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To help SAI improve the quality of life of working people around
the world, click here to make a pledge today. Your gift will be tax deductible.
SAI is a 501 (C)(3)
charitable organization.
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Nicaragua & Honduras:
Notes from the Field and Photos
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Alice Tepper Marlin's Visit to Central America
to Observe SAI's Cultivar Program
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At
the Cultivar Forum on Social Dialogue in Chinandega, Nicaragua on February 22,
Alice Tepper Marlin spoke to an
audience which included managers, workers, trade union leaders, and government
representatives. She connected their progress on the banana farms of
Nicaragua to cases in
Kenya and China in which
multi-stakeholder dialogue transformed workplace conditions, supporting their
commitment to mitigate workplace occupational health
& safety risks and sustain
the social dialogue. The Forum
was initiated by SAI
and Local Partner PASE through Project Cultivar.
This forum
took place during Ms. Tepper Marlin's recent visit to Nicaragua and Honduras, during
which she and Cultivar Project
Director Dr. Rafael Barrera
consulted with
stakeholders from business, government and labor sectors on progress in Cultivar
and other SAI programs, including:
- Nicaraguan National Legislative
Committee on Labor,
- Sandinista Workers Central "Jose
Benito Escobar" (CST-JBE),
- Managers of the
banana producers Pennsylvania Consortium, Teresa and Coquimba,
- Working and Unemployed Women's
Movement "María Elena Cuadra",
- Embassy of the Netherlands to Nicaragua,
- Evangelical
University of Nicaragua
"Martin Luther King",
- Honduras Private
Business Council (COHEP),
- Honduran Vice-Secretary of Labor
and Social Security,
- Unified Confederation of Honduran
Workers(CUTH),
- General Workers Central
(CGT)
- Swiss Cooperation for Central America (COSUDE),
- Universidad Paolo Freire (UPF),
- USAID Honduras Delegation
Building on this
cooperation, the Cultivar Regional Office recently moved into a new
office space in the neighborhood, Altos de Nejapa, in Managua,
Nicaragua.
The Cultivar team is looking forward to upcoming events, including a training workshop with banana farms in Northeastern Honduras, organized by the Center for Human Development (CDH). In the Dominican Republic, there will be a high-level presentation by local partners, INCAP and IDDI for the Dominican Republic's Secretary of Labor regarding current and upcoming projects, and to coordinate efforts. Recently, this month in Nicaragua, a worker-manager training on complaint management was held.
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From left: Matt Fischer-Daly, Project Cultivar Program Associate; Alice Tepper Marlin, SAI President; Julia Ponce, SAI Program Associate; Dr. Rafael Barrera, Project Cultivar Program Director; Alberto Legall, Executive Director of PASE (Project Cultivar's local partner in
Nicaragua)
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New momentum for sustainability standards
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The
ISEAL Alliance has called for unprecedented efforts to ensure that voluntary
standards systems play an expanding role in achieving social justice and
environmental sustainability worldwide. Presenting its Strategic Plan 2009-2013,
ISEAL sets a roadmap
for credible standards systems.
"The ISEAL Strategic Plan clearly
dissects the challenges in the social and ecological standards arena and
outlines the actions to be followed to deal with these. It is a landmark
document which will guide the ethical standards movement for years to come,"
notes Andre de Freitas, Executive Director of the Forest Stewardship Council and
Chair of the ISEAL Board.
The plan outlines ISEAL's commitment to
the following steps
in order to scale up the impacts of voluntary standards systems:
1.
International guidance for credible standards systems. In addition to ISEAL's
existing Standard-Setting Code, additional Codes of Good Practice on Measuring
Impact and on Verification will be developed. An independent evaluation
mechanism and capacity building will improve operating practices of
standards
systems.
2. A
framework for collaboration and cooperation among standards
systems. To scale up, standards systems need to work more effectively as a
coordinated movement, making it easier to access their systems.
3.
Governance structures for the future. With an expanding community
having a stake in the
future of the voluntary standards movement, ISEAL's role is evolving to respond
to their needs. ISEAL will introduce a new Stakeholder Council to oversee its
Codes of Good Practice and will revise its governance structure.
