Happy New Year from SAI

As we wrap up 2017 and look forward to 2018, the SAI team thanks you for your continued partnership and support of our mission. It has been a sobering year around the world, but what rises to the top is still the indomitable human spirit and the power of collective action. Thank you for enabling our 2017 highlights below. Please consider a year-end donation, as SAI continues to advance our vision of a world where workers, communities and businesses thrive together. Please join us as we tackle 2018 with even greater urgency, determination, and innovation. Thank you again, and our very best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!

2 Million Workers Benefit from Updated SA8000 Over 3,600 organizations in 63 countries and 56 industries have upgraded to the new version of the SA8000® Standard. Upgrades include even stronger management systems and cross-functional worker-manager social performance teams. Read more .

New Capacity Building and Certification for Ethical Recruitment SAI and the UN International Organisation for Migration signed a MOU and are collaborating on training and capacity building to protect migrant workers and combat forced labor. SAI and SAAS are advising IOM on assurance for its International Recruitment Integrity System. (Photo: ILO )

12 New Living Wage Benchmarks Around the World In 2017, SAI together with Richard and Martha Anker and the Global Living Wage Coalition published 12 new living wage benchmarks and conducted regional stakeholder workshops to foster dialog on effective implementation. Read more .

Concrete Health and Safety Improvements in Chinese Factories With the support of HP, the worker–manager engagement program TenSquared completed another successful round in China. In 100 days, one factory completely eliminated employees’ direct skin contact with harmful chemicals. Read more .

Helping Brands and Licensees Manage Supply Chain Risks SAI's capacity building programs continued to build capacity and drive ownership at all levels of global supply chains. Through its work with Disney, Cole Haan, NBCUniversal, PVH, and VF, SAI engaged over 300 licensee companies to improve working conditions and better manage supply chain risks.

Professional Training for Over 5,000 People Around the World Over 1,000 people attended SAI's live courses in 19 countries and 4,000 more attended online courses. Topics covered social auditing, management systems, risk assessments, living wage, ethical recruitment, health and safety and more, often customized for diverse programs such as SA8000, BSCI, UTZ, GOTS, IFC and multiple brands' codes.

Advancing Social Auditor Competencies SAI continued its active role on the Stakeholder Board of the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA). This year ASPCA has gained critical mass in the industry and developed recommendations on audit definitions, auditor competencies, and audit firm requirements. Click here to learn more about APSCA.

SAI Celebrates 20th Anniversary and Looks Forward This year, SAI reflected on its pioneering work over the past 20 years, and kicked off its new strategic planning process. We are grateful for our global SAI staff, multi-stakeholder Advisory Board, Board of Directors and ever-expanding community of partners. Let's be emboldened by our successes and accelerate the progress for workers everywhere.