June 2009

In This Issue
MFA Forum: Industry Response to the Economic Crisis
SAI Europe: Uzbekistan Cotton Update
A Look Inside "SA8000:The Next Decade"
Upcoming 2009 Training Schedule
Chiquita Wins Excellence Award for Sustainability in Global Logistics
Project Cultivar Welcomes a New Staff Member
News and Publications
Meet SAI's New Interns
Announcements and Upcoming Events

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MFA Forum: Industry Response to
the Economic Crisis



Alice Tepper Marlin Speaks at MFA Forum in Washington DC

On May 21-22, SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin spoke at the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) Forum in Washington DC. This forum, "Responding to the Crisis: The Global Recession and its Impact on Workers in the Garment and Footwear Industry" convened at the International Finance Corporation office to discuss a framework for action for short to medium term safety nets and trade financing within the garment and footwear industry. It also focused on presenting responses needed to mitigate the risks and strategically plan for the future.

The participants discussed the dire circumstances that millions of women and men face in the apparel and footwear industries. These two industries compose one of the largest employment sectors in the developing world, where the economic crisis has devastated employment rates, throwing an estimated 11.5 million out of work. Some 80% of apparel workers are women.

Ms. Tepper Marlin, a member of the MFA Forum's Executive Committee opened the panel on visions of what could be ten years after the MFA Forum framework was implemented, how the industry could look:

"In 2015...Apparel jobs typically pay a living wage and hours of work are reasonable. In the top apparel producing countries, the sector functions as a route out of the cycle of poverty, into a reasonably secure environment where workers are protected by unemployment insurance from falling into extreme poverty should they be laid off...Widely available retraining generally build skills that industry actually needs and that lead to jobs. As a result, domestic demand substantially supplements the export market for clothing. Their children have access to public education and succeed in moving on to higher skill positions. Ladders for advancement enable entry level workers to move ahead, continually opening up entry level positions for people now earning under $2/day."

For Alice's full comments, click here
 

Forum participants ranged from NGOs, Trade Unions, Government, and Businesses. Participating on behalf of SAI were Corporate Program member, Gap Inc., represented byEva Sage-Gavin, Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Communications and Global Responsibility, and Darryl Knudsen, Project Manager of Global Partnerships. Neil Kearney, General Secretary of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) and a member of the SAI Founders Committee of our Advisory Board, and SAI Program Director, Judy Gearhart also participated. Mr. Knudsen led the session on trade finance.
 
The MFA Forum is a collaboration of brands and retailers, trade unions, NGOs and multi-lateral institutions in the textile and garment sector. It aims to improve sustainability while promoting social responsibility and competitiveness in national garment industries that are vulnerable in the post-MFA trading environment.

For more information on the MFA Forum, click here

SAI Europe: Uzbekistan Cotton Update

On May 24, the British Sunday paper, The Observer, published an article reporting the efforts of large retailers to eliminate forced child labor in Uzbekistan's state-sponsored cotton fields. 

Two months ago, in the March edition of SAI's Newsletter, we released an update on the current situation in Uzbekistan, and retailers' approaches to rectifying this grim situation. In what is considered to be one of the most exploitative industries in the world, collective actions taken by some of the world's largest retailers-Gap Inc., Tesco, Asda Wal-Mart, and Marks & Spencer, International NGO's such as the ILRF and As you Sow, and socially responsible investors including Calvert, Domini and ICCR have influenced the previously uncooperative government to sign the ILO's conventions that commit the country to stop using forced child labor in its cotton industry. 

"We became aware of real problems in Uzbekistan," said Alan Wragg, Tesco's clothing technical director. "Government-organised forced child labour literally forced kids out of school into vans. It's awful. The fact that its industry is sponsored by the government and there's 40% unemployed in the country makes it worse. So when we became aware of this, we told our suppliers not to use Uzbeki cotton in the supply chain."

The Uzbeki government disputes that its cotton industry sponsors forced child labor, saying that this claim has been spread by cotton-producing countries that are losing market share. It adds that its monitors ensure that the best international standards are adhered to.

The tremendous efforts undertaken by the retailers have been an important step towards change.  Gap Inc. is a Signatory member of SAI's Corporate Programs, following Tesco in piloting technology to track and trace its garments from store to farm.
 
The Responsible Cotton Network, made up of multiple stakeholders including SAI, welcomes interested brands and retailers to join in the efforts to put a stop to this practice.
 
Meetings have been organized in San Francisco, Washington DC, and London, and on June 11th in Geneva at the UN, which coincided with the ILO's International Labor Conference. An additional meeting is scheduled for September in Germany, details to be provided. Webinars regarding this issue are planned for June 17th and June 25th   
 
More information can be found at www.responsible-cotton.net or contact Sean Ansett, SAI European Representative at [email protected] for more details on how to become involved.

