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October/November 2013
1. SAI Advisory Board Meeting Convenes in California
2. Shore to Shore, Sri Lanka Earns 4th SA8000 Certification
3. RAGS Update: Birdy Exports LTD
4. The UN Guiding Principles for Business & Human Rights
5. SA8000: 2014 Standard Public Consultation
6. Pillars in Practice Project Update: Nicaragua
7. Refashioned: Cutting Edge Clothing from Upcycled Materials at the Fashion Institute of Technology
8. SA8000 Auditor Trainings Courses in China, Poland, & Bangladesh
9. 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 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

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SAI Advisory Board Meeting Convenes in California

5-year strategic planning meeting provides direction for future SAI endeavors and moves to enhance the reliability and overall impact of SA8000 through a new Social Fingerprint application process. 

 

 

From top to bottom Achim Lohrie, Tchibo GmbH; Sunil Bhaskaran, Tata Steel Limited; Ivano Corraini, Italian General Confederation of labor (CGIL); Federico Tani, Interpreter for Ivano Corraini 

 

 

On November 12-14, SAI convened its semi-annual multi-stakeholder Advisory Board meeting hosted by the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, California. This meeting was devoted to outlining the main elements in our  5-year strategic plan. The focus for the next 5 years include:

  • Impact Evaluation
  • Stakeholder Relations - Deeper Engagement with Unions, Governments, and Civil Society. Worker Engagement - Exploration of Additional Ways to Engage Workers in SAI's Work
  • Capacity Building -  Central Role of  High Impact Enabling Programs like Social Fingerprint Rapid Results 100 day project
  • Role of Convener - Facilitating the Sharing of Best Practices Among Corporations and other Stakeholders
  • Issues Expertise, e.g. Living Wage

Further explorations of these strategic objectives will be provided as a series through the SAI newsletter.

 

Additionally, the meeting approved tying SAI's Social Fingerprint program to SA8OOO, formally integrating SAI's capacity-building "Measure & Improve" approach as the application path for certification to SA8OOO.  

 

This planning work was accompanied by a review of scheduled revisions and updates proposed for the SA8OOO standard. The draft will be open for public consultation this winter.  We heartily welcome your review and comment!

 

Board members welcomed the participation of two new Advisory Board members and of SAAS board member, Laura Rubbo, Director, Corporate Citizenship, International Labor Standards (ILS) at the Walt Disney Company. Ms. Rubbo and Disney generously hosted the event at their beautiful facilities in Burbank, CA. 

 

  

In attendance at the meeting were Advisory Board members Amy Hall, Eileen Fisher; Margaret Jungk, Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR); Ivano Corraini, Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL); David Zwiebel, National Child labor Committee; Darryl Knudsen, Gap Inc.; Dorianne Beyer, National Child Labor Committee; Olga Orozco, Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI); Andreas Streubig, OTTO Group; Helio Mattar, Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption; Sunil Bhaskaran, Tata Steel Limited; Achim Lohrie, Tchibo GmbH; Chris Willie, Rainforest Alliance; Alice Tepper Marlin, Social Accountability International. They were joined by guest Laura Rubbo, the Walt Disney Company; facilitator Mary Watson, The New School; SAAS Executive Director Rochelle Zaid; and SAI staff Jane Hwang, Michelle Bhattacharyya, and Alex Katz.

  

 

For more information, contact SAI Director of Operations, Michelle Bhattacharyya - [email protected].

 

 

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Shore To Shore, Sri Lanka Earns 4th SA8000 Certification
Benefits and Challenges of SA8000 + UNGC Participation  
From left to right: Mark Dayan Fernando, Manager - HR, Kennedy Machado, GM - Sales & Marketing / Customer Service, Shyama Wijayathunga for DNV Business Assurance, Business Development Manager, K. Vetriselvam for DNV Business Assurance, Location Head - Sri Lanka, Beauno Fernando, Chairman & Managing Director EXPO INDUSTRIAL GROUP, Nath Kottegoda, Director - Operations, Manjula Mahadanaarachchi, GM - Finance & Administration, S. Logeswaran, Manager - Operations & Compliance
 

Shore To Shore (STS) was first certified to SA8000 in 2004 and has just earned its fourth SA8000 Certification. It is also a participant in other sustainability initiatives, including the UN Global Compact. Shore to Shore has met with SAI staff over a period of time to discuss its experience and use of these systems. It is a privately held company in Sri Lanka, providing packaging and labeling for retail products; its customers include Victoria's Secret, Matalan, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, and Vanity Fair.

