GoodWeave International

GoodWeave International’s Apparel Director attended several meetings including in Berlin
and Cologne, throughout 2019.

In 2019 and 2020, GoodWeave and Partnership’s key contacts held several calls to develop
a member engagement plan with on training and capacity building around GoodWeave’s
methodology.

• In 2019, GoodWeave, Fair Wear and Partnership member C&A secured funding from the
  Netherlands Enterprise Agency for continued work in the apparel informal sector in
  Northern India.
• Otto Group, another Partnership member, is a GoodWeave carpet licensee.
• Supported the Partnership 2020’s Annual Meeting:
  o Hosted a 75-min session titled Best Practice in Child Labour Identification beyond
  the Factory Walls
  o Attended as a panelist at the session Identifying and addressing risks of informal
  employment.
• Shared the launch of a the FCDO-funded project “Hidden Supply Chains in Bangladesh –
  Bringing Agency and Resilience to Informal Workers” on the Partnership member portal and
  held conversations with a member on possible engagement in GoodWeave work in apparel
  as a result.

In the 2019 Roadmap, GoodWeave set 11 targets. Below there is an update for each of the targets based on the years 2019 and 2020, as well as an update on additional activities launch as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. Area: Anchoring and integration in the supply chain
Target 1. Social Standards: Promotion of living wages

• Target demand: Initiation or involvement in a measure that aims to pay living wages for employees in production countries.
• Goal: As a founding member of the Global Living Wage Coalition, hosted at the ISEAL Secretariat, we will be giving input to at least two benchmarking studies on living wages in 2019 that will be made available to interested institutions and private sector actors as data for their own initiatives.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • Membership and involvement with the Global Living Wage Coalition continued up to the
    onset of the COVID-19 crisis. GoodWeave staff attended 20 related events and
    management committee meetings in 2019 and 2020, including active participation in the development of the GLWC Action Network of practitioners and learning exchanges.
    o GoodWeave built out internal capacity to track homeworker wage data systematically
    during homework unit inspections.

Target 2. Chemical and environmental management: Orderly & environmentally responsible housekeeping

• Target demand: Support of producers in the supply chain to improve proper and environmentally sound business management.
• Goal: Engage with at least two apparel exporter supply chains through the subcontracted and homeworker levels in India in monitoring and inspection process which includes corrective action reports and follow-up on issues related to record keeping, safety and environmentally sound  business management.
• 2019/2020 Update: In 2019 and 2020, GoodWeave worked with a total of 12 suppliers to map and inspect their supply chains, which included the generation of Corrective Action Reports after inspections and follow-up visits. The GoodWeave Standard sets criteria to measure progress against a broader set of related labor rights and environmental impacts. These are reviewed on a yearly basis with each producer.

2. Area: Monitoring and Verification
Target 3. Continuous improvement of audits

• Target demand: Implementation of capacity-building measures to provide further training for auditors.
• Goal: All GoodWeave India auditors, including those previously focused on the carpet sector, will be cross-trained on inspections and reporting in the apparel sector in 2019. All auditors will also receive updated training on GoodWeave’s child protection policy in 2019.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  – GoodWeave Standard:
  • In the first half of 2020, GoodWeave teams in D.C., Europe, India and Nepal were trained on the new GoodWeave International Generic Standard which included an expanded set of
    forced labour indicators. To ensure the successful implementation of the new forced and bonded labour certification requirements, GoodWeave developed several supporting procedures and policies that specifically target vulnerable adult workers. Guidance documents, including practical templates for recording working time, sample contracts and examples to support implementation, were developed to improve the ability of auditors to identify workers at risk of forced and bonded labour and facilitate prevention.

– Child Protection Policy:

• • GoodWeave developed and rolled out a comprehensive Child Protection Policy (CPP) elearning module in both English and Hindi in January and March, 2020, respectively.
  • A total of 124 staff in the GoodWeave secretariat and affiliate offices in India and Nepal successfully completed Child Protection training.
  • The CPP training was made mandatory as part of any new employee’s onboarding, including for partner organization staff and field volunteers.

