• Pocket-sized booklets on fundamental workers' rights;
  
• water resistant posters which highlight OSH measures; and
• the entire lesson plan for the Certificate Program on "Social Dialogue, Labor Relations and Management Systems."

That lesson plan was jointly developed by CDH and the Universidad Nacional Aut�noma de Honduras.  Additionally, local Dominican partners CIAC and INCAP combined efforts to produce a set of illustrated materials written in both Spanish and Haitian Creole to train the predominately Haitian labor force working in the Dominican Republic's sugarcane and banana industries. 

To learn more about Project Cultivar's local partners, click here
For more information, contact SAI Program Associate, Eliza Wright- EWright@sa-intl.org

SAI has been working with Central America Ministries of Labor- and specifically with the offices of the inspectorates- to develop inspection protocols and codes of ethics for labor inspectors. This work is part of "Comply and Win," (Cumple y Gana) a project funded by the US Department of Labor working in the countries of the DR-CAFTA trade agreement. It is one of several projects aimed at building the capacity of labor ministries and other actors to both strengthen compliance with national and international labor norms, and also create an enabling environment for workers' rights.

Yolanda Brenes is SAI's Project Manager based in San Jose, Costa Rica. She is working with Latin America Programs Director, Elena Arengo to implement this project. The project goal is to help strengthen the labor inspection capacities of the Ministries of Labor by providing them with tools and instruments, as well as training, to conduct inspections that emphasize root cause analysis of labor violations and more preventive approaches. In 2009 alone, 275 labor inspectors were trained on best practices in labor inspection in order to help maintain factories and plantations' social compliance. While Ms. Brenes was in New York last month, she provided her insight on the project's impact in 2010, and experiences in the field (translated from Spanish):

How is the program advancing? How many inspectors have been trained?

Comply and Win III is successfully making advances in the six DR-CAFTA countries. The project is helping the Ministries to improve, and is achieving the first results with new Electronic Systems for documenting labor inspection and managing cases. In addition, Costa Rica has begun a national communication campaign with the new government to raise awareness about minimum standards.

Work is also underway in Nicaragua, as well as Honduras after its crisis, and is now moving and advancing. In September, SAI worked on the first draft of the Ethics Protocol and prepared tripartite workshops for consultation that were quite successful. By the end of 2010, Comply and Win III will have developed four different sets of protocols: 1) Ethics Protocols for Labor Ministries of Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Guatemala; 2) Protocols for Inspections on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Rights for Labor Ministries of El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Guatemala; 3) Protocols for Inspections on the most frequent violations for the Labor Ministries of El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Guatemala; and 4) Protocol for Inspections in the agricultural sector of the Dominican Republic.

Each protocol follows an arduous 4-step process of development:

• Development of methodology
• Research and tripartite consultations with key stakeholders- labor inspectors, business sector, trade unions
• Draft protocol and validation with stakeholders
• Training for labor inspectors on use of final protocol

A recent training session took place on September 7-8 in El Salvador, with participation of labor inspectors from all regions of the country. Two workshops focused on training for the Protocol on Labor Inspection for Private Security Companies, a very relevant topic in El Salvador.  Due to the increase in violence there, the use of private security companies has multiplied over the last few years, and issues have arisen about  working hours and the decentralization of contracted staff.

For the inspectors, the protocols are an essential tool for unifying criteria in their investigation, while at the same time integrating other important topics such as the general conditions for these workers.

From your experience in the field, can you explain the social impact of the program thus far?

Key to the project's impact is SAI's engagement of inspectors on their approach to inspections. Drawing on its experience in social auditing, SAI's training on inspection protocols with the labor inspectors emphasizes root cause analysis and prevention. This focus contributes to the broader strategy of Comply and Win- to strengthen the capacity of labor ministries. Amid renewed attention to the challenges faced by labor ministries - such as significantly limited resources- SAI has focused its technical support on specific, recognized areas for improvement.
 
Going forward, we are starting to work on protocols that focus on additional important topics, and economic sectors, i.e. agriculture and freedom of association. These will be of great relevance for these countries in their compliance with the White Paper signed by the Vice Ministers, as well as the Free Trade Agreement itself, and the adherence to labor rights in the region. Released in 2005, the White Paper, "the Labor Dimension in Central America and the Dominican Republic," contains recommendations to strengthen labor law compliance and improve the capacity of labor-related institutions in key areas such as freedom of association, inspection and compliance, and child labor prevention.

For more information, contact SAI Project Manager, Yolanda Brenes, YBrenes@sa-intl.org

SAI officially introduces Mohamed El Husseiny, as an Authorized Representative. Based in Egypt, he is an SA8000 certified auditor and trainer and is a managing partner at Sustainable Business Consulting (SBC). He is involved in the monitoring and development of social projects in Egypt, and provides consulting and training services for clients in various sectors.   

Mr. El Husseiny has already participated in SAI's work. As noted in an interview with him in our August 2010 newsletter, he played a critical role during the hands-on field audit training in the three Egyptian facilities, where his support and technical assistance helped the factories to achieve SA8000 certification-- the first three in Egypt. Additionally, he was responsible for translating the SA8000 standard from English into Arabic, as can be found on www.sa-intl.org/sa8000.

Mr. El Husseiny holds a B.A. with a major in the English Language. His additional education includes training in SA 8000, Project Management, Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability Reporting writing and assurance, and Inclusive Markets Development.

For more information, contact Mr. El Husseiny, Melhusseiny@sa-intl.org

# Employees: 1,306,579
# Certified Facilities: 2,258
#Countries Represented: 60
#Industries Represented: 66
SA8000 Certified Facilities List

SAI and SAAS staff gather with Project Cultivar local partner Alsides Brea- Executive Director of INCAP in the Dominican Republic (top, fifth from left) at New York headquarters.

[From left: SAI Advisory Board member, Manuel Rodriguez, Senior VP of Government and International Affairs and Corporate Responsibility Officer- Chiquita; Deverl Maserang, VP North American Product Supply- Chiquita; Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica]   

October 2 [photo above]- Project Cultivar Local Partner Visits SAI Office in New York Alsides Brea, Executive Director of  INCAP based in the Dominican Republic, visited SAI's office in New York (see photo above) to brief staff on his experiences with Project Cultivar, and to give an update on the new educational materials produced  and presented at the regional partners meeting in Honduras in early October. Click here to learn more about INCAP's work in Project Cultivar

August 28- Chiquita Inauguration Ceremony in Costa Rica to Launch Biodigester SAI Advisory Board member, Manuel Rodriguez celebrated the launch of the Biodigester in Costa Rica with the country's President, Laura Chinchilla. The Biodigester is a new sustainable technology that will utilize excess fruit material and processing water to produce energy for its operations.

Martin Smith, CEO Just Means, interviews Eileen Kaufman at the Certification, Consumption and Change 

September 25- IGERT 2010 Energy and Sustainability Conference SAI Assistant Manager of Corporate Programs and Training Kathryn Critchell, presented at this conference, at the University of Delaware, on the topic "From the Factory to Your Door: Supply Chains and Sustainability."

September 29- Certification, Consumption and Change SAI Executive Director Eileen Kaufman was a speaker at this event hosted by Insource in London about assessing the effectiveness of social certifications. Click here to watch a video interview of Ms. Kaufman by Justmeans.

SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin in Geneva stands with John Ruggie, UN Special Representative to the Secretary General for Business and Human Rights