FAQ

1. What is the MADE project?

The Multistakeholder Alliance for Decent Employment in Myanmar (‘MADE in Myanmar’) is a four-year project (December 2022- December 2026), formally launched in March 2023, which is primarily funded by the European Union with the objective of strengthening responsible business practices in the textile, clothing and footwear sector, achieving critical industry improvements and protecting livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families. Specifically, it aims to:

  • strengthen economic resilience and transparency practices across the Myanmar apparel industry.

  • support worker access to functional and credible grievance mechanisms at both factory and, eventually, industry level.

  • promote industry best practices with regards to occupational safety and health, social compliance, and environmental management.

  • facilitate and nurture dialogue between employers, workers, and international stakeholders.

  • provide enhanced support to women workers to advance their positions and standing in the workforce.

    MADE has three components:

    1. The SMART Factories Programme, a series of enterprise advisory modules and workshops continuing

      from prior phases of the SMART Myanmar project (2013-2022). The SMART Factories Programme focuses on social compliance and environmental performance in the Myanmar textile, clothing and footwear industries, especially occupational safety and health, conformance with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and international retailer codes of conduct.

    2. The Forum on Supply Chain Conduct – This is intended to promote and nurture cross-sectoral dialogue between business associations, trade union federations and labour rights groups and international retailers for the benefit of workers in the industry and more responsible industrial development.

    3. The Centres for Women’s Advancement – This will support two Women’s Community Centers to provide special outreach and educational and social support to women workers, in particular young migrants.

2. What will MADE do to improve grievance handling and complaints?

MADE believes that, in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to provide for, or cooperate through legitimate processes in, the remediation of adverse human rights impacts where they identify that they have caused or contributed to these impacts.   

To underpin this, Member Companies of the Alliance are expected to commit to supporting freedom of association; to have, and require business partners to have, effective grievance handling mechanisms; to monitor their effectiveness; and to ensure rapid action once grievances are raised.  

Furthermore, MADE will be an opportunity for companies to share current practices for grievance handling and worker engagement and lessons learned with other companies, as well as with trade unions and labour organisations, in MADE’s Forum on Supply Chain Conduct. 

3. Who funds the MADE project?

Core funding of 3 million euro is provided by the European Union. Larger private sector apparel retailers (brands, buyers) which join the Alliance are expected to co-fund with additional contributions ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 EUR annually, based on company size and size of operation in Myanmar. Companies with smaller volumes in production (e.g. sourcing from 3 or fewer factories in Myanmar or own manufacturers) can participate vis-à-vis their membership in EuroCham. Retailer contributions are used to co-fund the entire project and, eventually, to expand the scope of enterprise advisory services, training workshops and services on offer by the project’s women’s centres.

4. Will MADE establish a sector-wide grievance mechanism?

Given that not all brands and their suppliers are expected to be a part of MADE, a sector-wide grievance mechanism is unlikely to be achievable.  Nonetheless, MADE and Member Companies will explore the scope for sectoral approaches to grievance handling and worker engagement, drawing on lessons from other initiatives, e.g. Fairwear Foundation, and advice from trade unions and labour rights organisations 

5. Who are the implementing partners?

Implementing partners are sequa gGmbH and EuroCham Myanmar.

MADE has a Steering Committee chaired by the EU Delegation in Myanmar with membership from sequa, EuroCham and the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, and a Secretariat provided by the MADE team. Additional independent members may be invited to join the Steering Committee.

6. What will MADE do to keep participating workers safe?

MADE emphasises workplace safety, through a variety of methods and approaches, including technical evaluations, and training which involves workers in creating a safety culture in the workplace.  

Staff of MADE/SMART Factories Programme provide their business cards to workers participating in interviews and focus groups and encourage them to get in contact if they experience any problems related to participation in the programme.   In reality, this has rarely, if at all, been the case for workers in the hundreds of factories with whom SMART has previously engaged.   Indeed, participation usually empowers workers to raise issues with management and secure improved conditions, through better access to, and understanding of, their legal entitlements.  

A more systematic grievance hotline will be established for the MADE project, to include the Factories Programme. Retailers participating in MADE must commit to ensure the safety of complainants within their supply chain. 