To read the full article, click here

A Look Inside SA8000: The Next Decade

Book excerpt:  SA8000: The First Decade. Implementation, Influence,
and Impact, edited by Deborah Leipziger.


Chapter 1: TNT and SA8000

"In 2003, TNT recognized the importance of market differentiation to ensure its survival in a highly competitive market. Demonstrating leadership in corporate sustainability was one part of our strategy to achieve overall industry leadership. We also recognized that corporate social responsibility (CSR) encompassed not only what we did with our profits, but also how we went about making them. We said that it went beyond philanthropy and compliance to addressing how we managed our economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as our relationships with our key stakeholders.

Engaging employees in corporate sustainability was considered an opportunity to instill pride and genuinely inspire them, in particular commitments that extended beyond compliance.
 
TNT recognizes that applying SA8000 or any other standard cannot in itself guarantee fair practice; it must be combined with continuous monitoring by our workers, management, NGOs, and local authorities as well as having 'mind-sets' of social values that are not only espoused but also lived and owned by our business units and countries."

This chapter was written by Mike Patrick, Corporate Social Responsibility Director, TNT. For more information or to order a copy of this book, click here

Upcoming SAI Training Courses


July


5-Day Basic Auditor Training
July 6-10: New Delhi, India Enroll Now
July 20-24: São Paulo, Brazil Enroll Now

3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
July 20-22: Athens, Greece Enroll Now

Professional Development Series
July TBD: Shenzhen, China Enroll Now
July TBD: Padua, Italy Enroll Now
July TBD: Manza, Italy Enroll Now

SA8000: 2008 Standard Training Revision Course- Online Webinar
July-September 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now

August

5-Day Basic Auditor Training
August 3-7: Tokyo, Japan  Enroll Now
August 17-21: Istanbul, Turkey Enroll Now
August 17-21: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Enroll Now
 
3-Day Advanced Auditor Training 
August 24-26: Shanghai, China Enroll Now

Professional Development Series
August TBD: Dubai, UAE Enroll Now
August 11-12: Shanghai, China Enroll Now

SA8000: 2008 Standard Training Revision Course- Online Webinar
July-September 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now

September


3-Day Advanced Auditor Training
September 23-25: Milan, Italy Enroll Now

Professional Development Series
September 22-23: San Jose, Costa Rica Enroll Now
September 28-29: Hamburg, Germany Enroll Now
September 29-30: Karachi, Pakistan Enroll Now
September 29-30: California, USA Enroll Now

SA8000: 2008 Standard
Training Revision Course- Online Webinar
July-September 2009: Web-Based Training Enroll Now

Corporate Programs Member Update


Chiquita Wins Excellence Award for Sustainability in Global Logistics

     
From left: Waheed Zaman, senior vice president, product supply; Manuel Rodriguez, senior vice president and corporate responsibility officer; Deverl Maserang, vice president, product supply; Dr. Omar Keith Helferich, Ph.D., Central Michigan University; Ana Lucia Alonzo, director of advance planning.
On May 13, 2009, the Distribution Business Management Association (DBMA), represented by 50 of the top global supply chain companies, gave Chiquita Brands International the 2009 Circle of Excellence Award at the DBMA's annual meeting in Jacksonville, Florida.  This is the Association's highest recognition for environmental protection and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

SAI Advisory Board member, Manuel Rodriguez, Senior Vice President and Corporate Responsibility Officer at Chiquita, received the award and shared highlights of the company's CSR programs.  

"It was my pleasure to accept this award on behalf of the Chiquita global organization," said Mr. Rodriguez. "Our focus on practical accomplishments in sustainability over the past 10 years has helped transform the company into a CSR leader.  We're excited about the future as we collaborate with top organizations and universities on the challenges ahead in sustaining our natural resources and caring for our environment."  

DBMA presents this award to the one company each year that demonstrates the highest standards of quality and technology in supply chain logistics. 

The award recipient is selected by an international panel of judges representing top universities and industry trade associations in the U.S. The judges evaluated Circle of Excellence award candidates on criteria including supply chain environmental and disaster continuity preparedness, performance metrics on improved product or process quality, and overall cost efficiency. The award criteria also focused on environmental programs related to waste reduction and efficient use of packaging materials. 

Chiquita Brands International has been a supporting member of SAI's Corporate Programs since November 2007. With annual revenues of nearly $4 billion, Chiquita employs approximately 23,000 people and has operations in more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information on how to become an SAI Corporate Programs member, click here

Project Cultivar Welcomes a New Staff Member


Antonio Duarte Joins Project Cultivar
Team in Nicaragua


Project Cultivar welcomes a new staff member, Antonio Jose Duarte Valle, as SAI Project Cultivar's Assistant Director.