ISEAL's Strategic Plan is based on the growing recognition that
voluntary standards can make significant contributions towards social justice
and environmental sustainability, explains Dr Sasha Courville, ISEAL Executive
Director. "We hear demands from all sides to scale up the standards systems
model to ensure they can meaningfully contribute to addressing the scale of
sustainability challenges we face today."
SAI is one of 8 organizations
that are full members of the ISEAL
Alliance. Full Members have demonstrated
that they meet requirements
for good practice in either their international standard-setting
(SAI has done so)
or international
accreditation practices or have committed to
demonstrate full compliance within three years from the date of membership
approval.
For more
information and to download the
Strategic Plan 2009-2013:
www.isealalliance.org
Contacts:
Wiebke Herding, ISEAL Communications Manager
Email:
wiebke@isealalliance.org |
Upcoming SAI Training Courses
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3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
April 20-22: Chennai, India Enroll Now
5-Day Basic Auditor Training
April 20-24:
Karachi, Pakistan Enroll Now
SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
April- June 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now |
3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
May 25-27: Shenzhen, China Enroll Now
5-Day Basic Auditor Training
May 2009: Cairo, Egypt Enroll Now
May 4-8: Rome Italy Enroll Now
May 11-15: Russia Enroll Now
Professional Development Series
May 28-29: Shenzhen, China Enroll Now
SA8000: 2008 Standard Revision Training Course
April-June 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now
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5-Day Basic Auditor Training
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SAI Welcomes a New
Corporate Programs Member
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Cocona, Inc. Joins SAI Corporate Programs
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Cocona, Inc. is a
privately held corporation headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The company produces performance
enhanced fabrics which provide evaporative cooling, UV protection and odor
management. Cocona® fabrics are made using natural technology™ derived from
coconut shells. The
technology will not wash off
or wear out, and is easily refreshed with normal laundering.
Cocona, Inc. joins
SAI Corporate Programs at the Explorer level. Explorer members work with
SAI to further the development and implementation of management systems for the
continual improvement of social compliance in the company and in its supply
chain. They work with SAI through training, technical assistance or
participation in a multi-stakeholder program of
work.
Over 60 brands
in North America and Europe have been licensed to use Cocona® fabrics and yarns,
including New Balance, Merrell, Marmot, Oakley, Timberland apparel, Woolrich,
Orvis, SportHill, Cutter and Buck, Ping, Izod, GoLite, Cannondale, Pearl Izumi,
Perry Ellis, Dockers, Eddie Bauer, Adidas, VauDe, Peak Performance, Mammut,
Millet, Rossignol, and Haglöfs.
"We feel that our affiliation with SAI
will help our company improve the social compliance of our global supply chain",
says Brad Poorman, CEO of Cocona, Inc.
For infomation on how to become a Corporate Member Click here
For a list of current SAI Corporate Members
Click here |
SAI Publishes New Handbook for Corporate Members
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Implementing a Socially Responsible Supply Chain
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SAI
recently published a handbook entitled, "Implementing a Socially
Responsible Supply Chain," containing an extensive toolkit for building a
management system for supply chain control.
Major
sections of the Handbook are:
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Building the Business Case -
Your Purchasing Practices
and Their Impact on Social Compliance The Elements of Social Compliance
Building Blocks of
the Socially Responsible Supply Chain Managing the Socially
Responsible Supply Chain Management System Toolkit for Brands &
Retailers
The
Handbook is intended to be a practical reference book and a tool to help a
company with implementing or improving its social compliance policies and
procedures. The goal is to assist companies to understand and develop the
management systems that are necessary for the continual improvement of social
compliance in the supply chain. It was written to be applicable whether a
company chooses to develop their own corporate code of conduct, adopt an
industry code, or ultimately seek SA8000 certification in its supply chain.
The
Handbook includes a Supplier Tiered Rating System that can be used to rate a
supplier's current performance and identify specific areas for improvement.
Brands and retailers are seeking to transition from auditing-intensive programs
to ones that help suppliers develop internal capacity. The use of a tiered
rating system encourages buyers and suppliers to openly establish a baseline
measurement, then use management systems (policies and procedures) and training
to help the suppliers improve their social compliance.
