In conversation with the STITCH consortium: Introducing Cividep India

The biggest strength of STITCH is the synergy created with our members’ complementary expertise and experience in promoting human rights and advancing improved working conditions in the garment and textile industry through impactful HRDD.  

Delve into the work of the partnership, our goals, achievements and ways of working, through a series of interviews with the consortium members. Our first conversation is with Deepika Rao, Executive Director of Cividep India.  

What is Cividep India working on, and what is your role within the organisation? 

As Executive Director of Cividep India for the past four years, I have led our organisation in strengthening systems for decision-making, accountability, and operations, ensuring we function effectively in a fast-evolving landscape. With the rapid advancements in AI, gig platforms, and the growing impacts of climate challenges reshaping employment, we must adapt to these changes while maintaining a focus on worker rights.  

Deepika Rao (right) officially launches The Home and the World of Work report with Professor Rukmini Sen (left), Dean of BR Ambedkar University in New Delhi.

India’s ambition to become a global manufacturing hub has significantly increased job numbers, but the quality of these jobs remains a critical issue. As we approach Cividep’s 25th anniversary in 2025, our commitment to addressing this gap has never been more important.  

We are dedicated to advocating for workers’ rights and driving fair practices, particularly within the garment, electronics, and leather industries. Our mission is clear: to provide a robust support system that empowers the workers sustaining these industries, ensuring their voices are amplified and their rights protected. Through strategic leadership, we are shaping an organisation that is not only responsive to the challenges of the present but also actively shaping a more equitable future for workers in India. 

What is Cividep responsible for within STITCH.  

As one of the labour rights organisations within STITCH, Cividep brings unique expertise in understanding the complexities of production landscapes and local dynamics in India. Our strong on-the-ground presence ensures we remain deeply connected to workers, offering a unique and authentic perspective. By working directly with worker communities, we cultivate meaningful relationships, empowering them to voice their concerns and advocate for their rights more effectively.  

This direct engagement with worker communities provides a vital perspective to STITCH's highest decision-making body, the Steering Committee. This is particularly significant in aligning donor agency priorities, especially those of European counterparts, with the lived experiences of workers, ensuring their voices and challenges are represented in decision-making processes. 

What does your day look like? 

As a newly appointed member of the Steering Committee at the STITCH consortium, my role has been to participate in discussions that shape the project’s direction and provide strategic oversight during our quarterly meetings. 

With the year-end approaching, we are focused on wrapping up key deliverables, finalising reports, conducting reviews, and collaborating with the working group on meaningful stakeholder engagement to define what impactful stakeholder engagement is and how to conduct it within the garment industry.  

At Cividep, we are excited about disseminating our ‘The Home and The World of Work’ research report and having more screenings of our documentary film on women garment workers. Also, the soon-to-be-released HRDD report, centered on a worker-focused methodology, marks a major milestone in addressing human rights risks across supply chains. 

 We are in fact, working on an ambitious communications plan for the upcoming year — to strengthen our outreach, deepen engagement with stakeholders, and amplify the impact of our work. It’s a great time, filled with meaningful discussions, creative planning, and the promise of broadening connections within our community and beyond. 

What achievement Cividep has contributed to within STITCH that you are proud of? 

Dr. Supriya Roy Chowdhury, Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, and author of The Home and the World of Work report. 

For me, it will be our HRDD report, which is soon to be published. It highlights a worker-centric methodology to identifying human rights risks in India’s garment sector. And it is exciting to note that this framework can be adapted to other industries.  

Similarly, The Home and the World of Work report explores the intersection of domestic responsibilities and workplace challenges faced by women garment workers, paving the way for further study and conversations around women’s labour across sectors. It highlights the dual realities faced by women workers - both at their workplaces in factories and within their households.    

The reports, along with supporting analyses and data, are featured on the newly launched Worker Observatory section of the Cividep website, which offers data-driven insights into wages, working conditions, and human rights risks. These projects reflect the significant time and effort we have invested in bringing them to life.  

Through these efforts, we have realised that there is an urgent need for all actors to collaborate, be it civil society organisations, supply chain entities, social auditors, and local stakeholders. We need the narrative to shift from a business-centric perspective to a more worker-centric perspective. 

Workers’ Observatory is a digital platform of all the work done by Cividep India under STITCH. 

What is the biggest challenge to transforming the garment industry and which solution do you think can be the most impactful? 

One of the key challenges in transforming the garment industry is aligning its rapid growth – the fast fashion model – with sustainable and equitable practices. While the industry provides significant employment opportunities, ensuring that its operations benefit both people and the environment remains a complex task. A potential solution lies in encouraging collaboration among all stakeholders, including investors, brands, and countries involved in production and consumption. These partnerships can collectively influence and encourage both investors and brands to take greater responsibility in shaping a more sustainable and ethical supply chain.  

We also feel there is a lack of social dialogue and freedom of association in this area. Even though there is employment and livelihood, not enough is being done to amplify the voice of workers in the industry. 

Cividep, with its deep on-ground experience in India, a major production hub, is well-positioned to offer valuable insights and credible data from the field. As a leading labour rights organisation, we are ready to leverage our expertise and the HRDD methodology we have developed to support and guide partnerships that drive meaningful change in the garment industry.