OpenLobby.EU
Explore

World Fair Trade Organization - Europe

WFTO-Europe

WFTO-Europe, formerly known as IFAT Europe (International Federation for Alternative Trade), represents the European branch of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO).

Lobbying Activity

Response to EU Action Plan of Gender equality and women’s empowerment in external relations for 2021-2025

2 Apr 2020

The World Fair Trade Organization Europe supports the initiative of a third GAP, and the general idea of women's empowerment in the EU's external relations. We believe women should play a more important role in the aid for development policies, and take a more important part in peacekeeping operations on the field as well as on an institutional level. We support the previous EU initiatives and the EU charter of fundamental rights and believe in the measures taken during the previous UN Conventions on elimination of discrimination against women, and at the Beijing World Conference on Women in 1995. WFTO-Europe supports the United Nations’ SDGs for 2030. Fair Trade enterprises do business in a way that means they contribute directly to several SDGs as part of their core business and trading practices, in particular SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production patterns. Ensuring gender equality (SDG 5) is an integrated part of the business models of these enterprises, which contributes to their social, alongside environmental, sustainability. We encourage enterprises and decision-makers to go even further by adhering to our Fair Trade principles and applying them on a daily basis. These 10 principles, among them principle number 6: “No discrimination, Gender Equity, Freedom of Association”, are core of our members’ way of doing business. We believe that this holistic approach, driven by mission-led enterprises should not only concern less than 1% of the worlds’ enterprises, but apply to worldwide institutions and organisations. We believe in gender equality, equal pay for equal work, equal representation at the workplace and thus, also in peacekeeping operations and intergovernmental negotiations. It is inconceivable that women, which represent around 50% of the population, are being left aside from these negotiations. It is even more absurd, as women are the ones maintaining the countries’ economies in conflict and war times, although women and children are the primary collateral victims in war times, and they suffer from war atrocities such as rape, murder, human trafficking, poverty and hunger. We require the EU to take measures to fight patriarchy and gender stereotypes and discriminatory traditions that might harm women's physical and moral integrity. Women should be rid of any kind of violence and intimidations, especially when it comes to speaking up or fighting for their rights. Combatting poverty through education, and giving girls and women sufficient knowledge of their rights and value should be key to protect them and make them less vulnerable, and able to take part in external relations. Therefore, we are asking the EU to implement the following changes: 1. A change in the children's upbringing to get rid of the gendered and biased stereotypes, by editing textbooks, financing interventions in schools and promote the exchange of good practices. 2. A focus on girls' education: aim for 100% schooling for little girls, fight child marriage, child labour and any form of violence against girls, and better the family conditions by paying parents a fair price for their work so that they can afford sending their kids to school. 3. Giving women equal opportunities: ensuring no discrimination at the workplace and freedom association so that women can claim their rights. Also, we are asking for transparency measures, as well as a 50% representation on the workplace (instead of 40% as suggested). Giving them equal opportunities is also preventing women's economic vulnerability. 4. Ensure a safe working environment, this means, an environment fitting women's needs, with childcare facilities in organisations with more than 50 workers, equal paternity and maternity leave, campaigns against sexual harassment... 5. To put people and planet first and exercise HRDD. Peace comes with international cooperation, this is why these good practices should be encouraged worldwide through external action and neighbourhood policies.
Read full response

Response to Stepping up EU Action against Deforestation and Forest Degradation

15 Jan 2019

The World Fair Trade Organization Europe welcomes the European Commission’s initiative on mitigating deforestation and forest degradation and current models of production and trade of Forest Risk Agricultural Commodities (FRAC) many of which are unsustainable and already identified as main causes of deforestation. However, we strongly urge the European Commission to consider that the root cause behind many of these overt drivers is poverty. Addressing this will be key in meaningfully addressing deforestation, in particular when linked with farming of cocoa and coffee. Fair Trade here offers a readily adoptable model which helps smallholder farmers and workers in particular to attain better livelihoods and fair payments while simultaneously taking care of the environment and adhering to sustainable production practices. A recent study by Le BASIC commissioned by Commerce Équitable France and Max Haavelar France called “Coffee: The success story that hides a crisis” (please see attached file for a synthesis of the report) illustrates how Fair Trade practices (especially in combination with organic certification) helps significantly mitigate “societal costs” borne by producer countries in coffee supply chains – that is, losses and expenses (e.g. from environmental impact) borne by third parties or the producing communities. Those costs can be as high as 90 cents of costs borne by the exporting country per one US dollar of coffee exported (numbers for 2017). Among the externalities that the Fair Trade practices covered in the study help mitigate are deforestation, along with environmental degradation due to high chemical inputs in connection with farming (it is here important to remember that coffee is commonly grown in forest surroundings). We wish to stress, of course, that Fair Trade does not apply only to coffee, but this is just one example with available data that illustrates how it works as a holistic model towards more sustainable production and consumption. It further shows how Fair Trade is also a necessary condition as part of any solution able to meaningfully address the dire issue of deforestation and forest degradation. Nevertheless, this would only work if the European Commission simultaneously implements new, comprehensive legal measures, where companies (not just the smallholder farmers and workers of FRAC’s at the end of the supply chain) are held accountable for violations occurring in their supply chain. We here refer the European Commission to already existing models and frameworks developed within the EU Timber Regulation and regulation on EU Illegal (IUU) Fishing. We strongly urge the European Commission to also include models with mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), examples of which can already be found in the French Devoir de Vigilance law, the UK Modern Slavery Act, as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, along with the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains.
Read full response