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May 2010
In This Issue
1. Launch of "Scaling up CSR Initiatives in India"
2. Advisory Board Convenes in New York
3. Meeting Recap: Interviews with Achim Lohrie, Richa Gautam & Tina Stridde
4. How Disney is Working to Measure & Improve
5. Carrefour's Vendor Development Program in India
6. SAI Highlights & Announcements
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Director of SAI India Office
Social Accountability International (SAI)
India/New York


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A Look Inside "SA8000: The Next Decade"

Chapter 13:  Evaluating the Impact of SA8000 Certification

"The Social Accountability 8000 Standard (SA8000), along with other types of certification standards and corporate codes of conduct, represents a new form of voluntary 'self-governance' of working conditions in the private sector, initiated and implemented by companies, labor unions, and non-governmental activist groups cooperating together... Advocates promote SA8000 and similar codes as a necessary tool to improve working conditions, especially in nations that lack robust enforcement of regulatory standards."

This chapter was written by Michael Hiscox, Claire Schwartz, and Michael Toffel- Harvard University. For more information, or to order a copy of this book, click here
Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-governmental, multi-stakeholder organization established to advance the human rights of workers and the health of enterprises by promoting decent work conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility through voluntary standards.

SAI- Human Rights at Work
Website: www.sa-intl.org

For newsletter inquiries contact: Joleen Ong, [email protected]
TopLaunch of 'Scaling Up CSR Initiatives in India'
SAI, BSCI & GTZ Partner to Build Capacity of Suppliers on Social Compliance



In an effort to address the lack of adequate CSR related support structures as well as the proliferation of standard systems in India, SAI and the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) have joined forces with the Deutsche Gesellschaft f�r Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH - German Technical Cooperation. The project, 'Scaling up CSR Initiatives in India',  initiated as a Development Partnership (PPP), is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Increasing the number of socially responsible suppliers | The project aims at scaling up current CSR initiatives in India, by developing local enabling and qualifying structures which are harmonized, correspond with local conditions, and are affordable for companies.

Building the capacity for long term CSR performance of Indian companies |The project will use a multi-stakeholder approach, inviting key Indian CSR stakeholders to provide input and expertise on the services that are required by the local industry. This input will feed into the development of a national CSR Expertise Centre whose purpose will be to provide CSR-related services, information, guidance and training to Indian manufacturers and key stakeholders.

Dialogue with local stakeholders | An important aspect of this project is to help suppliers become 'responsibly competitive' in a fast growing Indian economy both domestically and internationally. Intensive engagement and dialogue with local stakeholders is a key component towards achieving this aim, and will be facilitated through the CSR Expertise Centre.

>> Learn more about the PPP project
>> Read an interview with Richa Gautam, Consultant- IICA-GTZ CSR Initiative
about the potential impact of this PPP Project in India.
Tackling Strategic Issues to Reach Goals
SAI Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Board Meeting Convenes in New York

Darryl Knudsen, Director of Public Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at Gap Inc., discusses the potential benefits of SAI's Online Training Center
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart

Steven Oates, Senior Advisor on Rights at Work, ILO, comments on the effects of KPIs on social standards
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
On May 4-6, SAI's multi-stakeholder Advisory Board convened for its semi-annual meeting in New York.  Bringing together a diverse array of experts that represent businesses, trade unions, and NGOs, the Advisory Board's technical expertise helps to inform SAI's leadership.

Including over 30 board members and observers that arrived in New York from a wide array of locations-- such as India, Germany, Italy, and California-- the board came together to discuss strategic issues that focused specifically on how SAI can its goals of scaling up, increasing impact, and increasing effectiveness, as outlined in its five-year plan.


KT Ramakrishnan, Managing Director of RINA India, discusses the concept of 'next practices'
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
Achim Lohrie, Chair of SAI's Advisory Board and Head of CSR at Tchibo GmbH, facilitated the meeting, where board members, SAI staff, and invited observers took part in listening and participating in discussions on presentation on new joint  projects and advances in SAI's work since the last board meeting in Rome in October 2009.

Some of the key strategic issues on the items on the agenda for discussion were:

-Scaling up through training and technical assistance with the development of the new online training system

-Increasing effectiveness through proposed modifications to  SAAS' accreditation standards 

>> Read more
about the strategic issues, and a recap on presentations and discussions.
Back to top
Meeting Recap: Interviews from Meeting Participants
Achim Lohrie, Richa Gautam & Tina Stridde

Q. What are some of your key takeaways from the meeting?

SAI Advisory Board Chair, Achim Lohrie, Head of CSR at Tchibo GmbH
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
Achim Lohrie: The advances in SAI's work speak to its understanding and acknowledgment of the 5-year plan. For example SAI's online training system is an amazing addition that will prove to be a huge resource, as it will help to expand the number of programs to supplement their usual classroom-based training. Additionally exciting were new projects with Cotton Made in Africa's expansion into the US market, the upcoming project in India with GTZ and BSCI that is almost set to launch, a signed memorandum of understanding with the Rainforest Alliance to benchmark each others' standards, and the publication of SAI's 2009 Annual Report.

