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December 2011
1. RAGS Project Convenes MAC Forums on Gender Discrimination
2. UN Women Gender Equity Seal: Public Comment Period
3. SAI Introduces Model for Governments to Drive CSR
4. Corporate Member Spotlight: Rosy Blue Diamonds
5. Timberland & Disney Upgrade Corporate Membership
6. SAI Training Team Grows in China
7. SAI Weighs in on 'Ruggie Principles'
8. Reflections on Sir Geoffrey Chandler Memorial Service
9. Snapshot from India: SA8000 Auditor Calibration Meeting in Bangalore
10. Highlights & Announcements
 

Top 3 News Stories 

 

SAI & ICCO Working to Operationalize Ruggie Guiding Principles  

Events
DNV SA8000 Foundation Course

DNV, January 20, 2012   

(Delhi, India)   

 

ISSP Webinar: Implementing Living Wages in Global Supply Chains 

Led by SAI, January 25, 2012   

  Internships 

  

Administrative Intern- India 

Position starts immediately 

Includes stipend
(Bangalore, India
)

SAI and SAAS

 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.


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

For newsletter inquiries contact:SAI Communications Manager- Joleen Ong, [email protected]
topRAGS Project Convenes Roundtable on Gender Discrimination
'MAC' forums convene key stakeholders in New Delhi and Tirupur 
From left: 1) SAI staff engage in discussions with key stakeholders at the MAC forum in Tirupur; 2) SAI staff visit the PGC Classic Spinning Mill in Tirupur; 3) Breakout sessions during the MAC forum in New Delhi 
 
In mid-November, Senior Manager of Corporate Programs and Training, Jane Hwang, and Senior Manager, Matt Fischer-Daly, joined India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh in India in support of the RAGS Project, and convening multi-stakeholder advisory committee (MACs) forums in Tirupur (16 November), and Delhi (23 November).  
 
Through the MAC meetings, SAI engaged key stakeholders in the RAGS Project and broader garment and apparel industry, and elicited their feedback to focus the project's training program. The MAC is a forum for facilitated dialogue among stakeholders on strategies to address labor issues that are beyond the capacity of any one group to resolve alone. In line with the focus of the RAGS project, this MAC focused specifically on gender discrimination in the garment supply chain.>>Read more 
 
For more information, visit www.sa-intl.org/RAGS , or read an article about the project in India's Perfect Sourcing Magazine. For inquiries, contact SAI India Project Director, Rishi Sher Singh at [email protected]
UN Women Gender Equity Seal: Public Comment Period 
 
As announced in our September newsletter, SAI in partnership with UN Women, is developing a new auditable and certifiable standard, the Gender Equity Seal (GES), to measure the degree of inclusion and equitable treatment of women in a company's workplace and supply chain.

SAI has posted a draft of the GES standard for public review and comment. We invite you to comment on the draft standard and respond to a brief survey (15 minutes) to gauge overall interest and perspective on the draft GES. Visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/UNGES to begin your review. The draft standard and survey will be open December 15-January 31.

The goal of the GES is to provide a 'gender lens'- a specialized standard - to target existing inequities and provide a management-system based approach to improvement. The goal is for the GES standard to be easily integrated into, or be part of, a company's existing labor code of conduct monitoring program. >>Read more

To review, comment and respond to the survey on the draft of the UN GES Standard visit
www.surveymonkey.com/s/UNGESstandard. For more information, contact Caroline Lewis at [email protected].  
SAI Introduces Model for Governments to Drive CSR 
SAI's implementation model outlines a role for governments to help accelerate business-driven social performance in collaboration with companied 
 
Governments & Companies:  SAI welcomes your feedback!   
See the full version of the model in PDF  @bit.ly/sKO6X1
 
Ensuring an ethical supply chain that is compliant with labor standards requires the help of many stakeholder groups. Companies can't go at it alone. Governments can play a key role in driving improvement in labor standards performance in their countries. Ultimately this can lead to increased exports for their important small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.  
 
SAI developed this implementation model to respond to a request for ideas on what a national government could do to accelerate the adoption of better social performance standards in all tiers of its economy. It uses business incentives to encourage improvement - from government to large national companies and then to SME suppliers. By widening the scope of participation, this model seeks to eliminate some of the major barriers to entry that SMEs face in trying to improve: lack of internal resources and cost. >>Read more

View the full implementation diagram @bit.ly/sKO6X1. For more information, contact SAI Director of Corporate Programs & Training Craig Moss at [email protected].  
 Corporate Member Spotlight: Rosy Blue Diamonds 
Rosy Blue Releases 2011 CSR Report & Earns Certification to the Responsible Jewellery Council  

Rosy Blue released its 2011 CSR report, which highlights its work with SAI's SA8000 standard and Social Fingerprint  
On December 1, 2011, SAI Corporate Program Member, Rosy Blue, released its third CSR report. Rosy Blue's "Report to Society" highlights its performance across operations and shared progress in five main areas: Respect for Human Rights, Working Conditions, Product Integrity, Community Empowerment and Environment.  

Rosy Blue highlights its partnership with SAI, and its use of the Social Fingerprint program to improve social compliance at both the company and factory level. It zooms in on two factories, in Thailand and China, and illustrates how they use Social Fingerprintto go beyond the minimum to ensure decent labor practices.
 
