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July 2012
1. Transforming the UN Guiding Principles into Business Practice
2. SA8000: Overtime & Lead Time
3. SAAS Launches New Oversight Project in India for SA8000
4. SAI Completes GSCP Self Assessment
5. Rosy Blue Diamonds: Advancing the Rio+20 Agenda
6. SA8000 'Management Systems' a Tool for Social Life Cycle Assessment
7. Snapshot: SAI Meeting on Labor Rights in China
8. UN Meetings Focus on Gender, Transparency and MDGs
9. SAAS Accredits 21st Certification Body: GlobalGROUP
10. Enroll in Global SA8000 Auditor Training Courses
11. Highlights & Announcements
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Top 3 News Stories 

 

CSR's Next Step: The Buyer-Supplier Mutual Code of Conduct  

Training Courses

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Social Fingerprint Classroom Course  

Development of a Process-based Social Performance Program 

Denver, CO, USA 

 

Professional Development Series

SA8000 Introduction 

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sept 3, 2012    

 

Implementing the UN Guiding Principles 

Utrecht, the Netherlands

Sept 17-18, 2012 

 August 6-10, Colombo, Sri Lanka 

August 27-31, Bern, Switzerland 

Sept 3-7, Istanbul, Turkey 

Sept 17-21, Sao Paulo, Brazil 

Sept 24-28, Bangalore, India  

 

SA8000 Advanced Auditor Training   


  Events


RINA, August 21-25
(Mumbai, India)
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SAI, August 22
(Mumbai, India)
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Implementing the UN Guiding Principles 

SAI/ICCO, Sept 17-18  

(Utrech, the Netherlands)  

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

For newsletter inquiries contact:
SAI Communications Manager
Joleen Ong,  
[email protected]
topTransforming the UN Guiding Principles into Business Practice
SAI & ICCO to convene a 2-day training event to help businesses implement the UN Guiding Principles in their supply chain
 
Date: 17-18 Sept, 2012

Location: 
Utrecht, the Netherlands

In June 2011, the UNHCR (UN High Commission adopted the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, developed -- with wide stakeholder consultation -- by UN Special Representative John Ruggie. These groundbreaking principles seek to ensure that businesses respect human rights. The challenge now is in their implementation.

A major innovation of the Handbook is the creation of the Buyer-Supplier Mutual Code of Conduct and the introduction of a social management system at both the buyer and supplier levels in order to integrate and track human rights implementation.

This training is offered as an in-classroom supplement to SAI & ICCO's newly developed Handbook & Toolkit: "The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; A Six-Step Approach to Supply Chain Implementation," released July 2012...>>Read more

>>Register now. For inquiries, please contact SAI Training Manager Stephanie Wilson at [email protected]

SA8000: Overtime & Lead Time
Q & A with SAI Lead Trainer Sanjiv Singh 
  

Question: How do auditors determine whether or not suppliers are given adequate time to complete purchase orders based on their capacity? Is this indicated via high instances of overtime?

 

Sanjiv Singh: To determine why overtime is high, auditors should go back and determine turn around times for a particular product once an order has been placed. Sourcing, design and quality assurance departments have a fair idea of how long it will take a particular factory to turn around goods - they book their order based on this fact and the reliability in delivering on time is an important factor.
 
Manufacturing in the electronics industry is sometimes comparable to the apparel industry and requires putting together components that may or may not be manufactured by the prime supplier where an order is placed; often delivery dates depend on how soon sub-suppliers can supply components. Brands therefore seek suppliers who manufacture similar products and can possibly retain some inventory of the components that are required to put together a final product. It works both ways - the supplier wants commitment in terms of a minimum number of pieces over a period of time from the brand and the brand wants finished goods that meet both quality and delivery requirements... >>Read more
 

Have a question? Send it to SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong ([email protected]) for consideration in the next newsletter.  

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SAAS Launches New Oversight Project in India for SA8000 

SAAS convenes SA8000 calibration meeting in Bangalore & meets with key stakeholders 

Snapshot from the SAAS Calibration Meeting in Bangalore on June 5, 2012. SAAS Executive Director Rochelle Zaid (far right), SAI Field Services Director Doug DeRuisseau (standing, right), and SAI India Project Director Rishi Sher Singh (standing, left) were in attendance. [Photo credit: Rishi Sher Singh]

In June 2012, SAAS Executive Director Rochelle Zaid conducted a two week visit to India where SAAS convened a calibration meeting for locally active SAAS-accredited certification bodies.  The calibration meeting launched a new oversight project SAAS is piloting in India, which will trial another layer of assurance to the SA8000 system. During the calibration meeting, certification bodies were introduced to the concept, and encouraged to weigh in. Next steps were established.  SAAS will begin this pilot in August 2012.

