This year, Indonesia held the international forum G20. This intergovernmental forum tackles the biggest world issues, ranging from climate change to poverty, to financial stability. This year was particularly unique, with the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” as the forum addressed three main focuses: global health architecture, sustainable energy transition, and digital transformation, with an overall goal of empowerment.

Though Du Anyam has experienced growth in all three focus areas, we have seen the most growth in the category of empowerment. First and foremost, since our start nearly a decade ago, we have consistently strived to create a system that empowers the weaving communities that we work with. Consistently affirming our commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlighted in the G20 summit, including no poverty (goal 1), decent work and economic growth (goal 8), and responsible consumption and production (goal 12), we strongly support the movement towards a more equal, sustainable future. 

With increased attention towards environmental, social, and governance measures (ESG) in G20, Du Anyam too has focused on enacting policies with respect to these three areas. While Du Anyam is not the only company or enterprise that has taken steps towards aligning with ESG areas, we set a good example of how changes can be made within an enterprise, and proof that ESG goals are attainable across different enterprises within nations with different socioeconomic levels. 

By implementing and following environmental, social, and governance standards, we have seen success in both our model of implementation as well as in the lives of people. 

Firstly, we have worked hard to create environmental programs to ensure sustainable production processes. For instance, all of our resources are locally sourced raw materials that cut down on carbon emissions (transportation). These raw materials are sustainably harvested, conserved, and replanted; all of these skills have been taught and encouraged by Du Anyam to the farmers we work with. Moreover, all of our leftover materials are used as fertilizers, ensuring our waste is managed responsibly. By working with communities to teach these sustainable practices, our environmentally-friendly production model is replicable across the different villages we work with, creating a large-scale impact.

Moreover, our social initiatives have been no small feat. One of the main reasons why Du Anyam was started in the first place was to empower women weavers in the rural areas of Indonesia through weaving as a means of income and social mobility. The women that we work with are mostly mothers, who, through Du Anyam, can make an income to support their families while still having enough flexibility to have the time to take care of their children and complete other household duties. We have also committed to training our weavers, so they can have more technical and business skills that can be applied to their future. Through this model, we have worked with hundreds of communities in Indonesia, helping empower women but economically and socially. We have seen the standards of living of the communities work with rise, as the levels of income have increased. We have implemented basic services like health care and workplace safety, things that are seldom available in Indonesia.  This model has been successfully replicated across different regions and is even possible to recreate with different commodities.

In terms of governance, we’ve created multiple pathways to ensure that our enterprise works as efficiently as possible, with proper conduct and guidance. For instance, we have a few metrics in place, including a social compliance officer, a monitoring report booklet, annual auditing, and safety checklists to ensure that we stick to our social compliance regulations. Moreover, we have also created pathways for containment and corrective action plans, if noncompliance occurs, all to maintain the proper social regulations our enterprise needs.

Through our system, we hope to continue surpassing the limit of what can be achieved to help more people in Indonesia.

With the G20 forum being held in our home country, we are proud to represent the values that the forum aims to promote and grow worldwide.