Social Accountability International's Newsletter - May 2013

SAI Welcomes the Accord on Fire & Building Safety in Bangladesh
The Accord strengthens a multi-stakeholder coalition to ensure safe working conditions

'Pillars in Practice' Bangladesh Garment Sector Roundtable
The 'Pillars in Practice' (PIP) Program convened 50 stakeholders in Dhaka to discuss key issues in the garment sector & advance the UN Guiding Principles

SAI Advisory Board Meeting Convenes in NYC 
Outcomes endorse SAAS strong measures to improve reliability of audits and lay the groundwork for SAI's upcoming 5-year Strategic Plan. New chair elected: Amy Hall from EILEEN FISHER

SA8000 Standard & Guidance Document Revision Timeline
The SA8000 Standard & Guidance revision process will include extensive stakeholder outreach

RAGS Update: Gender Equity in India's Garment Sector
The trainings adapted the ILO's participatory gender audits and launched Phase 2 of the project's onsite factory work

Invitation: Consultations on Auditing Gender Discrimination
As part of SAI's RAGS Project, these consultations in India will provide a forum for auditors to give input on a newly developed guide to audit gender discrimination

Growth in Conscious Consumption in Brazil
Research by the Akatu Institute highlights this growth and impact on purchasing decisions

Call for Suppliers: Brazil Worker Engagement Program
SAI invites São Paulo factories to join the Worker Engagement Program to improve health and safety systems implementation

Implementing the UN Guiding Principles in Your Supply Chain: Training Course
Two-day training event in Brazil & the Netherlands demonstrates how companies can transform principles to practice

SAI Team Grows in NYC: Emily Crain
Emily Crain is SAI's New Administrative Assistant for the Training Department

Highlights & Announcements

• Seven Reasons Why Sweatshops Still Persist
  SAI Communications Manager Joleen Ong wrote a guest article for the online news site TriplePundit.com which explains some of the key supply chain dynamics that play a role in enabling sweatshop conditions. Read it @bit.ly/ZehR97
• Fair Wage Network Conference
  On May 21 and 22 in Geneva, SAI Representative Steven Oates attended the conference, which was organized in cooperation with the ILO, Fair Wear Foundation and Fair Labor Association. To learn more about the Fair Wage Network's work visit fair-wage.com.
• Bangladesh Factory Collapse Sparks Worker Fury
  In the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse, SAI Lead Trainer Badri Gulur was briefly interviewed on Radio France Europe about the repercussions of this event. Listen to it @rfi.my/12TQC0N
• WNYC: Eileen Fisher: Social Consciousness and Clothing
  On April 26, Amy Hall, Director of Social Consciousness for EILEEN FISHER and SAI's Advisory Board Chair was a guest on the Brian Lehrer radio show to discuss the company's attention to social and environmental issues in sourcing. Listen to it @wny.cc/180F6GE
• Corporate Branding & CSR This Spring 2013, SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin co-teaches a course at the NYU Stern School of Business with NYU Professor Bruce Buchanan. On April 8, EILEEN FISHER's Amy Hall was a guest lecturer, followed by Disney's Laura Rubbo on May 13. Check out the syllabus - http://bit.ly/11ucNKj
• GSC Webinar on Social Investment: Financial Inclusion
  On April 24, SAI President Alice Tepper Marlin was a panelist on this webinar, which included ACCION and IBM. Listen to it @bit.ly/172qgQo
• GSCP 3rd Workshop on Capacity Building
  SAI India Program Director Rishi Sher Singh participated in this event in New Delhi on April 16-17, where he also led the group session on the "business case for capacity building." Learn more @bit.ly/194vNnV
• Hewlett Packard 2012 Global Citizenship Report
  SAI Signatory Corporate Program member Hewlett Packard released their report, which included details on its work and alignment with SAI to continuously improve supply chain working conditions. Read its section on "Society" @bit.ly/1a6SaH2
• Impacts & Innovation: ISEAL's Annual Conference
  The conference on June 11-13 in London will look at how standards can harness new tools and innovations to deliver greater social and environmental benefits and transform supply chains. SAI Sr. Manager Alex Katz will participate in this conference. Learn more @iseal.org/conference