In addition, Ms. Zaid met with stakeholders from a variety of sectors throughout the country during her visits to Mumbai, New Delhi, Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Bangalore, where issues pertaining to working conditions were discussed...>>Read more

 

This article was written by SAAS Project Manager Salah Husseini. For inquiries, please contact [email protected].

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SAI Completes GSCP Self-Assessment
The Self-Assessment, a benchmarking tool, allows for a comparison of SA8000 to the GSCP Reference tools 
  

SAI is pleased to announce the completion and submission of three Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP) Equivalence Process Self-Assessments. The GSCP documents are a benchmarking tool that allows for a comparison of the SA8000 system to the GSCP Reference tools.  

 

Benchmarking analysis was conducted in three areas:  Audit Competence; Audit Process and Methodology; and the GSCP Reference Code. Through this participation, SAI seeks to demonstrate the SA8000 Standard's position as a leading standard and resource for measuring the social compliance of facilities throughout the supply chain. This participation is also aligned with SAI and GSCP's memorandum of understanding, announced in June 2011.  Special thanks to SAAS Project Manager Salah Husseini and SAI Intern Anya Corke for their work on these submissions...>>Read more  

 

For more information, visit www.gscpnet.com. For inquiries, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - [email protected].  

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Rosy Blue Diamonds: Advancing the Rio+20 Agenda

SAI Corporate Programs member Rosy Blue Diamonds notes SA8000's 'Management Systems' as integral to its social compliance

 

In June 2012, the UN Global Compact Local Networks Europe released the report- The European UN Global Compact Companies Towards Rio+20 and Beyond: A Best Practices Collection - to showcase 100 best practice examples across 20 countries that are implementing sustainable development initiatives and programs to help advance the Rio+20 agenda. SAI Corporate Member Rosy Blue Diamonds contributed to the report with the chapter, "Sustainability in the Supply Chain: A Responsibility and an Opportunity."

 

The chapter highlights its partnerships with the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), the UN Global Compact and SAI to advance its supply chain sustainability goals. In one of its four 'lessons learned,' Rosy Blue noted that its "partnerships with initiatives such as SAI for our factories has given us a better understanding of integrating labor standards in the value chain... >>Read more  

>>Read Rosy's Blue's chapter of the UNGC Report. To read the full report, visit bit.ly/NLdwkK. For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - [email protected].

SA8000 'Management Systems' a Tool for Social Life Cycle Assessment
UNEP's Assessment's 'Guidelines' references SA8000's management systems requirement as an evaluation tool

In 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products, to set a framework to perform an SLCA for a product. The guidelines seek to provide greater information and knowledge on the three pillar approach towards sustainable development - people, planet, and profit/prosperity - as well as on a product's entire supply chain. The guidelines set forth four phases for a SLCA: 1) the goal and scope of the study; 2) inventory analysis; 3) impact assessment; and 4) interpretation.

Several tools for SLCA are cited in UNEP's Guidelines, including use of SA8000� as a procedural and management tool. The SA8000 Standard's management systems requirement is listed as a sample tool in social life cycle assessment, particularly in terms of the inventory analysis and impact assessment phases. The principles required in the SA8000 Standard provide an approach to evaluating certain stages of the life cycle or chain of a product. SA8000 sets specific standards and provides a management systems approach, whereas the guidelines are focused on information gathering... >>Read more

This article was written by SAI Intern Matt Langan- [email protected]. For inquiries, please contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong - [email protected].

Snapshot: SAI Meeting on Labor Rights in China 

SAI hosts meeting with representatives from U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program 

Photo above, from left: Harry Zhang, SEA Manager of the Adidas Group; Yan Huang, Ph.D. of South China Normal University; Anya Corke, SAI Intern; Shirley Wu, SAI Intern; Yu Mei Lay He, SAI Intern; Rochelle Zaid, SAAS Executive Director; Liu Chao, Director at Little Bird Mutual-Aid Hotline for Migrant Workers; Eliza Wright, SAI Development Manager; and Xu Yuling, Attorney at Beijing Zhicheng Migrant Workers' Legal Aid and Research Center.

