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So far, it has been difficult to assign public contracts to specific production sites in the Global South. There are no statistics on this, nor is this information regularly requested in calls for tenders to date. What is shocking is that human rights due diligence obligations cannot actually be fulfilled: Those who remain invisible can easily be exploited. What do public buyers need to change that?
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Gender equality is not a "nice-to-have". It is a prerequisite for democratic, sustainable societies. Worldwide, women – and especially women in precarious employment – are disproportionately affected by poor working conditions, discrimination and gender-based violence. Especially in global supply chains, such as sewing plants, plantations or electronics assembly.
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The European Commission intends to reorient EU public procurement – and called for a 12-week consultation by business and civil society. FEMNET has delivered a clear opinion and calls for gender equality and social responsibility to be firmly anchored in European public procurement practice.
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There are numerous approaches to make textile supply chains more transparent. Nevertheless, the origin of the textiles that municipalities procure, for example for hospitals or the police, often remains unclear. Why is this, and how can it change?
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How can sustainable procurement be achieved at the municipal level? In Hamburg, FEMNET, together with Stadtreinigung Hamburg (SRH) and other stakeholders, has further developed strategies for anchoring eco-social criteria in purchasing. A workshop shows: The will is there – and the knowledge is growing.
FEMNET has been working in the field of ‘fair public procurement’ for many years. The public sector in Germany invests about 500 billion euros annually in the purchase of goods and services (OECD 2019). As part of our membership of the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network Let's support an appeal, which calls on the Federal Government to adopt clear legal requirements for the consideration of human rights and environmental standards in the procurement of the federal, state and local governments.
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A year ago, the Federal Government published the ‘Stage Plan for Increasing the Sustainable Procurement of Textiles by Federal Administration Authorities and Institutions’. FEMNET and 10 other civil society organisations are calling for implementation.
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FEMNET asked municipalities which sustainability aspects they would like to integrate more into their textile tenders. The result: Sustainability criteria for "circular economy" and "complaint mechanisms" were desired. In a new guide, FEMNET has elaborated these in detail and informatively.
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At the end of a one-year pilot project on eco-fair workwear, the cities of Krefeld and Dormagen, together with FEMNET, invited regional suppliers to exchange ideas. The practice-oriented program and the triad of regional specialist retailers, manufacturers and municipalities received a lot of positive feedback from all sides.
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In the future, buyers will be able to create interactive proof questionnaires for bidding companies using a new online tool without any Excel knowledge in order to check compliance with sustainability criteria. The proof questionnaire generator will be available free of charge from summer 2023 in the new ‘My Compass’ login area of the SKEW Sustainability Compass.
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Technical solutions for traceability of textile products could be an important tool to bring together verified information on sustainability in supply chains, products and companies. As part of a study, FEMNET examined how they could be applied in the demonstration of public procurement – and where there are currently still limits.
