Apparel Online India Magazine December 1st Issue 2018 | Page 14
SUSTAINABILITY
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C R B ’s 5 t h A n n u a l C o n f e r e n c e
Sustainability in the Apparel &
Textiles Sector takes centre stage
The sustainability (responsible business) issues of the apparel and textiles sector took centre stage at the recently concluded
Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) 5th Annual Sustainability Conference (India & Sustainability Standards), held from 14th
to 16th November in Delhi. A number of sectoral/thematic sessions were organised at the conference in partnership with like-
minded organisations. The conference proved beneficial as it was able to assemble a diverse mix of relevant stakeholders to
bring together their perspectives, experiences and insights on the table, thereby ensuring that the multi-stakeholder nature
of the dialogue was maintained.
I
n a session on the situation of
‘Women in value-chains’ focused
on apparel & textiles, speakers
unanimously agreed that there
is need to raise the standard of
working conditions for women
workers, and to accord specific
attention to this issue to prevent
sexual harassment and violence.
Industries should therefore
encourage women in management
and decision-making positions.
Further, the speakers discussed
ways to promote child-friendly
supply chains in apparel and
textiles sector – an imperative for
international buyers/brands. It is
to be noted here that CRB together
with the Global March Against Child
Labour (GMACL) has developed a
toolkit to help companies undertake
the necessary due diligence to
assess and mitigate child labour
and forced labour in the apparel and
textiles’ supply chain (originating
from India). Dr. Bimal Arora,
Honorary Chairperson, CRB
and Assistant Professor, Aston
Business School, UK informed
that this toolkit helps companies
and especially international buyers
to proactively work with their
supply chain partners in their
production networks to identify
the source of this problem, and
do the needful. It was strongly
reiterated that mindset change is
the key – that responsibility/labour
welfare actions are not necessarily
expenses, they are investments to
help earn ‘better’ profits. “We need
to ask questions on a global scale
such as ‘who made my clothes?’ to
provide impetus to a child-friendly
supply chain,” insisted Anindit
R. Chowdhury. Programme
Manager, Gender Justice &
Human Rights, C&A Foundation.
“The toolkit
helps
companies
and especially
international
buyers to
proactively
work with
their supply
chain partners
in their
production
networks to
identify the
source of
this problem,
and do the
needful.”
– Dr. Bimal Arora
Saskia Loer Hansen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor International, Aston University, UK speaking at the launch of the PROGRESS project. Along with her are (L-R): Arun Asthana, ED, CRB;
Bouba Housseini, Programme Officer, IDRC, Canada; Dr. Bimal Arora, Honorary Chairperson, CRB & Assistant Professor, Aston Business School; and Prof. Pawan Budhwar,
Associate Pro Vice Chancellor International (India), Aston University
14 Apparel Online India | DECEMBER 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com