Dear members of the Textiles Partnership, dear readers,

Like previous years, 2024 presented international development cooperation with many different challenges. The reelection of Donald Trump as President of the United States and the changes that this has brought, such as the shutdown of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have already had a global impact and will have grave consequences, especially in some of the world’s poorest countries. In these unpredictable times with so many crises, international cooperation is more needed than ever. Today’s conflicts and global challenges can only be overcome if we all join forces. And above all, in these times we need to look toward the future with hope, and the response that is needed to statements such as “America First” is a collective “Europe United” or even “World United.”

As a multi-stakeholder initiative, you, the Textiles Partnership, have long since realized that. And your slogan “Because no single actor can do it alone” is the right response. For a decade now, you have demonstrated in the Partnership how a strong alliance can lead the way on identifying necessary changes and piloting them. As German textile industry representatives and experts, you are working closely together to improve social and environmental conditions along the supply chain and to explore what is possible and expand the options.

Your work in local projects has shown time and again that viable solutions require joint efforts, international partnerships and cooperation with local unions, civil society organizations and, in particular, local workers.

One highlight of the past year was the signing of the declaration of intent on “Strengthening local trade unions and local NGOs as legitimate representatives of rights holders” by a pioneering group of companies, standards organizations, nongovernmental organizations, the German trade union “ver.di” and the German Development Ministry during the event marking the Partnership’s 10th anniversary. This declaration is backed by a large number of Partnership members and confirms the need to recognize unions and nongovernmental organizations in producer countries as legitimate representatives of rights holders, and to include their perspectives in the Partnership’s work in an inclusive and participatory manner.

I would like to encourage all Partnership members to continue to deliver on their responsibility and jointly work on innovative solutions for fair supply chains. By taking the voices of local people seriously and systematically including their perspectives, we can achieve true, structural change.

Thank you very much for your committed efforts. I look forward to continuing our journey together.