The Forum entailed two panel discussions on Women Empowerment in the Supply Chains and Decent Working Conditions in the Supply Chains
On 6th August, 2019, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) and amfori jointly organized a forum on “How to achieve sustainable supply chains” in Kolkata. With the objectives of raising awareness of the importance and need for sustainability, establishing the importance of Gender Equality and sharing frameworks, standards and guidelines for sustainability, the forum focussed on the business case for sustainability.
The Forum entailed two panel discussions on Women Empowerment in the Supply Chains and Decent Working Conditions in the Supply Chains. Some of the distinguished speakers at the Forum were buyers, suppliers and retailers in leather, textiles and handicrafts industries as well as representatives of amfori and IGCC.
The welcome address was given by Dr. Michael Feiner, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kolkata. Following him were Mr. Nari Kalwani, Chairman, Eastern Region, IGCC, and Ms. Joyce Chau, Director Asia Pacific, amfori. They spoke about human rights in business, sustainable practices and ways to conform to them and the interlinkage of human rights and business.
Both panels also included representatives of companies, national and international non-governmental organisations and labour unions. Issues discussed in the panel on women empowerment were gender discrimination, women’s role in unorganized sectors, women to gain handholding in work with the help of the government and corporate houses and women, being productive workers.
Points of reflection in the panel on decent working conditions were the implementation of sustainable practices in the supply chains, workers’ rights in unorganized sectors, food sustainability audits, fair trade and social protection of workers.
This Forum provided an opportunity to learn about the importance of sustainability and the need for training in implementing some of the best sustainable social compliance practices in industries in India, especially in West Bengal.
The event was kindly supported by Asian Leather, Deutsche Bank, Gloster Limited and the Indian Leather Products Association.