VILLAGE CEREMONY WHEN FINLAND HONOURED WAR HEROES

Today, on Sunday19th of May, Finland honoured its war heroes. After the Soviet Union attacked this country in 1939, almost all Finnish families lost loved ones, the whole population defending our existence as a western independent county. Here in my Helsinki city region – Pitäjänmäki or Sockenbacka in Swedish – we have a small graveyard and memorial for these war heroes and of course I was there at the ceremony, expressing our gratitude, as president of the local residents association.

Jan Furstenborg

Global labour and sustainability engagement, follow the world, Pitäjänmäki Helsinki community active.

I am president of my community association Pitäjänmäki-seura and of a Social Democratic Veteran Activists association in the Finnish capital, Pääkaupungin Wanhat Toverit. Also secretary of my small Swedish-language party local, Socialdemokratiskt Forum, where I was actually president in the late 1960’s…

I am member of the GOTS Global Organic Textile Standard technical committee and advise the organisation on human rights and social issues in global supply chains.

PREVIOUSLY

Education secretary of the Finnish secondary students association Suomen Teiniliitto 1968-69.

Information and education secretary for the Finnish Commercial Workers Union from 1969 to 1986. Member of the Global and European Executive Boards of the commerce and white collar world trade union FIET and full time official in FIET and successor UNI Global Union from 1986 to 2009.

Member of Advisory and Stakeholder Boards in the global supply chain sustainability sector until the last years when I started to ’retire’ myself : SAI Social Accountability International and its SA8000, BSCI Business Social Compliance Initiative, GSCP Global Social Compliance Programme, APSCA the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors.

STILL FOLLOWING AND COMMENTING ON GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY

Quite impressed with much of what they have accomplished in a difficult world, I continue to follow their work and occasionally reflect on it. I believe that there must be a balance between compelling rules and voluntary initiatives if we really want to see large scale improvements.

You can follow me in Facebook, I write a bit less regularly in LinkedIn and Twitter.