 

The company has identified both key benefits and key challenges of SA8000 and UNGC participation, benefits include: improved employer-employee relations, increased productivity, reduced staff turnover, enhanced brand and company reputation, competitive advantage from customer appreciation of its meeting standards, building trust with stakeholders, and improved transparency. Retention rates have been particularly impacted, with over 50% of STS employees working there longer than 5 years, a rate significantly higher than the current industry index. Among the key past and ongoing challenges are:  managing suppliers, divergent customer codes of conduct, costs of worker benefits, factory safety improvements, audits, and training. 

 

Nath Kottegoda, Director of Operations at STS, described the motivations for first seeking SA8000 certification in 2004: the SA8000 standard was seen by the company as the "first global, voluntary, and ethical standard of corporate social responsibility, applicable to all companies regardless of scale, industry and location". Following SA8000 certification, the company decided to also join the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).  Led by the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Beauno Fernando, the company wanted to open itself up to further new ideas, innovation, learning and continuous improvement that it viewed would stem from UNGC membership. STS's participation in UNGC and SA8000 is incorporated within the company's Integrated Management System which comprises the three major management systems - QMS, EMS and SAS.  Both SA8000 and UNGC are managed through the QMS procedures which include internal audits, corrective and preventative actions, and document and record control. 

 

SAI thank STS for participation and for their time and assistance in developing this article. Special thanks to Beauno Fernando, Nath Kottegoda and Logeswaran Soosaipillai.

 

 

Note: Previously, as Pillars in Practice, SAI and the UNGC published a set of case studies of Global Compact participant companies which used their SA8000 certification as a key part of their work and thus their communication on progress in fulfilling the Principles of the UNGC.  This report follows on from that work, reporting on another individual company experience with synergies between these two sustainability systems. The entire Shore To Shore report is posted on our website, here in the newsletter is a summary on the occasion of the company's fourth re-certification to SA8000. 

 

 

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RAGS : Birdy Exports LTD. 
An Interview with Jaya Chandra about the effect of RAGS on Birdy Exports  

 

Birdy Exports, a participant in SAI's RAGS initiative on gender rights in the Indian Garment Sector, provides an example of the effectiveness of the program.  The program, supported by UKAID from the Department for International Development, aims to improve working conditions by reducing gender discrimination and improving factory level processes of engagement with homeworkers in the supply chain. Jaya Chandra, HR & Compliance Manager at Birdy Exports agreed to speak with Social Accountability International and share her thoughts on RAGS and the impact it has made in Birdy factories.   

 

SAI: From your experience, what are some of the biggest challenges for workers that you've witnessed in the Indian Ready Made Garment sector, and how has the RAGS Project helped to overcome these challenges?

Jaya: The majority of people don't have awareness of many social issues, like gender discrimination.  It [RAGS] has helped to create a balance of knowledge in these issues. 

  

 

SAI: Over 600 factory managers have participated in SAI RAGS trainings in India - can you describe the impacts of the project that you have seen from the point of view of one of those factories?

Jaya: Our people like the trainings.  They like learning and want to train others.  The ones who have already been trained will continue the work by training others in the coming weeks.  They will use the same materials and begin the next group of trainings soon.  It will be them educating their own colleagues, so it will be a good interaction. 

 

 

SAI: What do you think is the most challenging part of conducting gender discrimination trainings for this project and how might this project uniquely/successfully address this?

Jaya: The main challenge is to make people talk about it (gender discrimination), getting into how they are taking it into their life.  There have been changes in education and how women are raised.   I think that is helping a lot to change the problem. But still, we are overcoming a situation where traditionally we don't have the opportunity to discuss things like discrimination and harassment.  It is a challenge to go into that.   

 

 

SAI: Why is gender equality important for Birdy exports? Can you observe a change in motivation after classroom trainings?

Jaya: Our directors talk about giving opportunities to women.  They promote a lot of women and create more participation for women in all levels.  The ideas of RAGS are similar to this thinking, and they help us expand our anti-discrimination work. We use RAGS learnings to further reduce gender discrimination.  After the classroom trainings, I think people now understand the problems with gender discrimination, what it is at a deeper level, and what their part is in the process of either continuing or eliminating gender discrimination.  

 

 

SAI: Why has your factory decided to carry out gender trainings on your own for the workers? 

Jaya: Our factory is promoting women, so we will try to do that and RAGS will help us.  It will be a tool.  We've received base training materials which will help us to develop our modules according to the feedback and interaction with employees.   

 

SAI: What are you working on now?

Jaya:  Presently we are working on developing training material for this to adapt it to our factory.  Every month we are having a monthly meeting to discuss discrimination, harassment and gender sensitization, using the RAGS lessons.  

 

 

SAI: Going forward can you comment on the potential for this program?

