expectations, only a few member companies published their roadmap in 2017. In total, this was 19 out of 87 reporting member companies, i.e. around 22 percent.

All the more, civil society in the Textile Alliance welcomes the fact that a total of 40 members (including the Federal Government, two trade unions, 12 NGOs, 4 standard organisations, 2 associations and 19 companies) have already published their roadmap this year.

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FEMNET Roadmap for the Textile AllianceAs a member of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, FEMNET has published a catalogue of measures (Roadmap). For 2017, Alliance members have undertaken more than 1,500 measures that will lead to concrete improvements within the framework of the goals set by the Alliance. They relate to topics such as living wages, combating child labour, avoiding chemicals harmful to health or sustainable water use in cotton cultivation.

Photo: © FEMNETPhoto: © FEMNETCivil society press release in the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles

This summer, according to civil society members, the Textile Alliance is in a crucial phase: How many roadmaps (Members’ annual action plans to implement social and environmental objectives) will the plausibility check pass successfully? How many members of the Textile Alliance will publish their roadmap? What level of ambition will these roadmaps have? Will the Alliance agree on binding content requirements for the roadmaps of the coming years, such as steps towards the implementation of living wages?

All members of the Textile Alliance had to create a roadmap for 2017 for the first time and subject it to an external plausibility check by an independent service provider. Many companies have not complied with this obligation and have been excluded from the alliance or have previously resigned. Among the top-selling and publicly known companies that have left the alliance are Engbers, Ernsting's Family, Real, Trigema and Walbusch.

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