Children advise Fair Wear on key garment issues

[ Thursday, 10 October, 2019 ] Today, the collaboration between Missing Chapter and Fair Wear begins.  Fair Wear visited primary school Nutsschool Zorgvliet in The Hague to discuss some key questions with 31 engaged Grade 7 children.

This Kids Council will be tasked with a research project, which they will work on over the next six weeks. The main question that this group will research has everything to do with Fair Wear’s ambitions. The Grade 7s will aim to determine how we at Fair Wear and our partners can ensure that fair fashion becomes the new normal.

The school will also get a little help from one of our member brands, Kings of Indigo (K.O.I.). K.O.I. will travel to The Hague at the end of this month to show the children how they work with us on better labour conditions. The children will report on their progress through weekly vlogs, which will be posted on our social media channels.

During last year’s Fair Wear Annual Conference,  one child reporter from the Kids Council interviewed garment companies, trade unions and government representatives about sustainability in general, the sector and the problems they encounter in their work.

In November, the Kids Council will present the results of their research. We will keep you updated on our website and on social media.

What is Missing Chapter?

Missing Chapter believes that children should be included in decision-making. The organisation develops programmes with children that enables them to take on important roles as change agents. They bring fresh ideas to organisations, municipalities, NGOs and the national government. ‘It’s great to see that the next generation will now be included in garment industry issues too’, says Fair Wear Executive Director Alexander Kohnstamm about working together with Missing Chapter. ‘I’m sure these children will inspire us and our members to think along new, different ways and help us to find solutions to complex problems.’