Dear Partnership members, dear readers,  

2023 was a year of change: The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) came into force and alternative reporting was used in the Partnership for the first time. The last year has been defined by the realignment of the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (PST) and bringing it to life. Despite the high demands placed on the new processes for members and the secretariat, we succeeded in doing this together. Nine new members joined the Textile Partnership in 2023. 28 companies went through the review process. 8755 data from production companies at Tier 1 level were published in aggregated form as part of the increased requirements for members’ supply chain transparency. The Steering Committee was newly elected and was driven to implement the realignment of the Textile Partnership.  

We are particularly proud of the ten out of the eleven Partnership Initiatives that were developed in 2023, thanks in part to the first Call for proposals the PST held. All eleven Partnership Initiatives are now being implemented with different stakeholder groups and are helping to effectively implement the focus topics together. For instance, the Partnership Initiative (PI) Advancing Worker-led Agreements on Gender Justice supports the Dindigul Agreement by extending the agreement to other suppliers in the Indian region of Tamil Nadu. The PI Living Wage Lab is now entering its second phase – this time with concrete measures at supplier companies in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to strengthen the exercise of workers’ rights, among other things. In addition, the PI Implementing Circularity uses the example of a capsule collection to recreate a concrete textile cycle and prepares brands, factories, sorters and recyclers for the design requirements of the EU textile strategy. The project “Strengthening factory grievance mechanisms in Pakistan” was successfully completed with a total of 25,500 workers participating in training courses on factory grievance mechanisms.  

In 2023, numerous rights holders, trade unions and NGOs as well as suppliers from the Global South also took part in Partnership events. Hearing their perspectives also played a key role in shaping the commitment of Partnership members and the design of Partnership Initiatives. You can read about this and much more in this annual report.  We also have big plans for 2024. We want to actively shape and implement the Partnership Initiatives launched in 2023 with you and our cooperation partners in the partner and production countries. We want to make ambitious progress and go beyond minimum legal requirements, fill gaps, close cycles, compensate for injustices and strengthen rights. We want to join forces with you and show that we can achieve more if we work together and that we can bring about lasting change in the textile landscape. Especially in turbulent times like these, we should do everything we can to assert ourselves as a strong multi-stakeholder initiative and continue to be among the pioneers of sustainability. Make the Textile Partnership your alliance so that it is more than the sum of its parts, its members. The more actively you get involved, the more impact we have and the greater the added value for everyone. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support as members, the good cooperation with the Steering Committee and especially the secretariat team for their excellent work. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the strategic partners of the Textile Partnership. 

On behalf of the Partnership Secretariat 

Linda Schraml