|
___________________
Upcoming Training Events
|
Social Fingerprint® Online Courses
- Getting Started in Your Company
- Building Your Internal Social Performance Team
Social Fingerprint® Instructor Led Courses
- Getting Started with Social Fingerprint®
October 28, Detroit, MI
SA8000® Online Auditor Training Courses
- SA8000® Revision Course
Auditor Training
Oct 17-21, Shenzhen, China
Oct 24-28, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
November 7-11, Portugal
November 14-18, Istanbul, Turkey
SA8000® Advanced Auditor Training Oct 26-28, Milan, ItalyNov 14-16, Bucharest, Romania
December 7-9, New Delhi, India
Full training schedule _________________
|
Spring 2011 Internships
(New York, NY)
_______________
|
|
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 and capacity building.
SAI is headquartered in the United States with field representation in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Switzerland, and UAE.
For newsletter inquiries contact:SAI Communications Manager- Joleen Ong, jong@sa-intl.org |
|
|
|
|
 SA8000® Approved by Dutch Sustainable Public Procurement
SA8000® will be integrated into the social criteria for public procurement
 SAI is pleased to announce that the SA8000® standard is part of the Dutch Government's social criteria program for sustainable public procurement. SAI is one of six approved initiatives. The list includes two other ISEAL Alliance members - UTZ Certified and the Union for Ethical BioTrade- as well as Max Havelaar Foundation, Fair Flowers Fair Plants and the Fair Wear Foundation.
The social criteria for sustainable public procurement will focus on compliance with international labour and human rights standards in the international supply chain. SAI is the first U.S.-based organization to be recognized for this social criteria, and is also the first initiative whose standard is accepted across all product groups. This is especially relevant, as the SA8000® standard certifies decent workplaces across all industries, in any country.
This policy offers a great opportunity for current SA8000® facilities. According to SAAS' certification statistics, there are an estimated 2,700 certifed facilities in the world, employing over 1.5 million workers. In addition, this is encouraging news for workplaces that are currently working to earn SA8000® certfication. Certified facilities get easier access to an annual budget of 50 billion EUR >>Read more
For more information, read the notification on the Dutch Procurement website (in Dutch), or contact SAI Europe Representative Edwin Koster at EKoster@sa-intl.org.
Back to top
|
|
Project Cultivar: Final Report on Impact Released
In the challenging agricultural sector, Project Cultivar establishes a system for continuous improvement on the farm
Project Cultivar worked with 38 farms and factories in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua and delivered training to over 4,000 workers, managers, and labor inspectors. This capacity building provided the infrastructure for ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue in four principle ways: by increasing awareness of national labor laws, empowering workers to invoke their rights, increasing managers' capacity to comply with national labor law, and equipping government inspectors with tools to enforce regulations.
Additional measured impact on participating farms include:
- 42% initiated or re-activated Joint Worker-Manager Committees to monitor health and safety
- 55% installed first-aid kits for employees
- 28% implemented a system for registering and addressing workplace issues
- 44% reported an increase in complaints resolved at the farm level >>Read more
Back to top
|
"Gender Equality is Smart Economics"- SAI & UN Women to Develop UN Gender Equality Seal
This new partnership will establish a strategy and implementation plan for the UN Gender Equality Seal (GES) as an auditable standard
 In September 2011, SAI and UN Women established a partnership to develop a global implementation plan for the UN Gender Equality Seal. This new auditable standard and certification system will focus on gender equality in a company and its supply chain.
After completing a pilot project earlier this year, UN Women decided to work with SAI to gain knowledge on establishing and managing a certification program. In addition, UN Women seeks to benefit from SAI's extensive experience in management systems for social performance and in working with companies to measure and improve their capacity.
Maya Morsy, UN Women Country Coordinator in Egypt noted, "it is essential to ensure that the Gender Equity Seal is not only a certification that companies would aim to get, but it is a belief and a process that they would aim to implement. Partnering with SAI is essential to ensure that we are working in partnership with other certification process and we are adding a benchmark." >>Read more
For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager, Joleen Ong at JOng@sa-intl.org
Back to top
|
SAI India Update: 'Training of Trainers' in Gurgaon
After a rigorous selection process for local trainers, the 'Training of trainers' classroom sessions begins in Gurgaon
 On August 29 to September 2, SAI conducted the classroom 'Training of Trainers' (ToT) in Gurgaon. This 5-day intense classroom session is part of SAI's joint development partnership (PPP) "Scaling Up Responsible Business Initiatives in India." The sessions focused on the four focus areas for the India PPP: 1) Internal auditing for social performance; 2) Management systems for social performance; 3) Managing the supply chain for social performance; and 4) Workplace communications. SAI Lead Trainers Badri Gulur and Sanjiv Singh led the course, with extra support from SAI India Project Director Rishi Singh on the supply chain focus area. >>Read more
Learn more about SAI's Development Partnership (PPP) in India at www.sa-intl.org/indiappp. For more information, contact Rishi Singh, India Project Director at RSingh@sa-intl.org.