Previously, Mr. Duarte worked at the Bank of the Production (BANPRO) in Nicaragua as Vice-manager of credit. He graduated as Industrial Engineer from the American University (UAM) in Managua, Nicaragua, and completed a Masters degree in International Development and Finance at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, graduating with honors.

With his background in development and finance, Mr. Duarte will strengthen Project Cultivar's work to promote a culture of labor compliance together with employers, workers, unions of workers and the Governments of Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

SAI's Project Cultivar, supported by the US Department of Labor, and having partner organizations in three countries, works in the agricultural sector in Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. The project seeks to increase the capacity of employers, workers, trade unions & Government Ministries to develop a culture of compliance with national and international labor laws.

For more information on Project Cultivar, click here

News and Publications

The Golden Book-- A Call to End Human Trafficking:
A Collective of Voices

 
SAI President, Alice Tepper Marlin and SAI Advisory Board member Dan Henkle, Senior Vice President of Global Social Responsibility for Gap Inc, contributed to the second edition of The Golden Book-- A Call to End Human Trafficking: A Collective of Voices. The book was successfully launched during the "Human Trafficking at the Crossroads" conference in March in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
 
The Golden Book is a compilation of statements from leaders who support the End Human Trafficking Now! campaign. In her statement, Ms. Tepper Marlin explains the prevalence of human trafficking in today's world and how the SA8000 Standard addresses the subject of human trafficking to protect the rights of workers worldwide. 
 
Human trafficking is addressed in provision #4 of the SA8000 standard. "Implementing this provision is not as simple as it might seem, for those who engage in trafficking generally recognize it is illegal. They disguise these activities, hiding them far from the view of customers, auditors, and even prime suppliers who eschew forced labor."
 
Other contributors to the book include Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Fund International Partnerships; and Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. 

To download a copy of this book, click here

Comply and Prosper: Corporate Social Responsibility
and Challenges for Indian Companies


SAI Director of Corporate Programs and Training, Craig Moss,
was featured in the June issue of India's Management Next magazine in an article entitled, "Comply and Prosper." Management Next is a monthly that seeks to provide inspirational knowledge and perspective to CEOs and business owners worldwide. The June 2009 issue was a special issue dedicated to 'Green Management.' 
 
In "Comply and Prosper," Mr. Moss concentrates on the importance of corporate social responsibility as a way to improve business, and on how companies can get started.  "Corporate social responsibility is shifting from a risk mitigation strategy to becoming a competitive business advantage...Leaders today can clearly see the link between improved social  compliance and business performance." He also speaks about the challenge for Indian companies, "Practically all companies that have implemented SA 8000 in India have realized that the implementation makes them look at social compliance beyond "just taking care of statutory compliances as per labor laws."
 
For a copy of this article, please contact Joleen Ong  

Ashoka Foundation's Bill Drayton Honored by Yale University

On May 25, Bill Drayton, Chair and CEO of the Ashoka Foundation, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters by Yale University at its 308th commencement ceremony. The degree was conferred in recognition of Ashoka's role in creating and building the field of social entrepreneurship, along with the organization's central contribution to build a world where solutions outrun the problems. Started in 1702, the honorary degrees awarded at Yale University Commencement are the highest honor conferred by the university. 

In his citation, Yale University President Richard C. Levin noted, "You have defined and perfected the role of social entrepreneur, helping people around the world help themselves.  As the founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, you have sought creative solutions to the most pressing social problems."

The Ashoka Foundation is a global citizen group that has fostered entrepreneurial programs since 1980 in fields including economic development, social awareness, environmentalism, health, and human rights.  Bill Drayton is credited for defining the field of social entrepreneurship, and is a member of Ashoka's Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship.  SAI President, Alice Tepper Marlin, is also one of the six founding members of the Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship at the Ashoka Foundation since 2005, and was documented in its 16-disc DVD series entitled, "The Social Entrepreneurship Series."
 
For more information and to view video footage, click here

Meet SAI's New Interns

Interns play an important role here at SAI. This summer, we are pleased to welcome Emily Dinan, Hope Lewis, Kerry Scanlon, and Jessy Teicher, and to introduce them, in her own words: 
 
Emily Dinan
As an anthropology major at Columbia University, I am keenly aware of the importance of the work SAI does in the field of promoting human rights for workers.  My background is in the arts, having been a dancer for the Martha Graham Dance Company, and I worked in fundraising for dance companies and small theaters.  When I decided to give my leotard and tights a break for a while, I wanted to explore another field I have always been interested in-- working with human rights issues.  Through my development internship at SAI, I hope to gain insight and experience in the world of fundraising for a human rights organization. Overall, I want to use my time at SAI to better understand the nuts and bolts of a non-profit organization that is making an impact around the world. 

