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October 2010
In This Issue
1. SAI Recognizes Tata Steel's Three-time SA8000 Certification
2. SAI Advisory Board Meeting 2010 in Mumbai
3. Cultivar Local Partners Meet in Honduras
4. Project Update: Comply & Win- Interview with Yolanda Brenes
5. Presentation on Social Compliance and its Business Benefits
6. SAI Training Team Expands to Egypt
7. New SA8000 Certification Statistics
8. Highlights & Announcements
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SAI Advisory Board Meeting
2-4 November, 2010 Mumbai, India

ISEAL Alliance: Delivering Sustainability Impacts in the Value Chain
16 November, 2010
S�o Paulo, Brazil

WRAP 10th Anniversary Conference on Sustainability and CSR
17-18 November 2010
Fort Lauderdale, Florida


Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit, 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.

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For newsletter inquiries contact: Joleen Ong, [email protected]
topSAI Recognizes Tata Steel's Three-time Achievement of
SA8000 Certification

Certification Body- DNV- Awards Certificate to Tata Steel at Ceremony in Jamshedpur

Representatives from Tata Steel and DNV proudly present the SA8000 certificate in Jamshedpur, India for Tata Steel's ongoing successful demonstration of ongoing compliance to the SA8000 standard. 

SAI is proud to recognize Tata Steel's three-time achievement of SA8000 certification, which was awarded at a presentation ceremony in Jamshedpur, India on August 27. The certificate was presented by SAAS-Accredited certification body, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to Tata Steel for its ongoing compliance with SA8000. The company has achieved three successful cycles of SA8000 certification in 2004, 2007 and 2010, as SA8000 certification is up for renewal every 3 years. 

Present at the ceremony were H M Nerurkar, Managing Director of Tata Steel; Sanjiv Paul, Vice President of Corporate Services at Tata Steel and Chairman of the Managing Review Committee of SA8000; and Raghunath Pandey, President of the Tata Workers' Union. They presented with the certificate by N R Krishnakumar, Director of Operations, DNV Business Assurance, and Prasun Kundu, Chief Auditor from DNV.

During his acceptance speech, Mr. Nerurkar congratulated all employees and the core SA8000 team for helping to achieve this feat, and cautioned that as years pass, the norms to attain such certificates will become even more stringent and hence the company will strive for more improvement. He also mentioned the need to continue with the guidelines set forth by the first Chairman of the Company, Sir Dorabji Tata, over 100 years ago. >>Read more

For more information, contact SAI Communications & Development Coordinator, Joleen Ong, [email protected]
SAI Advisory Board Meeting 2010: Strategic Issues for Scaling Up
Meeting in Mumbai, India hosted by the Tata Council on Community Initiatives (TCCI) will convene on November 2-4

Snapshot from SAI's Advisory Board meeting, Spring 2010 in New York
SAI is pleased to note that its multi-stakeholder Advisory Board's semi-annual meeting will convene on November 2-4 in Mumbai India. The meeting will bring 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.

Advisory Board Chair, Achim Lohrie, Head of CSR at Tchibo GmbH, has played a critical role in shaping the strategic agenda for the meeting, and met to finalize it with SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin earlier this month in Hamburg, Germany. Over 20 participants will discuss key strategic issues, including how SAI can scale up to increase impact and effectiveness, and build alliances. Guest observers to the meeting include: Dr. Sasha Courville, ISEAL Alliance; Sanjay Kumar, SEWA; Priyadarshini Sharma, Tata Steel; and Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Solidaridad.

The meeting is generously hosted by SAI Advisory Board members, Kishor Chaukar and Anant Nadkarni, of the Tata Council for Community Initiatives (TCCI). The location  is of particular strategic relevance, with the recent launch of the three-year public private parnership (PPP)- "Scaling Up Indian CSR  Initiatives>>Read more

For more information, contact SAI Executive Assistant- Christie Daly, [email protected]
Cultivar Local Partners Meet in Honduras to Share Project's Recent Achievements
Project Cultivar Regional Partners Meeting in Tela, Honduras on
September 30- October 1

SAI Project Cultivar Team gather in front of the meeting venue
An old Honduran proverb notes: "Grief shared is half grief; joy shared is double joy." In a quintuple sharing of joy, SAI and all four Project Cultivar local partners - CDH (Honduras) CIAC (Dominican Republic), INCAP (Dominican Republic) and PASE (Nicaragua) - convened their 2nd Regional Partners Meeting in the coastal town of Tela, Honduras from September 30 - October 1. They shared recent achievements in their respective countries and conveyed lessons learned to increase the efficacy and sustainability of their projects.

Project Cultivar's local partners have made strides in the industry both by creating spaces for multi-stakeholder dialogue to bring about institutional change, and also by providing technical assistance via classical seminars and "cascade training." This latter is also called "training the trainer," a tool recently utilized by PASE with union leaders at Nicaragua's second largest sugar mill which employs over 5,000 workers. The data thus far are inspiring- the project has trained a total of 1,800 workers, 262 managers, and 208 government representatives/NGOs in the CAFTA-DR region in the agricultural sector - a traditionally informal economic sector where contracts are made by hand-shake and records are kept by memory. >>Read more

To learn more about Project Cultivar's local partners, click here
For more information, contact SAI Program Associate, Eliza Wright- [email protected]
Project Update: Labor Rights Compliance in the Agricultural Sector  
Interview with SAI Project Manager Yolanda Brenes about Project 'Comply & Win'


SAI Project Manager, Yolanda Brenes
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. 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. >>Read more

For more information, contact SAI Project Manager, Yolanda Brenes, [email protected]
Presentation on Social Compliance and its Business Benefits
SAI's Craig Moss Keynotes Ecopetrol Seminar in Bogota, Colombia
 
SAI's Craig Moss presenting in Bogota, Colombia
On September 23, Craig Moss delivered a keynote speech at the National Convention of Suppliers in Bogota, Colombia, hosted by Colombia's largest petroleum company- Ecopetrol. The central theme of the convention was corporate social responsibility, and included discussions on strategic sourcing and accident prevention. Mr. Moss introduced the concept of developing management systems to ensure social compliance and prevent risk. Over 300 suppliers of goods and services from around the world participated in this conference. Attendees were able to ask questions and discuss many areas of Ecopetrol's long supply chain, including refining, storage terminals, and product pipelines.  

Mr. Moss' presentation followed that of Ecopetrol's CEO, who sent a clear message to the Ecopetrol suppliers that corporate social responsibility is a critical part of the company's 10 year plan and that supplier selection will include corporate social responsibility assessments. >>Read more and download the presentation

For more information contact SAI Corporate Programs and Training Director, Craig Moss, [email protected]
SAI Training Team Expands to Egypt
Introducing Mohamed El Husseiny, SAI's New Authorized Representative in Egypt

SAI Authorized Representative in Egypt, Mohamed El Husseiny, training a group in Cairo on auditing for SA8000

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. >>Read more

For more information, contact Mr. El Husseiny, [email protected]
SA8000 Certification Statistics as of June 30, 2010
1.3 Million and Counting!






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

Highlights & Announcements

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
October 11-12 - "Protect, Respect and Remedy"- UN Civil Society Consultations on the Implementation of John Ruggie's Framework. SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin participated in these consultations at the UN in Geneva. The consultations provided an opportunity for global civil society leaders to offer their views to John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General for Business and Human Rights, regarding the set of Guiding Principles for the implementation of the framework that will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration in 2011.

October 27- IHRB Meeting on a New Report on the UN Global Compact SAI Executive Director Eileen Kaufman  participated in a consultative meeting hosted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business about their upcoming report on the UN Global Compact. 




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