Jaya: There are always a lot of opportunities to improve.  We will see what we can adapt and we can add to the program and we will do it in a continuous way.   

 

 

SAI:  Any last thoughts on the program?

Jaya: I think RAGS program is a practical approach to create awareness and the training modules were also refreshing. RAGS is a good initiative by SAI and it is helping some of these issues like gender sensitization.  It is important to find other projects like this that help people in terms of their human rights.   

 

For more information, contact SAI India Program Director, Rishi Singh - [email protected].

 


The UN Guiding Principles for Business & Human Rights 
An Interview with Edwin Koster, Lead Trainer 

 

 
December 19-20, 2013
New Delhi, India  
             

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) were endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June, 2011. Since this time, the Guiding Principles have served as a global framework for States and business enterprises in preventing and addressing adverse human rights violations linked to business activity. The UNGP are built on three pillars: Protect, Respect, and Remedy. These three pillars refer to:  the states' responsibility to protect against human rights abuses within their territory, the need of business enterprises to respect human rights of others and act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others, and the duty of the state to provide effective remedy for those affected by these human rights abuses.[1]

 

Since 2011, the UNGP have enjoyed widespread uptake and support from both the public & private sector. For example, the Principles have been endorsed and/or employed by Governments from the European Union, Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, large corporations including BP, Coca-Cola and General Electric have endorsed and incorporated the principles in their own Codes of Conduct and human rights policies. In November 2011 SAI partnered with the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO)  to develop a Handbook and Training Course to help companies operationalize Pillar 2: the Corporate Responsibility to Protect. The Handbook and two-day training course address questions concerning scope and the practical integration of a company's responsibility to respect human rights in their supply chain. SAI has already trained representatives from over 100 companies and NGO's, including:  Hewlett Packard, H & M, Amnesty International, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Oxfam, Fairtrade International, The Walt Disney Company, TATA Steel, Hugo Boss, The Body Shop, Nestle UKSAI Training Manager Stephanie Wilson and Training Assistant Emily Crain spoke with lead trainer Edwin Koster to discuss his perspective on the trainings and implementation of the UNGP in general. 

 

Wilson and Crain:Can you share with us how and why SAI decided to write a Handbook and design a training course on the UNGP's.

Koster: Just before the UNGP were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council, ICCO invited me to join a seminar they organized on the UNGP. I was immediately intrigued by it. The scope and impact of the UNGP struck me. Later I visited similar seminars on the UNGP and what I noticed was the number of questions stakeholders had on the implementation of the UNGP in their supply chain. "To what extent am I responsible for human rights issues in my supply chain?" "I already joined initiative X. Is this sufficient to meet the corporate responsibility to respect?" "How do I translate the technical, high level guidance of the UNGP into practical supply chain management procedures which fit my company?" These questions combined with SAI�s long term expertise on human rights and supply chain management fuelled our interest to develop a Handbook and Training Course. Fortunately ICCO shared and enabled our vision.   

 

Wilson and Crain: There is a vibrant mix of stakeholders attending the course.  How does this mix affect the group dynamic?

Koster: It has a very positive effect on group dynamics. We have had human rights lawyers, NGOs, consultants, government officials, buyers and CSR managers in our courses. They bring in diverse case studies and examples. During the group exercises we try to mix people up so they can learn about the different perspectives you can have on an issue. Of course they also ask different sorts of questions which creates a good balance in the topics we discuss. Attendees also start to see how each type of stakeholder can "use" the UNGP. A company might use it to improve or align its current set of policies and procedures with the UNGP. A representative of an NGO learns about what it can or should expect of a company. NGO�s and consultants learn about the specific areas in which companies need. Governments get a better understanding on how they can encourage companies to live up to their responsibilities and how the three pillars are interrelated and can have impact on government policy.     

 

Wilson and Crain: Are there any common themes with regards to challenges in the interpretation and/or implementation of the Guiding Principles?

Koster: Yes, attendees tend to struggle with determining the extent of their responsibility for human right abuses taking place at suppliers. The UNGP offer an analysis framework which helps stakeholders in determining the extent of a company�s responsibility. Responsibility is based on the type and level of involvement a company has with its supplier. The UNGP distinguish between three types of involvement: cause, contribute, link. We help attendees understand the theory and determine the extent of their responsibility in real cases they face in their supply chain. Other challenges include how to prioritize human rights risks, integration of findings of a human rights risk assessment in internal policies and the set-up of effective operational grievance mechanisms.

 

Wilson and Crain: In the training you introduce the idea of a mutual buyer-supplier commitment. Can you share with us the reasoning behind this concept?