On July 10, 2012 SAI hosted a meeting with representatives from the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program to discuss labor rights in China. The representatives (names in caption above) came from the private sector, civil society and academia. 

 

A major focus of the meeting was on how to increase transparency and workers' bargaining power within China's social and economic environment. SAI Executive Director Eileen Kaufman opened the meeting with an introduction of SA8000 and SAI's programs design to help factories and farms to effectively implement the principles of the standard... >>Read more 

 

This article was written by SAI Communications Intern, Shirley Wu - [email protected]. For inquiries, please contact SAI Development Manager Eliza Wright - [email protected].

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UN Meetings Focus on Gender, Transparency and MDGs
SAI attends meetings of UN ECOSOC, CEDAW and the Development Cooperation Forum

In July 2012, SAI Executive Director Eileen Kaufman and SAI Interns Anya Corke and Shirley Wu attended several United Nations meetings of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), as NGO representatives.

The ECOSOC substantive session is held annually, alternating between New York and Geneva. During the meetings and panels held throughout July (July 2-27), officials from the UN and other international government organizations, country representatives, scholars as well as NGO representatives gathered to address the issue of economic development.

The session addressed the progress and challenges the world faces in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) specifically poverty eradication from social and economic perspectives. Several speakers- Director General of the ILO, Juan Somovia, and General Secretary of ITUC, Sharan Burrow - stressed the close dependency of economic development upon decent work... >>Read more

This article was written by SAI Interns Shirley Wu ([email protected]) and Anya Corke ([email protected]) . For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong[email protected].


  SAAS Accredits 21st Certification Body: GlobalGROUP
The Scotland-based GlobalGROUP is accredited to perform SA8000 audits and issue certifications

SAAS is pleased to announce the accreditation of the certification body - GlobalGROUP, to perform SA8000 audits and issue certifications to workplaces that qualify. Global Certification Limited (GCL), based in Scotland, was formed in 1993 with the sole purpose of becoming an accredited certification body for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards. In 1995 GCL was accredited by UKAS and operates around the world with agreements with local legal entities via MOU's to offer accredited certification services. GCL is accredited to ISO 17021:2006 and is also approved as a Notified Body under the Lifts & Machinery Directives...>>Read more

View the full list of SAAS Accredited Certification Bodies. For more information, contact SAAS Program Manager Lisa Bernstein - [email protected]

Enroll in Global SA8000 Auditor Training Courses   
International Locations & Online Courses Available

Participants at the SA8000 Advanced Course in New York - July 16-18, 2012. [Photo credit: Munir Abdullah]

  

Upcoming:    

Location: Bern, Switzerland  

Date: August 27-31 

 

Location: Bangalore, India    

Date:  August 24-28

 

 SAI training courses are designed to encourage proficiency in social compliance issues and emphasize the implementation of management systems. Learn about a management-system approach to social compliance auditing and supply chain management. These courses are required for all SA8000and BSCI auditors, and are just as valuable to internal auditors, buyers, managers and workers for auditing to any labor code or standard. The courses are open to all.

 

For more information, contact SAI Training Coordinator, Stephanie Wilson at [email protected].

 

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Highlights & Announcements

'SA8000' Officially Trademarked in India The SA8000 Standard has been legally trademarked by the Indian government as a standard of social accountability, with a corresponding accreditation process. 

RJC Due Dilligence Webinars - On June 18 & 20, SAI Communications Intern Shirley Wu participated in the Responsible Jewellery Council's two webinars on OECD Due Dilligence Guidance Training, for upstream and downstream companies. Learn more: access the webinar recordings @bit.ly/MDVXpA and read overview @bit.ly/ObhAvp  

 

Global March International Conference on Child Labor in Agriculture- On July 28-30, SAI Senior Advisor Alan Spaulding will participate in this conference in Washington, D.C. Learn more about the event @globalmarch.org.  

 

UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights Workshop -Following the conference on child labor, Mr. Spaulding will attend this workshop on July 30 for civil society organizations in Washington, D.C., hosted by the U.S. State Department. 

Sustainable Clothes: From Field to Store In the July/August 2012 issue of Green American (a publication of the NGO Green America) SA8000 was included along with other certifications, including Fair Trade, GOTS Organic, and Union-Made Private Labels. Read the article @bit.ly/O2wh4n (excerpted from magazine)