Social and Labor Convergence Program

A report by Transformers Foundation reveals that some of the industry's most influential multi stakeholder initiatives or MSIs often reinforce systemic barriers that limit supplier participation, leading to a cycle of distrust, disengagement, and ineffective sustainability strategies.

The Fair Wear Foundation (Fair Wear) and the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) have inked an MOU to take forward their collaborations now also on data convergence, policy and industry engagement to further impactful human rights due diligence (HRDD) implementation and eliminate audit duplication.

Non-compliance continues to be a bane with an overwhelming 93.8% of all verified assessments of facilities including at least one and in case of SMEs it went up by 7% in 2023, according to the 2023 Impact Report of the Social and Labour Convergence Program (SLCP).

Global nonprofit alliance Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has rebranded itself as Cascale, and will now seek to drive equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry, not just apparel.

The Standard Convergence Initiative of IAF and ITMF has issued a manifesto calling for reducing audit fatigue, and urged industry stakeholders to accept/integrate the Social & Labor Convergence Program’s Converged Assessment Framework (CAF).

The Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) will now function as an independent non-profit even as it reaffirmed its commitment with its founder, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC),  to align tools and strategies for a shared vision of improved global working conditions. 

The Social and Labour Convergence Program (SLCP) Impact Report 2022 reveals growth in the number of assessments, increased industry acceptance, expansion into new sectors and regions, and continued progress towards convergence. 

The just-announced SLCP Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Toolkit shows how the Converged Assessment Framework can support due diligence compliance across supply chains.

Suppliers participating in the Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index 2022, and answering questions in the ‘Win-Win Sustainable Partnership’ category (which measures brands’ and retailers’ contributions to reducing industry-wide audit duplication) were asked if their buyer accepted standardized audits rather than buyer-specific audits or assessments. 

The 2021 Impact Report of the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) says that a staggering 91% of all verified assessments of facilities include at least one non-compliance. texfash.com reports.