Koster: Sure! We noticed that most existing codes of conduct have a top down approach. The buyer tells the supplier what to do and what not to do. Buyers  however may inadvertentlycontribute to human rights abuses at their suppliers. Buyers need to be aware of this and make sure that their policies enable a supplier to respect human rights. Buyers and suppliers are in this together. They need to share responsibility. We train attendees on how they can do this and how they can turn their traditional supply chain relationship into a mutual buyer-supplier commitment.

 

Wilson and Crain: SAI's work with implementing the UNGP goes beyond this particular training course and Handbook. Can you share with us some other projects SAI is involved in which incorporates these Principles?

Koster: Through the Handbook and Training Course we have built a greater awareness of the UNGP throughout the world, which in turn has allowed us to develop other projects based on the UNGP. For instance, we advise standard setters and NGOs on the content and possible implications the UNGP can have on their standards and policies. We also help companies identify and bridge the gap between their current policies and the UNGP. With Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Denmark we work on guidance on how to address human rights in indirect procurement processes (e.g. via distributors and agents).

And finally, last year SAI was given a fantastic opportunity to develop the Pillars in Practice Project. The project is financed by the US Department of State and it allows us to educate stakeholders in three different countries and sectors on the UNGP. Together with the Danish Institute of Human Rights and local partners we work in the garment sector in Bangladesh, the agricultural sector of Nicaragua and the mining sector in Zimbabwe. Complex yet rewarding work! 

  

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SA8000: 2014 Standard Public Consultation
SA8000: 2014 inviting public comment 

  

A draft version of the new SA8000:2014 will open soon for a 60-day public consultation period. SAI will send a special notice for this excellent opportunity to supply your feedback in the revision process, which takes place only once every five years. SAI is delighted to invite all members of the public to review the standard and offer your expertise and experience. All comments will be considered, will influence the final product, and will be posted online to assure transparency and inclusivity. Commenters may elect to remain anonymous. Please check the SA8000 page on the SAI website immediately following the special release announcement for the link to the public consultation platform.

 

In order to assist the process, the SA8000 page on the SAI website will be updated with bios of the subject matter experts who were consulted in order to guide the revision process, including all comments received from the experts will be posted, as will a discussion and analysis paper on the received comments. 


After the 60-day public consultation period is over, public comments will be analyzed for incorporation into the next draft. That draft will be reviewed by the Standards Committee a number of times before the final draft is sent to the Advisory Board in Spring 2014. 

 

For more information about the SA8000 Standard, visit www.sa-intl.org/sa8000 or contact Sr. Manager of Stakeholder Relations & Research Alex Katz - [email protected].  


Pillars in Practice Project: Nicaragua
Interview with uniRSE on their experience working as a project partner

Genaro Garcia is the Program and Projects Officer at uniRSE, an implementation partner in SAI and the Danish Institute for Human Rights' "Pillars in Practice (PIP) Project." The project is centered on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In October, the Project conducted a set of two multi-stakeholder training sessions in Managua, Nicaragua, following up on progress from two multi-stakeholder forums held in Spring 2013.

 

SAI's Latin America representative and regional lead UN Guiding Principles trainer, Yolanda Brenes, interviewed Mr. Garcia, who reflected on the PIP trainings and more broadly the climate for human rights in Nicaragua.

 

Yolanda Brenes: Please tell me what kind of organization uniRSE is and what it is aims to accomplish?

Genaro Garcia: uniRSE stands for The Nicaragua Union for Corporate Social Responsibility, or in Spanish, Uni�n nicarag�ense para la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial. We have been working since 2002 in Nicaragua on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We cooperate at the national level with other organizations that are focused on CSR. At the international level uniRSE is the Nicaraguan chapter of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. We are the Nicaraguan chapter of the regional CSR association in Latin America, FORUM EMPRESA, and we are a founding member of the Central American CSR Network. The basic principles for uniRSE's work are facilitating compliance with human rights, the UN Global Compact and UN Millennium Development Goals. 

 

Yolanda Brenes: What is uniRSE's relationship to human rights?

Genaro Garcia:uniRSE's main objective is the spread of knowledge and understanding of CSR and its business case in Nicaraguan business and society. CSR may be understood in this way as an instrument to improve the competitiveness and productivity of businesses, which goes further than philanthropic actions and simple legal compliance. CSR is a tripartite model that begins with one business but requires cooperation with others businesses, government bodies and civil society organizations. Good application of CSR brings a better understanding of balanced socioeconomic development and the defense and improvement of the environment. In sum, uniRSE attempts to accomplish its mission by seeking and stimulating the formation of alliances, such as public private partnerships. 