Target 4 (Voluntary target). Review internal process

• Target demand: Reviewing the impacts of our activities in the supply chain.
• Goal: We will have a minimum of two independent assessments of our work by evaluators commissioned by funders in 2019. We share evaluations publicly on our website whenever donors allow. We also have ongoing internal monitoring,
  evaluation and learning functions, and follow ISEAL review practices.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • An independent evaluation, conducted in 2019 by the UK Government’s Modern Slavery Innovation Fund, assessed the results of a two-year project to expand GoodWeave’s supply
    chain and preventative programming in India. The evaluation finds “strong evidence that GoodWeave’s methodology can, over time, produce a systemic and behavioural change in
    different stakeholders – ranging from suppliers, to individuals in bonded/child labour, government and middlemen.”
  • An external evaluation of GoodWeave’s Child Friendly Communities Programming was conducted in 2019 by BlueSky CSR Company and examined the impact of GoodWeave’s Child Friendly Communities (CFCs). Based in India, CFCs are linked to work done in supply chains
    and provide educational remediation programming and school enrollment assistance in communities where carpets, apparel, home textiles and tea are produced.

3. Area: Complaints and remedy
Target 5. Access to effective complaint mechanisms

• Target demand: Initiation or involvement in a measure that aims to improve employee access to complaints mechanisms.
• Goal: Our new Standard for Apparel mandates and will inspect and monitor access to grievance mechanisms through all levels of the supply chain, including home-based workers, including a point
  of contact to whom workers can submit anonymously. This Standard will be approved by third
  quarter of 2019.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • The GoodWeave Generic Standard, launched in May 2019, includes mandatory
    requirements on grievance mechanisms at all levels: Tier 1, subcontractor, and home-based units.
  • In the second half of 2020, GoodWeave published a guidance document to support stakeholders in the implementation of GoodWeave’s new International Generic Standard.
    One section of the guidance is dedicated to grievance mechanism compliance.

Target 6. Supporting measures in case of child & forced labour

• Target demand: Support for
  measures and procedures to deal with cases of child and forced labour.
• Goal: Our project in apparel supply chains in India includes monitoring of strict no child labor standards. By end 2018 we will adapt our existing carpet sector child protection and remediation policy, which includes clear procedures to deal with cases of child and forced labor, for the apparel sector.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • The GoodWeave Generic Standard was launched in May and includes enhanced forced and bonded labour requirements. Many of these requirements seek to ensure that adult workers are not vulnerable to forced labour practices, including written agreements with employers, the provision individual pay records, a prohibition on debt bondage, and the responsible use of labour recruiters.
  • GoodWeave developed training materials and trained producers on forced labour risk identification and prevention to ensure compliance with the new certification requirements. GoodWeave has also drafted a forced and bonded labour remediation policy for adult victims, which establishes procedures for prevention and rehabilitation, which was refined throughout 2020.
  • GoodWeave’s Generic Standard also includes progress principles to improve working conditions for adults. Addressing these working conditions for adults reduces the risk for forced labour, including bonded labour.
  • In 2020, GoodWeave provided educational opportunities to 19,297 children.