Hope Lewis
I'm a senior Spanish major at Wellesley College and I became interested in Latin America when I taught elementary and middle school kids in San Jorge, Nicaragua for a month after my freshmen year of college.  I recently became interested in human rights after I spent the past fall semester studying human rights in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Those experiences led me to choose to volunteer my time at SAI because I was intrigued by the idea of implementing human rights in the workplace.  I am most interested in the implementation of the SA8000 in Latin America.  Right now, I am working in the Program Department on Project Cultivar with Julia Ponce, reading diagnostics about the project and learning how the project works in Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.  Working here has been great and it has opened my eyes to the problematic working conditions workers face each day, and it has also shown me effective ways of fixing these problems. 

Kerry Scanlon
I am a rising senior at Wellesley College, majoring in French and Economics and have a passion for development work. I chose to intern at SAI this summer because of its focus on sustainable and responsible manufacturing, especially in the developing world, which I think is a very important, yet often overlooked, aspect of today's global business market. Throughout the course of my internship at SAI, I will be working with Eileen Kaufman on different projects, including reviewing the ISEAL code of good practice for impact assessment of voluntary standards. Already during my first few days of working with SAI, I have learned so much and hope to continue discovering new and interesting things about this field.

Jessy Teicher
I recently graduated from Columbia University with a masters in Human Rights and Eurasian studies. For my thesis, I researched how CSR initiatives are pressuring the Uzbek government towards reforming the state-sponsored human rights abuses prevalent in the Uzbek cotton industry. My research took me back to Uzbekistan, where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2005, and back to when I attended an annual cotton fair in Tashkent last October-- the only American non-industry professional in attendance. At SAI, I am working with the Program Department with Judy Gearhart, writing a report on best practices companies can use to manage their supply chains all the way to the cotton fields. I'm also working on grant proposals that would enable SAI to continue exploring and implementing cotton traceability initiatives. So far, working here has been such a fascinating experience. I find it really interesting to see how SAI applies different CSR theories to ensure that corporations comply with fundamental human rights requirements.

We are always welcoming new interns, for opportunities click here

Announcements and Upcoming Events

GRI Sustainability Reporting Short Course
25-26 June 2009, Chicago, USA
LEAD, Deloitte and Intertek Sustainability Solutions will present 2-day short courses on the world's most widely used sustainability reporting framework of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the USA and Canada. LEAD's GRI-certified training initiative has been endorsed by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE). Intertek has been accredited by SAAS to conduct audits under the SA8000 standard since 1999.
For more information, click here

Sustainability Stakeholder Engagement
15-16 July 2009, New York City
This event reports on innovations in corporate sustainability engagement with multi-stakeholders, including a ground-breaking session on using social media to build green credentials.  Keynotes from experts in sustainability engagement, including: Sprint, SAP, Whole Foods, ITT, Nestle Waters, Sharp, the NFL and more.
For more information, click here  
 
International Labor Standards, Rights and Beyond, Conference
14-15 August 2009, Stanford Law School, California
The conference will focus on the development of international labor standards and rights, beginning with a keynote address by Judge Rosemary Barkett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  Speakers will address topics including country-specific labor programs linking trade and labor rights, and the roles of the World Trade Organization and the International Labor Organization. Dan Henkle, SAI Advisory Board Member and Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility at Gap, Inc. is a featured speaker at this upcoming event. 
For more information, click here

We invite you to continually send any updates for us to publish in our monthly newsletters!

Social Accountability International (SAI) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes workers rights through multi stakeholder collaboration including companies, trade unions and NGOs. It assists partners in the development and use of practical tools, particularly the SA8000 standard, for safe and decent workplace conditions.
 
SAI and the SA8000 standard focus on the human elements of the workplace and the supply chain. SA8000 is the standard that considers the importance of each job and strives to recognize the equal dignity of each person involved in the supply chain - from the worker to the retailer to the consumer. Today SA8000 certification covers over 1830 facilities in 68 countries, across 67 industries, and over one million employees.
 
SAI is one of the world's leading social compliance training organizations, having provided training to over 15,000 people. SAI courses integrate compliance with management systems issues.
 
SAI is headquartered in the United States with representations in Brazil, China, India, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain, and Vietnam.

SAI
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New York, NY 10036
(212) 684-1414

Website: http://www.sa-intl.org

For newsletter inquiries contact:
Joleen Ong
[email protected]