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2016 Sustainability Report
published 2017/08/01

VAUDE, Jack Wolfskin and Salewa win Fair Wear Foundation Award

October 21, 2016 – The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) granted the 2015 Jury’s Best Practice Award to a joint project from VAUDE, Jack Wolfskin and Salewa.

Development of a training concept for the improvement of working conditions in Myanmar

The cooperation venture saw the three outdoor brands developing a training concept for the improvement of working conditions in sewing factories in Myanmar. Fair Wear Foundation honoured the three brands for their engagement in the upholding of social, secure and fair working conditions in their production locations.


The winners of the Fair Wear Foundation‘s Best Practice Award are announced at the multi stakeholder organisation’s yearly Conference. Each member may submit a project, which is then evaluated by an independent jury. This year, the joint initiative presented by VAUDE, Jack Wolfskin and Salewa was among three winners. The outdoor brands developed a training programme for the improvement of working conditions and active communication between workers, management and local stakeholders in Myanmar. The prize is a video, in which the three brands will have a chance to present their Best Practice.


At the Best Practice Award ceremony of the Fair Wear Foundation, VAUDE has reached the second place. The award for VAUDE was accepted by Anika Rudolf (3rd from the left) and Sven König in Amsterdam. VAUDE shares the second place with Salewa and Jack Wolfskin. Together, a training project was launched in Myanmar.
At the Best Practice Award ceremony of the Fair Wear Foundation, VAUDE has reached the second place. The award for VAUDE was accepted by Anika Rudolf (3rd from the left) and Sven König in Amsterdam. VAUDE shares the second place with Salewa and Jack Wolfskin. Together, a training project was launched in Myanmar.


Planning began mid-2015 and the trainings took place in November 2015 in the factories. At the time, FWF did not have offices in Myanmar, which meant the resources usually offered to members were not available. There were neither guidelines on the country and its legal framework (so-called „FWF Country Study“), nor local training staff, audit teams, or a functioning complaints hotline. The three brands took the courage to fill this void. Essential steps in the process were the search for a competent local partner to carry out the trainings, deep research into the current legal system in Myanmar, setting up a complaints hotline and most importantly, setting the bases for effective inter-stakeholder dialogue in all directions. All the results of the three brands’ research, the training materials and contacts data base were handed over to the FWF, helping to enlighten and accelerate the organisation’s setting-up of local offices in Myanmar in 2016.

The successful cooperation of the three competitors shows that VAUDE, Jack Wolfskin and Salewa are seriously engaged in the implementation of better working conditions in the facilities where their products are made.


For years, each of these companies has been working individually towards the advancement of working conditions along their own supply chain. This cooperation project sets new standards. It shows that joining forces improves the chances, at shared suppliers or in new sourcing countries, of contributing to help factories and workers to reach better, safer and fairer working conditions, by increasing the awareness of workers’ rights and the setting up of mechanisms for effective social dialogue.


Jointly committed with the FWF

It is important for us to have a competent partner at our side for the monitoring and implementation of labor standards. Therefore, we decided to join the multi-stakeholder initiative Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) in 2010. 


The approach of the FWF fits very well with our company philosophy