 

uniRSE has been working for over three years with eight UN agencies (ILO, UN Women, UNICEF, FAO, IOM, UNDP, UNIDO and WFP) and has allied with over 10 local organizations to guarantee human rights. In particular, we have focused on gender equality, education, eradication of child labor, protection of childhood, health, nutrition and food security and prevention of violence.

 

Last year, uniRSE signed on to the UN Global Compact and began an effort to create the local network for the Global Compact in Nicaragua, in which it will work to assure the adherence of business members to the Global Compact and integrate this model and principles into the management of CSR in micro, small and medium enterprises.

 

Yolanda Brenes: How has your experience been working with the PiP project? What do you envision as the most positive future impact of the project for uniRSE?

Genaro Garcia: The experience of sharing information and interacting with the representatives of business, government and civil society has been very valuable. It is an important set of principles and in our opinion, the future impact of this project is an increased opportunity to promote the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles as part of businesses policies and procedures related to human rights. 

 

'Like' the Pillars in Practice Program on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1dF8xMN.  For more information, contact SAI Sr. Manager of Research & Stakeholder Relations Alex Katz- [email protected].  

The Spanish translation of this article can be accessed on our website

 



Refashioned: Cutting-Edge Clothing from Upcycled Materials 
Sass Brown presents her new book at the Fashion Institute of Technology

On October 15, Sass Brown assistant dean for the school of Art and Design at Fashion Institute of Technology presented her new book Refashioned: Cutting-edge Clothing from Upcycled Materials. The book itself features 46 international designers using recycled material and/or discarded garments in order to create vibrant new designs. This book is Brown's second; the first one Eco Fashion was published 3 years earlier and during this time a lot has happened within eco fashion. Brown is paraphrased as saying "Approximately 85% of clothes end up in the landfill, whereas 95% of these textiles are actually recyclable. The race to the bottom with faster and cheaper clothes has to come to an end, where many designers try to find new ways of producing clothes - what about clothes made out of used and damaged socks, Speedo swimwear  abandoned in competitions due to regulation, left over fabric straps, surplus  leather material, or old parachutes?"  

This article was written by SAI Intern Emelie Olivensj� - [email protected]. To learn more about eco fashion, visit http://www.ecofashiontalk.com/

 

SA8000 Auditor Trainings Courses in China, Poland 
& Bangladesh

Snapshots from the courses that took place in Shenzhen (China), Warsaw (Poland) and Dhaka (Bangladesh)
SA8000 Basic Auditor Training course in Dhaka, Bangladesh on September 17 -21, 2013 with SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur [Photo credit: Badri Gulur]
SA8000 Basic Auditor Training course in Warsaw, Poland on September 23-37, 2013 with SAI Lead Trainer Sanjiy Singh. [Photo credit: Sanjiy Singh]
SA8000 Advanced Auditor Training course in Shenzhen, China on September 25-57, 2013 with SAI Lead Trainer Mike Lee  [Photo credit: Phoenix Zhang]
Learn more about SAI's SA8000 Basic & Advanced auditor training course on SAI's website. For more information about SAI's SA8000 Auditor Training courses, visit sa-intl.org/trainingschedule or contact Stephanie Wilson -[email protected].

Highlights & Announcements


Fair Trade International and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 

On October 16, SAI European Representative Edwin Koster presented to the Leadership Committee of Fairtrade International (FLO) in Bonn. Discussed were the possible implications of the UN Guiding Principles on Fairtrade Standards. 


European Conference on Living Wages in Berlin, Germany

On November 25 and 26, SAI European Representative Edwin Koster presented on the collaboration on living wage between Fairtrade International, FSC, Goodweave, Rainforest Alliance, Sustainable Agriculture Network, Utz Certified and SAI facilitated by the Iseal Alliance. The mentioned parties joined hands on a living wage definition and methodology to calculate living wage benchmarks. Results of recent pilots in South Africa and the Dominican Republic were shared with the audience. 

 
India Institute of Directors Conference  
On October 1 - 4 in London, England SAI Executive Director and Co-CEO Eileen Kaufman attended the "London Global Convention 2013" hosted by the Institute of Directors, India.  Discussions and deliberations were passionate and centered around boardroom strategies, integrated reporting, good governance, and sustainability.  

 

On October 1-3 in San Francisco, CA, SAI Director of Corporate Programs & Training Jane Hwang participated in the panel "The Magic of Partnerships" as part of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition's conference. Over 200 people attended the conference, including representatives from the government, many different industries, and multiple civil societies. Learn more - bit.ly/188KhB5.

Global Social Compliance program (GSCP) 
On November 5, SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin attended the GSCP conference in San Francisco.