The
Handbook is only available to SAI Corporate Members.
If you are interested,
please contact Craig Moss, Director
- Corporate Programs & Training, cmoss@sa-intl.org |
One
key issue facing brands and retailers today is the issue of forced child labor
in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan. Over the past year, a
coalition of socially responsible investors, industry associations, foundations,
NGO's, Multi-stakeholder Initiatives and companies has formed focused on
eradicating this practice in the Uzbekistan. SAI looks forward to
actively participating in this
effort.
The issue has been well reported in BBC, Financial Times, Fortune
and the New York Times stories
that documented
the issue of systematic forced child labor used in cotton production in
Uzbekistan. Approximately two
million school children spend 2 to 3 months a year harvesting cotton under
extreme conditions working seven days a week.
The Uzbekistan
government developed a plan to improve practices, but it has not yet been
implemented; many observers believe that the government does not intend to do
so., and reports of child labor during the 2008 harvest season continued.
Additionally, in August of 2008, the Uzbekistan Government rejected an
independent survey of conditions to be led by the ILO and UNICEF.
SAI
members Disney and Gap Inc and others,
including ETI member
Marks &
Spencer, plus
Target
and
Wal-Mart, have taken steps
to eliminate cotton grown in Uzbekistan from their supply
chains until the abuses cease.
Companies asked their suppliers to
provide country of origin information on cotton and some are evaluating
traceability systems to help them identify the origin.
The
University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) recently
posted a study --"Invisible to the World: The Dynamics
of Forced Child Labour in the Cotton Sector of
Uzbekistan."
Additionally, four major US trade associations that
represent 90% of cotton merchandise sold in the US have asked
the Uzbek government to end child labor in cotton production. Stakeholder
meetings are planned this spring in the
US and Europe to seek solutions.
For
more information, please contact Sean Ansett,
SAI's European Representive, at sean@atstakeadvisors.com.
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DNV
India
Support for the New AA1000 Assurance Standard
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Recent corporate
events in India have strengthened the call for
more integrity, enhanced responsibility and greater transparency from
businesses. Det Norske Veritas
(DNV) - in its role as an assurance partner adopting AA1000AS for its
engagement of sustainability assurance services - organised a workshop in
Mumbai, India January 22 highlight these
standards for Indian corporations.
Speakers
included Anant Nadkarni, of TCCI
(Tata), a member of the SAI Advisory Board,
and D.K.S. Moorthy, Head, Sustainability &
Business Excellence, DNV India.
DNV is accredited by
SAAS for SA8000 and for BSCI gap analyses.
Mr.
Moorthy commented that "The release of this standard and its adoption goes a
long way in establishing confidence through disclosure principles that are
clear. The recent events in Indian Corporate history have cast a doubt. I am
glad to note the high response we have received for this launch event clearly
shows that most Indian companies are forward looking and wanting to work in an
ethical manner".
The 2008 edition of the AA1000 standard marks a major
step forward for sustainability assurance. AccounAbility launched AA1000
Accountability Principles Standard (2008) in London on Oct 24, 2008. Eileen Kaufman, Executive Director of SAI, serves as a
member of the technical committee for AA1000AS. The standard provides the
requirements for conducting independent assurance on the nature and extent of an
organisation's understanding of and response to its non-financial,
sustainability issues and on the quality of its publicly disclosed information
on its sustainability performance.
For more information on the AA1000 Assurance Standard, click here |
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From left: Daniel Weistell, Standards
& related Services Manager, AccountAbility, UK ; N.R.Krishnakumar, Director
of Operations, DNV India & Middle East ; Anant Nadkarni, Vice -President-
Group Corporate Sustainability, Tata Council for Community Initiatives;
D.K.S.Moorthy - DNV Global SA-8000 Accreditation Manager
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Interns play a
tremendous role here at SAI. We are fortunate to
have four interns this spring
that
come from wonderfully
diverse backgrounds. We are proud to introduce you to John Pien, Mark
Farrell-Javits, Ariel Naili Gu, and Chris Kip, in
their own words:
John Pien, on himself:
"I should call
myself the grandpa-intern, as I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1998. I am
currently consulting in my previous capacity at Gap
Inc., keeping the
sidewalks in the international markets well-dressed. I lived in
Germany and
Japan and have one more continent to
visit before I've reached all seven."
