International Cooperation and Development Commissioner Neven Mimica unveiled a raft of focused initiatives on Wednesday 26 April to make textile and garment sector supply chains more sustainable in the EU’s developing partner countries.
In a working document presented on Wednesday at an event to marking the fourth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Dacca, Bangladesh on 24 April 2013, the Commission presents an overview of garment sector and the challenges facing it and outlines a strategy for an effective EU development cooperation response. The document focuses on three priorities: economic empowerment of women, who are 75% of the garment workforce; decent work and living wages; and transparency and traceability in the value chain. Transparency is particularly important due to the fragmented production of the sector and the widespread practice of subcontracting.
In support of this strategy, the EU will focus its development cooperation and financial support to improve sustainable business practices and working conditions in producer countries, promote best practice on social and environmental standards, and reach out to consumers to raise awareness about how clothes are made and promote responsible choices, Mimica said.
The European Commission recently approved four new projects, worth a total of around €45 million, that seek to improve sustainable business practices and working conditions in the garment sectors in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Mali and Pakistan. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)