Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams! When we visited some of our Indian
cotton farmers last November, we were happy to be reassured no children are working
on their fields. Sadly, the International Labour Organisation estimates that almost 170
million children are in child labour. Today marks the World Day Against Child Labour.
This year, the focus is
....
on child labour and supply chains. We promote sustainable
fashion and want to actively help eliminate child labour in the garment industry. We
believe transparency is the solution. Accordingly, we have developed a transparency
platform that provides verified data about the entire supply chain and gives brands and
consumers insight into who made their clothes.
Cheap Labour
Fashion, and especially fast fashion, is pushing companies to find ever-cheaper sources
of labour. Much of the supply chain requires low-skilled labour and for some tasks
employers prefer to hire children. Companies and consumers are taking the problem of
child labour more and more seriously. However, many firms often don’t exactly know
where and how their products were made.
Complex supply chain
Brands might know their first supplier and there are codes of conduct in place, but little is
known about the situation further down the chain. This makes it possible to employ
children without big brands and consumers ever finding out. The fashion supply chain is
hugely complex and it is hard for companies to control and gain insight into every stage
of production.
Demand transparency
So, how can the fashion community get on track towards eliminating child labour? The
key word is TRANSPARENCY. As consumers and brands, we need to ask ‘who made
my clothes?’ and demand transparency. We know this is complex though.
There are
foundations and accreditations requiring brands to sign up to its code of labour
practices, prohibiting child labour. However, all of them struggle with the lack of
transparency in the textile and garment supply chain.
Transparency platform tex.tracer
As we believe the fashion supply chain needs to be
more transparent, we’ve developed tex.tracer, a
transparency platform that will be available to all
brands and suppliers. Our tex.tracer tool gives
consumers and brands insight into all tiers of the
complex supply chain. The platform provides verified
data of all steps of the supply chain for each product.
With photos and information about the supplier, you
can gain authentic insight into the sourcing and
production stages of your clothes. Ultimately, tex.tracer
anwers the question ‘who made my clothes’ and
‘what’s in my clothes’..
Steps to reduce child labour
Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to child labour in
all its forms by 2025. You can help reaching this goal by taking these steps:
- 1.Spread awareness; use your voice, address child labour and ask ‘who made my
clothes?’.
- 2.Demand transparency and improve the traceability of raw materials.
- 3.Gain full understanding of the supply chain; get to know who your manufacturers
are and visit them.
- 4.Create a supply register (or use tex.tracer, our transparency tool). Extend your
supply chain responsibility beyond the Cut Make and Trim (CMT) phase,
including also preceding steps such as the sourcing of raw materials like cotton.
- 5.Corporate accountability; assess and monitor human rights risks and reform
your labour policies.
- 6.Incorporate responsible purchasing practices; avoid tight deadlines or
unanticipated orders, which lead to sub-contracting, increasing the risk of child
labour.
- 7.Cooperate with local governments, trade unions and local organisations focused
on combating child labour.
- 8.Make workers in factories aware of their rights.
What other ideas can you add to this list that we may have not mentioned? We’d love to
hear your thoughts on this. Please mail us or let us know in the comments.
Conclusion
Fast fashion is pushing companies to find ever-cheaper sources of labour. Although the
industry is combating child labour, the complex textile supply chain makes it difficult to
exactly know where and how products were made. Let’s stand up for our future
generation and demand transparency. NO to child labour – YES to a social responsible,
sustainable and transparent supply chain!
Interested?
Our tex.tracer tool is a big step forward towards a more transparent fashion
industry. Want to know more about our transparency platform? Don’t hesitate to contact
us.
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