7. What is the relationship between the MADE in Myanmar project and SMART Myanmar?

MADE continues and expands on the earlier SMART projects; incorporating 'SMART 3', the Factories Programme. However, it introduces two new components (the Forum on Supply Chain Conduct, and the Women's Centres), and a new 'Alliance' between the project and participating brands. This is based on feedback from stakeholders and intended to address the current situation in Myanmar since the 1 February 2021 coup.

8. How will MADE support improvements in social compliance?

The SMART Factories component of MADE improves working conditions in garment factories through a combination of assessment, advisory, and training services. One way that SMART Factories improves social compliance in factories is by conducting assessments to identify areas where factories are not meeting local and international labour standards. The assessments cover areas such as wages and benefits, working hours, occupational health and safety, and freedom of association. The findings from the assessments are shared with factory management, workers, and other stakeholders, and used to develop action plans to address the identified issues. SMART Factories also provides advisory services to factories to help them implement the action plans and improve their social compliance performance. 

Another way that SMART Factories improves social compliance in factories is by providing training and capacity building to workers, factory management, and other stakeholders. The training covers topics such as labour laws and regulations, workers' rights, workplace safety, and environmental sustainability. SMART Factories also works with factory management to develop policies and procedures to address social compliance issues and helps them to implement these policies effectively. The training and capacity building programs aim to create a culture of continuous improvement in factories, where workers and management are empowered to identify and address social compliance issues proactively. 

Full-time technical experts in the SMART Factories programme are experienced and qualified factory assessors and engineers, with strong technical knowledge in their subject areas.  

9. Does the EU Myan Ku Fund still exist?

The European Union provided 10 million EUR in support to workers who lost their jobs during COVID.  This ‘Myan Ku’ Fund ran from April 2020 to December 2022 and was administered by UNOPS utilizing staff capacities and networks within the SMART project.  

Myan Ku supported approximately 90,000 garment, textile and footwear sector workers with direct cash assistance through mobile money disbursements, as well as 400,000 EUR in food vouchers and direct food aid funded by private sector retailers.  

About a third of Myan Ku’s cash and voucher assistance went to around 3,000 young mothers from the sector, many of whom received cash assistance for half a year or more during their pregnancy and/or after delivery. Doctors and nutritionists from Myan Ku provided nutritional counseling support to the women, and several other smaller programmes were also administered on vocational training and alternative skilling for unemployed factory workers. 

Some of the capacities developed under Myan Ku are now continued within MADE under the Centres for Women’s Advancement. One of the nutritionists runs a nutrition help-desk and provides in-factory technical assessments focused on enhancing worker nutrition and medical provision (clinic capacity assessments, canteen review, support to develop breastfeeding rooms for young mothers and related activities). Civil society partners also continue to administer psycho-social counseling and sexual and reproductive health counseling to interested current and former garment workers. 

10. How will MADE support improvements in environmental management?

MADE promotes full conformance with the Globally Harmonized System for chemical management, conformance with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals protocol, education about HiGG FEM requirements, a phase-out of coal boiler fuel in favor of solar thermal, biomass waste products (such as rice husks and wood scrap) and, in general, resource efficient, waste-minimizing factory production systems. 

Alliance Member Companies commit to achieve full compliance among suppliers with the globally harmonized system (GHS) for chemical inventory management and labelling by 31 December 2023. (GHS compliance is a legal requirement in Myanmar under the 2013 Chemical and Related Substances Act. Factories with substantial chemical storerooms are generally required to be compliant with storage, labelling and safe use requirements). 

Furthermore, the climate crisis requires strong action to phase down carbon emissions.  Alliance members commit to work towards a complete phase out of coal boiler fuel in Myanmar by 31 December 2025, including in the suppliers used by Member Companies.  

The MADE project employs several technical staff (electrical engineers, textile engineers, chemical management specialists) focused on safe and efficient chemical management, energy efficiency, promotion of renewable energy solutions (solar PV, biomass, solar thermal, etc.), water efficiency and solid waste management. 

An added benefit of technical work on energy efficiency and chemical management is expert capacity within the project for technical safety evaluations of boiler and steam systems, electrical systems, ventilation systems, chemical storeroom management practices and compressed air systems, among other areas. The project’s engineers often discover and work to remediate major safety issues in factories receiving energy audits and chemical management assessments. Many such safety issues are not observed by typical social compliance auditors, as they require more specialized equipment used by project engineers, including data loggers, thermal imaging cameras, Volatile Organic Compound spectrometers (VOC meters) and more. 

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