GENEVA/WASHINGTON (ILO/IFC News) – The International Labour
Organization (ILO) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) – the
private sector arm of the World Bank Group – have selected Business for
Social Responsibility (BSR) to lead an international buyers’
consultative forum for their joint global Better Work programme.
The forum will play a major role in efforts by the newly created Better Work
programme to improve labour practices and competitiveness in global
supply chains. It will facilitate the involvement of international
buyers with the programme at both the global and country level.
Better Work is developing global tools and is piloting three
country projects, in Jordan, Lesotho and Viet Nam with the full
cooperation of workers’ and employers’ organisations. The project
combines enterprise assessments of compliance with labour standards at
the factory level, with training and capacity building. The three pilot
projects alone will directly benefit over 800,000 workers.
“The Better Work programme is about fairer globalisation
and reducing poverty in developing countries. It is designed to improve
the working conditions in global supply chains while improving
competitiveness and the business case. International buyers have a
critical role in this process by supporting improvements in their own
supply chains”, said Ros Harvey, ILO and IFC Better Work Global Programme Manager.
BSR is a leading non-profit business association in the field of
corporate social responsibility and counts among its members more than
250 of the world’s largest international buyers across a range of
industries. It has offices in San Francisco, Europe, China and Hong
Kong.
BSR will work with international buyers to convene global strategic
meetings, coordinate consultative processes, disseminate information
and lessons learned, and encourage active participation from buyers in
the Better Work programme. The ILO and IFC will work together
with BSR to reduce duplication of monitoring and redirect efforts to
fixing problems in global supply chains.
BSR already works with international buyers and the ILO and IFC in
Cambodia on the Better Factories Cambodia project, which inspired the
creation of Better Work. This Better Work approach
has led to verified improvements in working conditions across the
Cambodian garment industry, the creation of tens of thousands of new
jobs, and sustained increases in exports to the United States and the
European Union.
Since the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), jobs in
Cambodia’s garment export market have increased by nearly 30 per cent
despite concerns that the industry would be decimated. In the first
year after the lifting of quotas, international buyers involved in the
programme increased exports at twice the industry average.
Under its this agreement, BSR will coordinate international buyers involvement with Better Work
in industries such as apparel and textiles, agribusiness at both
plantation and processing levels, electronic, and other light
manufacturing.
“There is a strong need to develop strategic approaches to achieve
systematic, sustainable improvements in working conditions”, said Tara
Rangarajan, BSR Director of Advisory Services. “Better Work is
designed to achieve these results and we are delighted to be able to
work with the ILO and IFC to achieve this goal. As an increasing number
of international buyers across industries seek to shift from their
historic reliance on monitoring, they are eager to participate in
credible efforts like this.”
Ms. Harvey said, “Better Work’s tools and country-specific
programs will enable us to work together with government, international
buyers, employers and workers’ organisations on shared models that
promote sustainable impact at the national level. Future developments
rely on the collaboration of partners at the national level with
international buyers. Only through broad-based engagement can we find
practical tools and solutions that are based on actual experience. We
need to measure what we do, and identify what works and what doesn’t.
Through this process we will build support for change.”
For more information, visit www.betterwork.org or contact:
Ros Harvey, at harvey@ilo.org or +4122/799-8714;
Tara Rangarajan at trangarajan@bsr.org or + 619/546.8549.
About the ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to advancing
opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in
conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main
aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment
opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in
handling work-related issues.
In promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and
labour rights, the organization continues to pursue its founding
mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity. Today the ILO
helps advance the creation of decent jobs and the kinds of economic and
working conditions that give working people and business people a stake
in lasting peace, prosperity and progress. For more information, visit
www.ilo.org.
About IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the
World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for
private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector
investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets,
facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental
sustainability, and provides advisory services to businesses and
governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed
more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments
in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in
syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the
support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1
billion in advisory services. Energy efficiency is a core product line
for IFC. In 2006, IFC has invested over $400 million in energy
efficiency programs world wide. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About BSR
Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has been
providing socially responsible business solutions to many of the
world’s leading corporations. Headquartered in San Francisco and with
offices in Europe, China and Hong Kong, BSR is a nonprofit business
association that serves its 250 member companies and other Global 1000
enterprises. Through advisory services, convenings and research, BSR
works with corporations and stakeholders to create a more just and
sustainable global economy. For more information, visit www.bsr.org.