On his experience at SAI:
"After working for
fifteen years in the retail sector at Gap Inc., I've decided to pursue a career
in human rights and potentially international law; SAI's framework is a good
platform for me to learn about the field, yet given my skills from my previous
work, I appreciate not feeling like I have to start from scratch. I am
interested in gaining a better understanding of how all of the various groups
interact in approaching current labor and human rights issues.
At SAI,
I'm working with Corporate Programs & Training, assisting with revisions to
some of the auditor training courses as well as some management of currently
active courses. It is enlightening to work here. I used to work with hundreds
of people - the scale of the workplace here is very different but in a lot of
ways much more manageable."
Mark
Farrell-Javits on himself:
"I am happy to be
working at SAI and advancing the cause of decent work at a global level. Since
my undergraduate degree from Denison
University, Ohio, in
Theology and my graduate studies in International Affairs at the New School, New
York, I have pursued the question: What matters most to people? Employment of a
certain quality is among the best answers I have found."
On his experience at SAI:
"I applied to
intern here after researching external labor rights monitoring groups for a
graduate school project. Of all the groups I evaluated, I was most attracted to
SAI because of the progressive nature of the SA8000 standards and because SAI
was treated best of all similar organizations in the literature I
reviewed.
Currently I am working on a number of research oriented
projects: Examining the many elements of SA8000 that will enable effective implementation of
the forthcoming
ISO 26000 guidance document; evaluating the impact of certification on working
conditions; periodic review of relevant publications and organizations; and
various administrative tasks.
Interning here has
been a great experience. I love working along side bright, engaged and
supportive people who are visibly committed to issues that are important to
me."
Ariel Naili Gu on herself:
"I'm volunteering
at SAI because I'm interested in Corporate Social Responsibility and Human
Rights. I'm a graduate student in Columbia University but I used to be an in-house legal counsel
after graduation from the law school in China. I chose my own English name
"Ariel", it was from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and "The Little Mermaid",
because not only I'd like to make harmless jokes on other people but also I'm a
good swimmer."
On her experience at SAI:
"I really enjoy the
internship in SAI, I think it is a great opportunity to apply what I learn from
the school into the real world. At the beginning, I was interested in SAI's
SA8000 standards, like how it applies, why it sets
up, what kind of
international laws it takes as references, but generally I think it will be more
interesting to see how it works in a specific country like China, because
it requires compliance with local laws and regulations. It's fascinating to see
a standard become more practical in the reality.
Currently I'm working
on the China's Labor Contract
Law, revision of SA8000 guidance, workers' living wage and major initiatives in
China. I think it is a good way for
me to understand the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility through SAI and
its SA8000."
Chris Kip on himself:
"I finished my
graduate studies (MA in political science from The New School for Social
Research, New
York) in May 2008 and I am planning to attend law school
in fall 2009 to study international human rights law."
On his experience at SAI:
"Interning at SAI
is great because it gives me profound insight towards understanding the benefits
and challenges voluntary codes are facing in their efforts to improve the
situation of workers around the globe. As one of the leading NGOs to promote
work-related human rights, SAI provides a unique opportunity to gain insight
into the functioning of standard systems seeking to globally improve working
conditions on a voluntary basis. I'm working on providing theoretical background
(summarizing and grouping of case studies) for impact evaluation of SA8000. I'm
most interested in the real and measurable benefit SA8000 has for workers on the
ground."
