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April 2011
In This Issue
1. Honoring Raja Gopal
2. Harvard eBay Experiment Evidences SA8000 Consumer Demand
3. Cholera Prevention in the Dominican Republic
4. SAI India: Call for Applications for Trainers
5. SA8000 Guidance Document for 2008 Standard
6. Social Fingerprint: Upcoming Program in Egypt
7. SAI-Netherlands Board Meeting in Amsterdam
8. Presentation to Coca-Cola & USAID's WADA Alliance
9. Snapshot from Guapiles, Costa Rica
10. Highlights & Announcements
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Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established to advance the human rights of workers by promoting decent work conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility through voluntary standards.

SAI is headquartered in the United States with field representation in Brazil, China, Egypt, India, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Turkey, Vietnam, and UAE.

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

For newsletter inquiries contact:
SAI Communications & Development Coordinator- Joleen Ong,
[email protected]
topHonoring Raja Gopal
SAI mourns the loss of Raja Gopal, an esteemed colleague and long-time friend of SAI. Mr. Gopal  suffered a fatal heart attack on March 27
Photo taken after a worker study circle training in Coimbatore, India. Raja Gopal (far right) in Coimbatore, India with SAI's former Program Manager, Elena Arengo (second from right) with a colleague from the ITGLWF.
SAI mourns the loss of our esteemed colleague and long-time friend, Raja Gopal, who passed away of a heart attack on March 27.

Mr. Gopal worked with SAI for a decade,  starting in 2001 when SAI partnered with the global union federation, the ITGLWF, to convene worker study circles in  9 countries  on 3 continents, including India, Lesotho, Thailand, and Honduras. At the time he served as Education Secretary for the ITGLWF. Although gentle in nature, Mr. Gopal was forceful with his convictions- he empowered workers and SAI staff with his dynamism and inspirational pedagogy. Since that Ford-funded project, Mr. Gopal worked with SAI and SAAS as an esteemed advisor, accreditation auditor and complaints investigator. >>Read more

A tribute to Raja Gopal is also available through the ITGLWF: http://bit.ly/lNVDhs

Back to top

Harvard eBay Tests Find High SA8000� Consumer Demand
A new working paper completed by Harvard University Prof. Michael Hiscox and colleagues tested whether consumers really vote with their dollars for products made under decent working conditions
[Photo above: eBay auction listing of the polo shirts labeled as SA8000 certified]  
"Consumer Demand for Fair Labor Standards," assessed consumer demand for goods that are certified as produced in decent workplaces. From experiments conducted on eBay between 2007 and 2008, researchers found encouraging evidence that a products label with a decent work certification has a positive effect on price and sales. Although SAI's label is B2B (to business rather than a consumer label), the Harvard team sourced the products from an SA8000� certified facility in Honduras making polo t-shirts for Cutter & Buck, for this simulation.    

The aim of the research was to test whether or not consumers would actually pay a price premium for certified products, as a majority says  that they will when surveyed.  The research team - led by Dr. Michael Hiscox, Harvard University; Michael Broukhim, Stanford University; Claire Litwin, Harvard University; and Andrea Woloski, Harvard University - set up two eBay auctions that sold identical Cutter & Buck polo shirts produced in an SA8000� certified facility.>>Read more

To read the entire working paper on the experiment, visit http://bit.ly/fu1Lwo
For more information, contact Joleen Ong, Communications & Development Coordinator at [email protected].
Cholera Prevention in the Dominican Republic
Project Cultivar's Dialogue Roundtables Address Public Health Emergency by Raising Awareness on Taking Preventative Measures
Roundtable dialogue participants discuss strategies on how to address cholera prevention for workers in the sugarcane sector
On April 8, 2011, the Dominican Ministry of Public Health announced the deaths of 3 agricultural workers who had migrated from Haiti to cut sugarcane in the eastern province of La Romana, raising the total number of cholera fatalities to 10 with 712 cases of infection. Starting in November 2010, growing concern motivated multi-stakeholder roundtable dialogues (mesas de dialogo) to discuss a plan for preventing cholera across the country. Thus far, no deaths from cholera have been reported on farms participating with Project Cultivar.  

An estimated 30,000 Haitian workers migrate each year to its neighboring country, the Dominican Republic, and live in bateyes [migrant worker communities, traditionally in the agriculture sector] As these bateyes often lack basic services such as clean water, sanitation, and public education; residents face high risk of contagious illnesses such as cholera. >>Read more 

To learn more about Project Cultivar's local partners, click here.
For more information, contact Eliza Wright, Program Associate at  [email protected].
SAI India: Call for Applications
Development Partnership (PPP) in India invites qualified participants to apply  for a 'Training of Trainers' 

Expressions of interest (EOI) are invited from qualified individuals/institutions with training/consulting experience. They will be associated with the PPP's proposed Centre in New Delhi as authorized trainers/consultants. Selected candidates/institutions will undergo a 'Training of Trainers' (ToT) on a selection of the Centre's training modules through online, classroom and field qualification. The ToTs will take place in New Delhi and will be paid for by the Centre in this project phase. Candidates who demonstrate learning and training abilities and successfully pass the ToT curriculum to the Centre's standard will be contracted and assigned tasks of training/consulting delivery.
 
Among the key objectives of this PPP is creation of a nationwide capacity building infrastructure (a network of certified trainers/consultants). >>Read more
 
For more information, and to apply, visit www.sa-intl.org/indiaPPP, or contact Dheeraj Nakra, GIZ - [email protected].
SA8000 Resource: SA8000 Guidance Document
Guidance Document for the abridged 2008 Revision of the SA8000 Standard Available to Download

The SA8000 Guidance Document for the 2008 version of the standard is available for download. Like the 2004 edition pictured here, and the earlier, 1999 version, it is based on input from experts representing diverse professional backgrounds: businesses; NGOs; trade unions; academics; and government agencies. 

