UK Government recognises fair and ethical trade

 

by Marcus Rowntree

UK Government funding for fair and ethical trade set to quadruple.

The Department for International Development (DFID) this week announced that UK government funding for fair and ethical trading will be quadrupled to a total of £18 million in the next four years.

The International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander said in a letter to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) that the increased funding “reflects our recognition of the importance of the ethical trading agenda, and of respect for workers globally that ETI champions so well.”

This latest announcement comes just one month after DFID declared in June that there would be a £3.5 million fund to improve conditions for garment industry workers over a three year period.

The garment industry fund, entitled RAGS (Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector), DFID claimed will also “support and encourage ‘ethical pioneers’ in the fashion industry - people and companies who have innovative ideas with the potential to drive change in the garment sector.”

These two initiatives spearheaded by DFID are an encouraging sign that the UK government is taking notice of the fair and ethical trade cause. As ETI Director Dan Rees puts it “This could not have come at a more critical time for the world’s workers. They are at the sharp end of the global recession, in some countries surviving on wages that are barely enough to pay for a month’s supply of rice.

Marcus Rowntree, EcoChic Collection

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