We are always welcoming new interns, for opportunities click here
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SA8000:
The First Decade; Implementation, influence, and impact
Deborah
Liepziger's forthcoming book Social Accountability 8000: The First Decade;
Implementation, Influence, and Impact will be available May
2009. This book is the first book in the
field of corporate social responsibility to examine the progress of a standard
over a ten-year period. It will feature chapters written by SAI Corporate Members and project
partners:
Partha
Sengupta and Priyadarshini Sharma of Tata Steel, Mike
Patrick of TNT, Dr. Johannes Merck of Otto Versand, Franco Furno of Gucci, Dan Henkle of Gap Inc., George Jaksch of Chiquita, Lorenz Berzau of Business and Social Compliance Initiatives (BSCI), Janet Mensik of Solidaridad, Dr. Morton Winston of the College of New Jersey, Paloma Raggo of Syracuse University, Michael Hiscox, Claire
Schwartz, and Michael Toffel of Harvard
University,
and Beat Gruninger of Brazil-based
Business Meets Social Development (BSD)
Additionally, it features chapters from SAI's internal team:
Alice Tepper
Marlin, Eileen
Kohl Kaufman, Craig Moss, and Rochelle Zaid.
1st International Sustainability Conference in Nürnberg: Closing report
The
1st International Conference on Sustainable Production, Trade,
Consumption and Lifestyle took place in CongressCenter Ost of
NürnbergMesse from 17-18 February 2009, before the world-leading
exhibition BioFach. SAI's Executive Director, Eileen Kaufman was one of 246 representatives from 14 countries used the
sector forum to exchange views on economic, social and ecological
sustainability - one of the major issues of our time and an important
goal especially with future generations in mind. The spectrum of topics
ranged from sustainability, trade and the necessity for social business
models to conflicts between economic growth and global ecological
balance.
To access the closing report, click here
"Shaping Globalisation -Scaling up Voluntary Standards" International
Conference
The German Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) initiated the international
conference "Shaping Globalisation - Scaling up Voluntary Standards"
in October 2008. More than 150 participants from civil society, governments,
standard organisations, companies, producers, universities and researchers
discussed how the standard environment has to be designed in order to achieve
maximum impact. SAI President, Alice Tepper Marlin, and Executive Director,
Eileen Kaufman both presented at this conference. The conference was an excellent exchange platform and extremely inspiring
for the next steps to be taken in order to scale up voluntary standards.
BMZ has recently released the documentation for this
conference, which summarizes the discussions, speeches, presentations, and
outcomes. Click here to access this
documentation.
PRI
Board Urges Responsible Investment
in Wake of Financial Crisis
In a joint statement released on 2 March, the Board of the UN-backed
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) said the world faces the largest
financial crisis in a generation and released an eight-point plan for
institutional investors to respond to the crisis. PRI Board members represent
some of the world's largest pension funds from five different continents.
Together they are urging fellow institutional investors to accept their share
of responsibility for the current crisis, work together to improve risk
management practices and create a culture of active ownership. For more information, click here |
Announcements and Upcoming Events
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Business Respect Launches New Website
Business Respect has run for the
last eight years as an email newsletter on CSR, which now reaches 10,000 people
across the world. During that time it has been based at the mallenbaker.net
website. Their new website, http://businessrespect.net/, will take
over as the main source for this sort of traffic, with new facilities such as a
CSR events calendar, and a CSR jobs board.
Ethical
Sourcing Forum North America 2009
26-27 March 2009,
New York,
US
Craig
Moss, SAI's Director of Corporate Programs and Training will be presenting
at the upcoming Ethical Sourcing Forum, hosted by Intertek. This forum is to
broaden understanding of sustainable business practices currently transforming
global supply chain practices. Attendees can learn about models that are being
implemented, as well as enablers that are driving success from business leaders,
policy makers, academics and key industry stakeholders.For more information, click here
CSR Performance Summit 2009May
11-13, New York "Opportunity in a Time of
Transition: Maximizing Budgets, Ensuring Profitability, & Measuring Performance"
New York City
Conference & Training Center
For more information, click here
Ethical Corporation's 8th
Annual The Responsible Business Summit
11-12 May 2009, London,
UK
This event is the largest CSR conference in Europe. With over 500 senior-level attendees each year,
this is THE meeting place for CR professionals in 2009.
For more information, click here |
We invite you to continually send any updates for us to publish in our monthly newsletters!
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email: jong@sa-intl.org
contact: Joleen Ong, +1/212/684/1414 x234
web: http://www.sa-intl.org
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