Fair Wear Foundation and the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) have joined forces to enhance working conditions within the global garment supply chain.

In a collaborative effort, both organizations have unveiled a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Amsterdam, solidifying their commitment to advancing shared objectives of bettering conditions in supply chains, according to a statement.

Fair Wear Foundation, an independent non-profit organization, is dedicated to enhancing conditions for workers in garment factories, while SLCP, a multi-stakeholder initiative boasting over 250 signatories, focuses on promoting decent working conditions in global supply chains.

This new partnership is centered on fostering collaboration in data convergence, policy development, and industry engagement to facilitate impactful human rights due diligence (HRDD) implementation and eliminate redundant audits throughout the global supply chain.

Under this agreement, Fair Wear will integrate SLCP data into its HRDD Facilitation Hub to bolster HRDD implementation and mitigate audit duplication. Additionally, anonymized and aggregated SLCP data will contribute to Fair Wear’s country risk scoping tool.

Recognizing the evolving regulatory landscape, Fair Wear and SLCP are committed to aligning their policy engagement efforts to drive effective regulatory framework implementation. They aim to consolidate policy positions and enhance engagement with key stakeholders.

As leading stakeholders in the garment and textile industry, Fair Wear and SLCP are optimistic about leveraging their combined influence to effect systemic change across the sector.

Janet Mensink, CEO of SLCP said, “We are thrilled to be taking the collaboration between Fair Wear and SLCP to the next level with this new agreement. In particular, the use of SLCP data in the Fair Wear HRDD Hub is a breakthrough development in the pursuit of convergence and one that I believe can be a leading example of the way in which data can be shared effectively to reduce duplication and drive improvements to working conditions.”

Fair Wear’s Executive Director, Alexander Kohnstamm, said “This MoU between Fair Wear and SLCP is an important step towards industry-wide alignment on what constitutes impactful HRDD implementation. This is critical for ensuring that the new European legislation delivers results for garment workers.”

Central to this enhanced partnership is the shared recognition of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct as the primary HRDD framework, alongside a commitment to a smart mix approach in supply chain HRDD.

Both organizations stress the urgency of converging assessments and data sharing to optimize resource allocation and drive improvement programs, while also emphasizing the importance of locally driven and actionable information to hold brands accountable.