Social Accountability International's Newsletter - June 2013

SAI Leadership Transitions to Shared CEO Role
Starting July 2013, SAI President and Executive Director will alternate as CEO, working with new Director of Operations 

SAI Pilots ESMS Handbook & Toolkit for IFC in Serbia
SAI launches pilot at Vino Zupa's Fruit Juice and Wine Production Plants

SAI's Training Team in India Grows for 'WE Programme'
Meet the trainers for Tchibo GmbH's 'WE Programme' in India 

RAGS Project: Interview with Mona Gupta
SAI local trainer Mona Gupta comments on the RAGS Project in India, focusing on gender equity in the garment sector

Stakeholder Engagement: SA8000 Revision Process
Featuring excerpts of an interview with an SA8000 Standard stakeholder on how it can be strengthened  

SAI Supports OEKO-TEX^® 'STeP' Auditor Training
SAI trains OEKO-TEX^® auditors to assess social working conditions in textile facilities

How Companies Can Implement the UN Guiding Principles for Business & Human Rights
Two-day training event demonstrates how companies can transform principles to practice

Meet SAI's New Intern: Ewa Bialoglowska
We are pleased to welcome Ms. Bialogloska, in her own words

Highlights & Announcements

• Bipartisan Policy Center Convenes Meeting on Bangladesh Apparel Industry
  On June 7, SAI Founding Committee Advisory Board member Mort Winston, Professor of Philosophy at the College of New Jersey, represented SAI at this meeting in Washington D.C. The meeting convened a multi-stakeholder group which included the Bangladesh Ambassador to the U.S. Akramul Qader and Executive director of the US Bangladesh Advisory Council Shamarukh Mohiuddin to listen to and discuss concerns regarding the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

  At the meeting Dr. Winston underscored the need for collaboration. He specifically noted: "It is crucial that this effort bring brokered by the BPC should be in alignment with the goals, intentions and activities of the Bangladesh Accord, in an effort to strengthen, and not divert, the needed cooperation and attention to the major task ahead in Bangladesh."

• Timberland CSR Report Integrates Social Fingerprint^®
  In May 2013, Timberland (a Signatory Corporate Program member) released its annual CSR Report, which demonstrated its use of the Social Fingerprint^® framework and scoring methodology to assess its Tier 1 factories' social performance. Read it @ow.ly/lyPiU.