Joint SLCP and SAC announcement
Since the rise of social auditing in the apparel and footwear supply chain more than twenty-five years ago, we have seen the number of social audit standards and methods increase dramatically, some with only minor differences. With brands and retailers each applying their own slightly different standards, manufacturers are allocating valuable resources to manage a steady stream of audits. In addition to contributing to “audit fatigue,” this duplication reduces the value of audits and consumes resources that could otherwise be applied to making improvements.
To address this, in 2015 the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) launched the Social & Labor Convergence Project and began convening stakeholders from across the industry, to harmonize social audits and align around one common tool. The public statement in October 2015 marked the start of SLCP and was supported by 33 leading organizations and companies (‘signatories’ to SLCP) in the apparel industry, including members and non-members of SAC.
Since then, SLCP signatories, supported by C&A Foundation (now Laudes Foundation) and SAC match-funding, started their work in developing the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF). Other funders (such as the Netherlands Government, NBIM, HSBC and leading signatories) co-funded the project in the years after.
By 2019, the CAF had been approved by SLCP’s signatories; and the focus had moved towards implementation; and SLCP started its first five-year strategic cycle under guidance of the Council. Today, SLCP has grown into a successful program, supported by more than 270 signatories with its Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) now being implemented in over 50 countries.
Since its inception in 2015, SLCP has relied on SAC to act as its legal entity and to provide operational services including HR, financial, and legal support. Looking to the future and the collective opportunities to improve working conditions and the interests of the industry at large, the SAC Board and SLCP Council have agreed that the time has come for SLCP to be established as an independent organization with the necessary capabilities and governance to further develop and evolve the CAF. The new SLCP organization will continue to work in a close strategic partnership with the SAC to jointly implement, with even more conviction, the shared goal to improve working conditions in global supply chains.
This vision follows the recommendations from an independent third-party study and will be guided in a careful process, managed by a Joint Working Group from the SAC Board and SLCP Council. The aim is to complete the process by January 1, 2024.
Throughout the process SLCP and the SAC will continue to serve the needs of their stakeholders, signatories and members, helping organizations improve working conditions on a global scale.