4. Area: Sector-wide commitment
Target 7. Raising awareness regarding sustainable textiles

• Target demand: Implementation of measures to raise awareness about sustainable textile production in the following topics: Discrimination; Health and safety; Wages and social benefits; Working hours; Child labour; Forced labour; Good housekeeping.
• Goal 1: Ongoing engagement around elimination of child and forced labour in the hidden layers of apparel supply chains to include panel participation at 2019 Copenhagen Fashion summit, with significant brand and CEO participation and at least six other events.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • Hosted panels at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit (May 2019); OECD Forum on Apparel and Footwear (February 2020); to honor World Day Against Child Labour (June 2020); and at the annual Centre for Responsible Business (CRB)’s India and Sustainability Standards Conference (October 2020).
  • GoodWeave staff were panelists at events including Hidden and Vulnerable: Promoting Decent Working Conditions for Home-Based Workers (Amfori, May 2020); Taking Next Steps: End Child Labour by 2025 (Dutch Foreign Ministry, January 2020); the India and
    Sustainability Standards conference, October 2019; and additional panels held by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Accountability; Delta 8.7; and the Child Labour Coalition in
    2020, among others.
  • Joined multi-stakeholder initiatives for strengthened engagement and alignment, including the Ethical Trading Initiative in 2019 and the Dutch Agreement on Sustainable Garments
    and Textile in 2020.
  • On World Day Against Child Labour 2020, launched a short film on child labour in carpet supply chains. The story demonstrates how GoodWeave’s work transforms both global
    supply chains and individual lives.
• Goal 2: Our holistic system addresses these issues through a combination of inspections and annual audits and through worker and family trainings and support and community awareness and advocacy. We will reach at least 7000 workers in
  outsourcing supply chains in northern India through above means in 2019.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • The GoodWeave label on carpet and home textiles provides brands and consumers alike with the best assurance that no child labour was used when making these products. As of  2020, GoodWeave works with 184 importer licensees and 225 exporter licensees. Our certification program has certified 2,662,547 products in 2019 and 4,517,916 in 2020.
  • 72,651 workers in textile supply chains (8,959 in apparel in India only) were reached through programming in 2019. The cumulative number raised to 81,004 in 2020.
  • In the second half of 2020, GoodWeave published a guidance document to support stakeholders in the implementation of GoodWeave’s new International Generic Standard, with a focus on the Standard’s considerably expanded requirements on forced and bonded labour for each supply chain tier. GoodWeave also developed a set of document templates to help producers comply with the Standard requirements. The templates, available in English, Hindi and Nepali, provide language for no-child labour policies and contract agreements between workers (including home-based workers) and employers; and tracking sheets to keep time and payment records, to perform a risk assessment of hazardous tasks and to keep records of children living in household production units. The templates are available on the GoodWeave website.
  • In the second half of 2020, GoodWeave published a video for importers that summarises the GoodWeave Standard and how we work with employers and workers to addressed risks of child, forced and bonded labor in supply chains. Additionally, GoodWeave trained suppliers in India and Nepal virtually on the GoodWeave Standard and tools to support workers  and maintain compliance.
  • In 2019 and 2020 GoodWeave codified the learning and experience gained through 25+ years of experience implementing deep supply chain mapping, inspections and monitoring, remediation and prevention, and developed training modules for each of these components. These modules are designed for training companies and nongovernmental organisations looking for ways to combat child and forced labor in supply chains and sectors where they work.

Target 8. Support implementation

• Target demand: Provision of instruments to implement Partnership goals by the Partnership members.
• Goal: The GoodWeave system to eliminate child and forced labour from hidden layers of apparel supply chains currently operates in India with C&A and the C&A Foundation. We’ll be finalizing the Standard in 2019 and will share it with Partnership members as a tool to prevent child labour in supply chains.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • The foundation of the GoodWeave System is the GoodWeave Standard, a comprehensive and rigorous set of principles and requirements that licensed exporters, subcontractors,
    and home-based workers must achieve within their supply chains. In 2019, GoodWeave launched its new International Generic Standard. The new Standard contains a strengthened set of requirements surrounding child labour and forced and bonded labour, and has more clear defined how the requirements are applied at different supply chain tiers from factories to home-based worker sites. The Standard launchedwith press releases in North America and Europe and accompanying social media posts.
  • A new audit checklist was developed to assess compliance with the Standard.

Target 9. Promote Political Dialogue.

• Target demand: Influencing policy-makers to improve conditions in the textile industry
• Goal: We will provide input on best practices to prevent child labour in textile supply chains in an OECD baseline study on risks in the Indian supply chain, together with Confederation of Indian Industry. This will be shared with private and public sector decision-makers.
• 2019/2020 Update
  • GoodWeave held a call with the OECD in 2019 to provide input to the baseline study on risks in the Indian supply chain.
  • GoodWeave continuously seeks to increase its role as a thought partner with brands and policy makers to elevate the issue of the hidden supply chain and best practices to identify, remediate, and prevent child labour and forced labour. Advocacy activities include participation in events mentioned in the Awareness Target, to bring the child labor and informal sector perspective and priorities to the conversation table, as well as participation in expert consultations such as Shift’s Valuing Respect Initiative (May 2019); a session held by the UK Modern Slavery Innovation Fund in June 2019, and continually engage within relevant coalitions, such as the DC-based Child Labour Coalition among others.
  • In 2020, GoodWeave conducted and published the report Hidden and Vulnerable – The Impact of COVID-19 on Child, Forced and Bonded Labour, a rapid assessment of the effects of the pandemic conducted in supply chains in India and Nepal. The report includes key findings on worker’s conditions and recommendations for NGOs, brands and governments. A similar research took place in Bangladesh at the end of 2020, with findings to be released in July 2021.
  • From a local context advocacy perspective, GoodWeave continued strengthening school partnerships —including government, private, and religious. For example, in 2019, 36 out of the 38 schools present in the 6 apparel communities under our purview (now 7) agreed to provide full access to our team to track children attendance, share learning materials, create Child Parliaments (Bal Panchayat), and hold parent-teacher School Management Committees. As another example, in two predominantly Muslim communities under our projects’ purview, many parents send their children to madrasas, where only religion is taught. Through persistent advocacy and engagement, the GoodWeave team has gained the trust of all three local madrasas in the area and convinced them to offer academic subjects along with religious studies. GoodWeave has provided these schools with books, teacher training and other necessary support. The team on the ground continuously promoted educational advocacy, through home visits and parent meetings, which resulted in 67.5% of previously unenrolled children in apparel sector Child Friendly Communities enrolling in school between July 2019 and December 2020. Through persistent home visits and advocacy of GoodWeave facilitators, including women who are from the communities 2 in 3 girls who were unenrolled are now enrolled. This success can help to shift attitudes within the communities about the value of girls’ education.