>>Read more about Achim's recap of the meeting, and what's in store for next Fall 2010


Meeting Observer, Richa Gautam, Consultant- IICA-GTZ CSR Initiative
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart

Richa Gautam: I think for me it was very useful to see SAI as an organization from the inside, to understand more of the dynamics and the basis for its priorities. The Board was very forthcoming in what they saw as SAI's role in the PPP and in India, which will also be useful in shaping the PPP. I was really impressed by the diversity of the board - not only in terms of gender and national origin, but diversity in expertise that greatly contributed to the discussions around the table.

>>Read more about Richa's perspective of the upcoming PPP project's potential impact in India




Meeting Observer, Tina Stridde, Marketing & Communications Director- Cotton Made in Africa
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
Tina Stridde: It was great to hear the feedback from retailers about the project, and of their perspective. I left the meeting with a lot of great ideas that will help support Cotton Made in Africa's outreach and marketing, especially in the US market. With our partnering with SAI for our outreach, sales and marketing to the US market, it will help to close the gap between taking care of sustainable production of cotton in the fields, to socially responsible production in the factories.

>>Read more about Tina's work with Cotton Made in Africa



How Disney is Working to Measure & Improve
Social Compliance in a Licensing Business Model

Laura Rubbo, Senior Manager at Disney, presents on Disney's Social Compliance in a Licensing Business Model
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
At the Advisory Board meeting, Laura Rubbo, Senior Manager at the Walt Disney Company, presented on its ongoing project with SAI to adapt its supplier tiered rating system for use in evaluating its licensees' ability to manage social compliance. This aim of this project is to assess how a management systems approach could be used in the licensing business model.

For Disney, this project is especially relevant, as Disney has thousands of licensees across the globe and is the largest licensor in the world, based upon retail sales. >>Read more
 
Carrefour's Vendor Development Program in India
Workshops in Bangalore, New Delhi & Tirupur to Improve Vendor Social Performance

Carole de Montgolfier, Head of CSR at Carrefour, reports on the workshops in India. 
SA8000 Certified Facilities Industry Chart
At the Advisory Board meeting, Carole de Montgolfier, Head of CSR at Carrefour, presented on Carrefour's commitment to implementing sustainable and responsible commerce, giving an overview of their joint Vendor Development Program with SAI to improve the social performance of its vendors.

In April 2010, SAI and Carrefour launched the Vendor Development Program in three cities in India- Bangalore, New Delhi. and Tirupur.  Two-day training workshops in each city were attended by Carrefour vendors, with the goal of sending a single unified message about how to integrate social performance into every day activities. These training workshops and technical assistance for the suppliers focused on the use of management systems and the creation of internal compliance teams as the means of creating change and driving continual improvement.  >>Read more
 
Highlights & Announcements

May 5 & 17 2010- Chiquita Brands International, SAI Corporate Programs Member, debuted corporate support for "A Salad in Every School" Campaign, and its Fresh Express subsidiary won the coveted 'Black Pearl' Global Food Safety Award.

May 12-13-
SAI Latin American Programs Director, Dr. Elena Arengo, participated in the WWF-coordinated Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue meeting in Puerto Montt, Chile, where she presented the "State of Information Report," of which she was one of the lead authors. The report addressed the context of salmon farming in three primary producer countries, associated labor issues, and impacts.

May 13- SAI's 2009 Annual Report released, chronicling stories and highlights from around the world that capture our vision of Human Rights at Work. SAI Development Associate, Joleen Ong, was interviewed in the 'Cracker Barrel for Regulating Responsibility' blog, produced by Amy Finnegan.

May 14-  ILO's Better Work Programme Names New Director Dan Rees, will leave his position as the director of the UK-based Ethical Trading Initiative and go to Geneva to lead this program to improve labor standards in global supply chains.
May 18- SAI Corporate Programs & Training Director, Craig Moss  participated on a panel hosted by RiskMetrics Group- "Labor Organization in a Global Economy," about the changing role of  trade unions.


SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur, top center, stands proudly with training participants at SAI's Basic SA8000 Auditor Training Course in Bangalore, India May 17-21 2010.

June 2010- The Corporate Responsibility Code Book, 2nd Ed.; Published by Greenleaf, author Deborah Leipziger's forthcoming revised second edition is a key reference text on corporate codes of conduct. The SA8000 standard is included, along with ETI's base code, and others.

June 24-25, 2010- SAI-UNGC-CIPE Case Studies to be issued at UNGC Leaders Summit 2010 These case studies profile 6 different companies, in 6 countries and 6 industries, informed by interviews with senior company managers to learn about their participation in the UNGC, and how the SA8000 standard has helped them to carry out the labor rights commitments.