For businesses, data is essential to assess risks and adverse impacts on workers impacted by their operations, justify action and drive approaches that positively improve the lives of all workers. However, more often than not, supply chain data fails to consider gender, treating all workers as equal. This limits possibilities to understand certain risks and inequities that may be gender sensitive and present and hinders our ability to assess whether programmes and initiatives are having equal outcomes for all. 

Watch the video for more on why gender disaggregated date is important

In 2021, ETI launched the Gender Data Initiative, which aims to support corporate members to embark on a journey of collecting more and better gender-disaggregated supply chain data, as an integral part of supply chain risk assessments and monitoring.   

The joint guidance with like-minded organisations and based on the BSR Gender Data and Impact Tool, provides companies with a starting point for their gender data journey from Level One Indicators and progress to Level Two and Three.

Since the launch of the initiative, we have seen a steady growth in the number of companies who are utilising the guidance to ensure their GRHRDD approach is informed by gender-disaggregated supply chain data. Beyond ETI, there continues to be uptake of the guidance by other industry actors. 

While disseminating the ETI Gender Data Guidance, one of the key areas of concern/feedback received from brands has been the lack of supplier capacity to provide accurate and reliable gender-disaggregated data. Brands are reliant on suppliers providing them with data through self-assessment questionnaires and other forms of documentation, however, there are often challenges with data accuracy and a general lack of understanding by suppliers as to why this data should be made available. 

To address this gap, ETI and the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (PST) launched a pilot project in 2023 that aims to  build capacity at supplier level, as to why such data is important, not only in terms of being able to provide accurate information when it is requested, but also understanding how the data can be used to address issues on the factory floor. The project is working with four international fashion brands and a select number of their suppliers in south India. At the end of the project, practical guidelines and good practice case studies will be developed to capture how brands and suppliers can work together to improve working conditions on the basis of sound gender-disaggregated data. 

For more information contact Halima Ahmed, Gender Advisor, ETI.

A key objective of ETI’s A&T strategy states that members will work collaboratively to adopt a gender responsive approach to HRDD with a focus on addressing gender-based violence in garment supply chains, in alignment with ILO C190. 

The Gender Responsive Action Community at ETI (GRACE) is an initiative to support ETI member companies to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for the risks of GBVH in their supply chains, using a GRHRDD approach. By working with individual companies and as a community of practice, GRACE will enable companies to improve on their policies, processes and practices towards tackling GBVH issues in their supply chains. GRACE will be delivered through a series of eight workshops, over an 18-month period. Sessions will focus on sharing good practice case studies and facilitated discussion on challenges, with emphasis on finding collective solutions and driving practical action. Each participating company will also benefit from 1-to-1 sessions with ETI and experts to support the implementation of the principles and tools covered. 

This initiative is now closed to registration and is funded by eight company members and STITCH from May 2024 to December 2025. 

Outputs will include: best practice case studies, practical HRDD tools and peer learning events with ETI members. 

For more information contact Heidi Chan, Gender Programme Lead, ETI.

ETI is driving efforts to address GBVH risks in commercial agriculture supply chains through collective action initiative. To address current inconsistencies and enable a unified approach by all stakeholders, ETI will co-create a set of principles (minimum standards) to address GBVH risks using GRHRDD approaches. These principles will be developed through a series of workshops whereby companies (retailers, suppliers, producers), workers and their representatives, civil society, and thematic experts come to a shared understanding of what factors increase the risk of GBVH in supply chains and how they can be addressed. Furthermore, understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder group is critical to ensuring victims and survivors are supported, and GBVH is reduced and eliminated from the workplace. Once developed and agreed on, these principles will subsequently be tested in selected supply chains, in the next phase of the initiative.  

Additional outputs to be developed include: analysis of the challenges in addressing GBVH in commercial agriculture supply chains, good practice tools and case studies.   

Nine ETI company members are funding this first phase which runs until July 2025. However, the broader ETI community (companies, trade unions and NGOs) are welcome to participate in a working group and share their feedback on the draft principles via the steering committee. 

For more information contact Heidi Chan, Gender Programme Lead, ETI.

As part of efforts to support member companies in understanding how to implement GRHRDD, ETI in collaboration with Fair Wear and the STITCH partnership, are developing an e-learning course. This is primarily aimed at company member of both organisations to support them with practical, step-by-step learning on how to apply a gender lens to HRDD. 

The e-learning course will be launched in March 2025.