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News - The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textiles Partnership)

19 November 2020 Report with recommendations for action to fulfil human rights due diligence despite Covid-19 crisis published

Since the beginning of the crisis, this has combined the risk of COVID-19 infection with the exacerbated risk of extreme economic hardship for workers. In addition, since the beginning of the crisis, trade unions have been increasingly exposed to discrimination. In view of the economic crisis, some manufacturing countries, in particular India and Indonesia, are relying on lowering the standards of protection in their labour laws.

The “Synthesis report: impact of COVID-19 on the textile industry” (PDF file) compiles concrete options for action and best practices based on a systematic analysis of existing reports. The recovery options show how companies can avoid or at least mitigate negative effects of the COVID-19 crisis on workers in the supply chain and thus comply with human rights due diligence obligations.

With this report, the aim of civil society in the Textile Alliance is to further stimulate the discussion on lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis in the Textile Alliance and to contribute to the strengthening of a ‘new normal’ in the textile supply chain, where good and transparent business relationships and sustainable purchasing practices dominate.

The report, prepared by Dr. Christian Scheper (Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen) on behalf of FEMNET, the INKOTA network and the Südwind Institute, is published jointly and is based on considerations of the other civil society organisations in the Textile Alliance. The report was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).