Back to top
|
|
SAI President Speaks on Human Rights in the Supply Chain
Hosted by Forética in Madrid, Alice Tepper Marlin Leads Presentation and Master Class on Human Rights in the Supply Chain
 | |
SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin gives presentation, "Sourcing Globally, Thinking Regionally: CSR for a Global Supply Chain," on a panel that focused on international models and regional perspectives on sustainability
|
On September 20, Forética, CSR Europe's Spanish national partner organization, hosted a conference in Madrid to launch the Enterprise 2020 Initiative in Spain. This initiative is supported by the European Commission and CSR Europe.
SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin spoke on a panel discussion that focused on international models and regional perspectives on sustainability. During her presentation, "Sourcing Globally, Thinking Regionally: CSR for a Global Supply Chain," she illustrated cases from SAI's global programs, including Project Cultivar in Central America, the Development Partnership (PPP) and RAGS program in India, and SAI's role in the WE Project in China with Tchibo GmbH. >>Read more
For more information, view the presentation from the master class, and Foretica's article about this event. For further information, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong at JOng@sa-intl.org
|
Social Compliance: Moving from the Stick to the Carrot
At the ISSP Conference 2011 Craig Moss led a presentation titled: Social Fingerprint® - Practical tools to improve social performance  | |
Photo, from left: 1) ISSP Executive Director Marsha Willard stands with SAI's Craig Moss; 2) a presentation slide from the workshop; 3) conference attendees listen to and participate in the presentation.
|
On September 22, 2011, SAI's Director of Corporate Programs and Training Craig Moss spoke at the ISSP Conference 2011 in Portland, Oregon. Convening over 150 sustainability professionals from around the world, the conference focused on helping practitioners to integrate sustainability within their respective organizations.
Mr. Moss' presentation focused on practical tools to achieve social compliance. His hour-long presentation gave an overview of SAI's work and activities to improve social performance in the supply chain, the complexities behind auditing for social compliance, and the development and impact of Social Fingerprint's® process-based approach to improvement. "We are seeing a new trend in supply chain management, which is to move from risk mitigation to competitive advantage," said Mr. Moss. "To achieve social compliance, you need to move from the stick to the carrot. Management systems need to be established for effective implementation." >>Read more
Back to top
|
DNV India Hosts SA8000® Foundation Course
 On September 15, 2011 DNV India conducted a 1-day Foundation Course on SA8000® in Bangalore. 21 participants attended this course, representing various sectors including garment and apparel, mining, electronics, and manufacturing. SAI thanks Prasun Kundu, DNV Global Head for SA8000® certification for organizing and leading this course. Mr. Kundu received positive feedback from participants, and has scheduled another 1-day Foundation Course for Mumbai on November 3, 2011. >>Read more
For more information, contact SAI India Project Director Rishi Singh at rsingh@sa-intl.org.
|
Meet SAI's New Intern: Caroline Lewis
Introducing our newest intern, Caroline Lewis, in her own words
I am a qualified UK employment lawyer and moved to the U.S. 10 years ago. I branched out into the field of international labour rights and worked for two years at the ILO office for the United Nations in New York. At the ILO, I followed the work of the General Assembly and its various committees (on issues like child labour, the rights of indigenous people and discrimination against women), while at the same time pushing the ILO agenda. This was a fascinating first hand insight into the machinations of the UN. >>Read more
Back to top
|
|
Highlights & Announcements
 | |
Participants of the SA8000® Basic Auditor Training course in New Delhi, India with SAI Trainers Sanjiv Singh and Badri Gulur. 20 participants, representing auditors, local companies, and certifying bodies, attended this 5-day course on September 12-16. [Source: Sanjiv Singh]
|
Brands Ethics Work Group- India On September 3, SAI India Project Director Rishi Singh met with BEWG, the association of international brands in India, to learn more about their work, and to introduce SAI's RAGS Project.
Tirupur Stakeholders' Forum On September 3, established by the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), Unions, NGOs, and the BEWG, this forum released a guidance document to help TEA members provide safe and healthy accommodation for their workers. Back to top |
|
|
|
|