This revision is aligned with the changes made in the SA8000 standard from 2004 to 2008. When read with the 2004 version of the SA8000Guidance Document, most questions concerning the application of SA8000 to any particular worksite issue should be answered.  >>Read more

For more information, please contact SAI Senior Manager, Matt Fischer-Daly-[email protected].
Social Fingerprint™: Upcoming Program in Egypt with the American University in Cairo
Watch a demo of the Social Fingerprint™program: http://bit.ly/SFdemo

On May 25-26, 2011, SAI's Director of Corporate Programs & Training will  co-teach a two-day course, "Investing in Human Capital: Compliance with International Labor Standards," at the American University in Cairo's Gerhart Center, in conjunction with the School of Business' International Executive Education Institute. Mr. Moss will be teaching with Mohamed El-Kalla,  managing director of Cairo for Investment and Development, Egypt's largest investor in private education. >>Read more

For more information, please contact Kate Critchell, SAI Assistant Manager-Corporate Programs & Training at [email protected].
SAI-Netherlands Board Meeting in Amsterdam

Edwin Koster, SAI Europe Representative & Board Secretariat
On April 15, SAI-NL convened a board meeting in Amsterdam to discuss strategic issues for scaling up in Europe. As SAI continues to grow, SAI-NL will actively cooperate with European stakeholders to help increase the effectiveness of SAI's work.

SAI-NL's board members are:  Gemma Crijns, CSR Consultant; George Jaksch, Senior Director Corporate Responsibility and  Public Affairs for Chiquita Brands International; Edwin Koster, SAI European Representative and Board Secretary; Alice Tepper Marlin, SAI President and Chair  of the SAI-NL Board; and Gunelie Winum, Senior Project Manager of ETI  Norway. SAI-NL will expand board membership and ensure balanced stakeholder representation.  >>Read more

For more information, please contact Edwin Koster, SAI Europe Representative at [email protected].

SAI Presentation to Coca-Cola & USAID's WADA Alliance
Yolanda Brenes delivers a presentation on SAI's labor compliance work in Central American agriculture

Yolanda Brenes, SAI Senior Manager- Latin American Programs, presented at WADA Alliance meetings in El Salvador and Guatemala
On April 7 and 8, Yolanda Brenes, SAI Senior Manager- Latin American Programs, presented in El Salvador and Guatemala, to meetings of the Water & Development Alliance. WADA is a joint initiative of the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and USAID to address community water needs in developing countries around the world.  WADA invited SAI to report on  its progress and achievements in the application of labor and environmental standards in the sugarcane sector in Central America and the Dominican Republic. >>Read more

For more information, please contact Yolanda Brenes at [email protected].


Snapshot from Costa Rica: Basic SA8000�
Auditor Training Course

March 28-April1 2011, Guapiles, Costa Rica



In the banana production hub of Guapiles, Costa Rica, 17 people participated in the 5-day basic SA8000� auditor course led by SAI Senior Manager- Latin American Programs, Yolanda Brenes.


Click here to view the 2011 Training Course Schedule

For more information, contact SAI Assistant Manager of Corporate Programs & Training, Kate Critchell at [email protected].

Highlights & Announcements

At Costa Rica's first Business Forum on Sustainability and the Environment, Roberto Vega, Director of Sustainability at Dole (left) and Sylvain Cuperlier, VP of CSR at Dole (right), stand with former U.S. Vice- President and conference participant, Al Gore.
March 16- Costa Rica's first Business Forum on Sustainability and the Environment SAI Advisory Board member Sylvain Cuperlier (Dole VP of CSR), and alternate member Roberto Vega, (Dole Director of Sustainability), attended this forum and presented on Dole's four pillars of sustainability, as well as on initiatives currently being implemented in Costa Rica.


Watch two video interviews of Craig Moss at Intertek's Ethical Sourcing Forum @http://bit.ly/gRkm4y
(Source: 3BL media) & @http://bit.ly/hywYds (Source: BCLC Blog)


March 31-April 1- Intertek Ethical Sourcing Forum 2011 SAI Director of Corporate Programs & Training, Craig Moss led a workshop entitled, "Social Fingerprint™: Measure & Improve Social Performance in Your Supply Chain." Watch the two interviews through the links above.

At the Globalization and Social Responsibility Conference in Santiago, SAI's Jane Hwang speaks on a panel addressing the role of civil society in advancing CSR, especially in the Chilean context. [From left: Dante Pesce, Vincular Consulting; Douglas Kativu, African Institute for Corporate Citizenship; Jane Hwang, SAI; Ole Henning Sommerfelt, ETI Norway]
April 6 Globalization and Social Responsibility Conference in Santiago Jane Hwang, Senior Manager of Corporate Programs & Training, and other members of the GRI working group [below] served as presenters and panelists at this conference. The conference, sponsored by Sodimac, Chilean Chamber of Commerce and Vincular, drew over 400 executives and officials, and received much press attention in Chile as it addressed the role of CSR in Chile's economy and future in general.

At the Earth Fair in New York, SAI's Joleen Ong with Anvil Knitwear's EVP Caterina Conti [right] at its display of organic and traceable t-shirts.
April 7-8 GRI Working Group on Supply Chain Disclosure Ms. Hwang, also participated in the second international multi-stakeholder supply chain Working Group conference in Santiago, Chile.  This group is developing recommendations on how to improve the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines to support the quality of disclosure on performance with respect to supply chains.

April 22- Happy Earth Day SAI's Communications & Development Coordinator Joleen Ong, visited Anvil Knitwear's exhibit at Earth Fair in New York, where Anvil showcased an interactive display of organic clothing and its "Track my T" supply chain traceability application.