Target 10. Expand the provision of information

• Target demand: Provision of information materials on Partnership topics.
• Goal: We’d like to propose a webinar on our system and approach to eliminating child labour in apparel supply chains to interested Partnership members in 2019.
• 2019/2020 update:
  • GoodWeave hosted a 75-minute session titled Best Practice in Child Labour Identification Beyond the Factory Wall at the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles’ November 2020 Annual Meeting. During the meeting, GoodWeave walked through each component of its holistic methodologies: Standard Setting; Deep Supply Chain Mapping, Monitoring and Inspections, Remediation, Prevention, and shared case studies and best practice from 25+ years of experience in this area. There were 72 participants from 42 organizations registered for this event.

Target 11. Support implementation
Target demand: Provision of instruments to implement Partnership goals by the Partnership members

• Goal: GoodWeave is in the third year of our work expanding our system to combat child and forced labour in apparel supply chains in India. Our plan in 2019 is to finalize our Standard and share quarterly reporting on child labour in
  informal tiers of monitored suppliers for C&A and other brand partners.
• 2019/2020 Update:
  • In 2019 and 2020, GoodWeave shared frequent supply chain reports with five apparel project partners, as well as with six carpet licensees. Additional activities to support workers in response to the COVID-19 GoodWeave’s focus for the majority of 2020 has been to support workers and families with relief and resilience-building activities through the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic disrupted trade worldwide, with a ripple effect on purchase orders, supply chain activities, and workers. The rapid research conducted by GoodWeave in 2020 confirmed that COVID-19 created extreme hardship for informal workers and families in India. Since April, our teams mobilised resources to provide urgent support to workers in supply chains under our purview, and activities are ongoing. Activitiesconducted through December 2020 in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan include:
  • Promoted safety precautions through supply chain and community networks, reaching over
    28,413 production units and 116,359 beneficiaries.
  • Provided and supported food aid to 81,301 workers and family members and hygiene aid to 72,015 beneficiaries
  • Helped workers in the informal sector gain access to the financial system through financial literacy seminars that reached 5,611 workers and supported bank account opening for 945 beneficiaries.
  • Livelihood opportunity and free masks distribution: Setup a pilot mask stitching project in two worker communities in India, engaging 30 workers in making masks in their homes and earning a livelihood. To date, 55,000 masks have been made.
  • Supported 6,081 children with virtual education.

• Continue to expand the market of products made without child and forced labour through
  its licensing program in the carpet, home textile and apparel supply chains.
• Complete a pilot project in apparel supply chains in a new country (Bangladesh).
• Collect testimonial evidence from GoodWeave licensed brands and importers detailing how
  participation in GoodWeave programs positively impacted their business.
• Refine measures for forced labour remediation, including publishing an updated Child, Forced and Bonded labour remediation policy and procedures, and implement new metrics
  to track forced and bonded labour remediation.
• Continue COVID-19 relief as needed.
  o Build a follow-up social program to support workers’ financial literacy based on learning
  from 2020 pilot phase.
• Share awareness and best practices around deep supply chain due diligence and social
  programming in the informal sector by hosting or participating in six events and launching a
  short film on hidden apparel supply chain as part of our TellThemIMadeIt campaign.
• Start home-based workers piece rate wage collection as soon as ground work is safe and
  feasible again and refine wage tracker based on learning from first pilot.
• Publish series of brochures on GoodWeave best practices in child labor identification, prevention and remediation, making these available publically.