"Rosy Blue finds great value in SAI's Corporate Programs membership and services," said Rosy Blue Corporate Affairs Manager, Iris Van der Veken. "Since we became a member in early 2011, it has accelerated our learning, and strengthened our social compliance system throughout our supply chain. SAI's Social Fingerprint program has greatly helped us to identify, assess and map out key steps for our suppliers to take in order to improve its social performance." >>Read more    
 
View Rosy Blue's 2011 CSR Report. For more information about Rosy Blue's RJC certification, read RJC's full press release. For more information about SAI's Corporate Programs, visit www.sa-intl.org/corporateprograms or contact Jane Hwang at [email protected].  
Timberland & Disney Upgrade Corporate Membership  
In response to SAI's enhanced Corporate Programs membership services, both companies take their commitment to the next level 
 
As reported in the November 2011 newsletter, SAI's enhanced corporate membership, focused on providing members with a broader range of services, has caught the attention of two companies. Both Timberland and Disney have upgraded their membership levels to increase their use of SAI's services to support improvement of their supply chains. 
 
Timberland is now a Signatory member, and Disney an Explorer member; this move offers greater access to SAI's sophisticated supply chain management training - including Social Fingerprint-- multi-stakeholder input, and the ability to confidentially benchmark their programs against other members.     
 
"We are thrilled to have Disney and Timberland take their commitment to the next level," said SAI Director of Corporate Programs, Craig Moss. "Both companies that are truly committed to SAI's Shared Mission - to improve working conditions in the supply chain, in accordance with performance criteria based on relevant ILO conventions and national law, utilizing management systems and multi-stakeholder dialogue.">>Read more
 
For more information about SAI's Corporate Programs, visit www.sa-intl.org/corporateprograms or contact Jane Hwang at [email protected].  
SAI Training Team Grows in China 
SAI welcomes new Authorized Representative, Shenzhen Madison Technical Services Co., Ltd. 
 
SAI Lead Trainer Mike Lee is the Managing Director of Shenzhen Madison Technical Services Co., Ltd.
Partnerships and Authorized Representatives are an important part of SAI's global reach and local capacity-building efforts. SAI Authorized Representatives are local organizations that have a formal partnership agreement with SAI.   

Please join us in welcoming Shenzhen Madison Technical Services Co., Ltd. to SAI's team. It is based in Shenzhen, China, and headed up by SAI Lead Trainer Mike Lee. The organization will work closely with SAI HQ to develop and deliver training, technical assistance and other services on behalf of SAI in China. >>Read more   


Read Mike Lee's full biography:@bit.ly/vT4ore. For more information, contact Mike Lee at [email protected].
SAI Weighs In On Implementation of 'Ruggie Principles'   
 
In early December 2011, along with other stakeholders, SAI submitted suggestions to the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, on possible work agenda and priorities for its first session (16-20 January 2012). 
 
SAI is interested to comment to the new expert body and will report to it on learnings from our current project with ICCO to develop a Handbook for leading companies on How To Respect Human Rights in the International Supply Chain. The Handbook will provide a step by step guide and lead to online and classroom-based training, on interpreting and practically applying the Principles, using a management systems-based approach. >>Read more

For more information, contact Caroline Lewis at [email protected]
.
Reflections, Inspired by Sir Geoffrey Chandler, on "Business & Human Rights: A Vision for 2020" 
SAI Research Intern, Ayesha Salim attended the interactive discussion in honor of Sir Geoffrey Chandler in London 

On November 17, 2011 the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) organized an interactive discussion on the future of the business and human rights agenda in honor of Sir Geoffrey Chandler, a pioneer in the field of business and human rights. The discussion not only examined the legacy left behind by his work but also the vision for human rights in the next ten years. >>Read more   
 
Listen to the full podcast of the event @bit.ly/vBpAoM. For more information, please contact Ayesha Salim.  
Snapshot from India: SA8000 Auditor Calibration Meeting 
November 19, 2011 - Bangalore, India 
Representatives from SAI - Rishi Sher Singh, Jane Hwang, Matt Fischer-Daly, Sanjiv Singh and Badri Gulur- stand with participants from SAAS accredited certification bodies in India.  
Organized by Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS), SA8000 calibration meetings are a space to discuss issues that certification bodies face, and answer questions that may arise in implementing the SA8000system. This meeting was hosted by the SAAS accredited certification body, SGS. During these meetings, it is expected that participants come to a consensus on the interpretation and expectations of both auditing and managing specific topics in the SA8000 system.  
 
For more information about SAAS SA8000 Auditor Training Meetings, please contact SAAS Program Manager Lisa Bernstein at [email protected] . 
Highlights & Announcements
SAI's Matt Fischer-Daly, Jane Hwang and Rishi Sher Singh and Manager of Orient Fashion Exports (India) Pvt. Ltd visit with a homeworker in Delhi. In coordination with ETI, SAI's RAGS training projecrt is focused on ensuring decent work for homeworkers. 

SAI Evaluation of Timberland's Corporate Code of Conduct Program In 2010, SAI was asked by Timberland to review whether its program is implemented in the field as designed. Check out the results @bit.ly/vD4SD1   

 

SAI India Work Featured in India's Perfect Sourcing Magazine The apparel and textile industry magazine, Perfect Sourcing, featured SAI's programs in India in its November 2011 issue. Read the excepted article @bit.ly/uy0fqO

"Good Practices for Complying with Licensors' Social and Environmental Requirements" Released by BSR on November 1, 2011, this practical guide for licensees includes SAI's Social Fingerprint programs as a tool to help assist with self assessment. Read the guide @ bit.ly/t8UI0E

Maximum Performance: An Idea to Spur Development: SAI's partner, the Rapid Results Institute, wrote this post in the Economist's 'Ideas Economy' blog, which discusses its strategies to unleash performance capacity in organizations. Read it @bit.ly/snKrXm   

Getting Rights...Right: How Companies are Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights On December 8 in Washington, DC, SAI Executive Director Eileen Kaufman attended this conference that was hosted by George Washington University's Institute for International Economic Affairs.