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The US government has made a rare direct foray into the world of corporate responsibility by providing $2million (£960,000) to improve labour standards and practices in Latin America.
The grant, from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the Department of State, will finance a 36-month project to build a company network of ‘CSR champions’ in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, in particular in the agricultural, apparel and electronics products sectors.
The work will be done by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) with the Center for Latin American Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, part of the INCAE business school based in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
BSR and INCAE will find national companies willing to develop labour standards programmes that others can then emulate. Both say experience has shown the value of ‘advocates’ in spreading responsible practice within individual sectors.
BSR and INCAE will work with other local bodies to coach companies, start pilot projects and develop training. They will establish an ‘international buyers’ initiative’ to involve multinational companies that source from the region.
Terry Nelidov, BSR’s project manager, said the initiative will encourage the governments of the six countries to create a public policy framework on responsible business. As a result, governments may, among other things, begin to lay emphasis in their economic development strategies on the business benefits that can arise from responsible labour practices, he added. BSR also anticipates that industry associations will become involved, promoting inter-industry co-operation on corporate responsibility.
The US government said the aim was to ‘create and promote a robust CSR infrastructure at the regional, country and industry levels’ in Latin America so that US businesses buying from the region can be more confident that their suppliers are following codes of conduct.
The programme is allied to wider US efforts costing $40m over three years to build ‘labour and environment capacity’ in countries that have signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Most of the money is being spent on modernizing labour justice systems and combating the worst forms of child labour.
Nelidov said that many business people in Latin America are of the opinion that better labour standards hamper competitiveness and the project would therefore have to stress the business benefits.
The grant, from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the Department of State, will finance a 36-month project to build a company network of ‘CSR champions’ in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, in particular in the agricultural, apparel and electronics products sectors.
The work will be done by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) with the Center for Latin American Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, part of the INCAE business school based in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
BSR and INCAE will find national companies willing to develop labour standards programmes that others can then emulate. Both say experience has shown the value of ‘advocates’ in spreading responsible practice within individual sectors.
BSR and INCAE will work with other local bodies to coach companies, start pilot projects and develop training. They will establish an ‘international buyers’ initiative’ to involve multinational companies that source from the region.
Terry Nelidov, BSR’s project manager, said the initiative will encourage the governments of the six countries to create a public policy framework on responsible business. As a result, governments may, among other things, begin to lay emphasis in their economic development strategies on the business benefits that can arise from responsible labour practices, he added. BSR also anticipates that industry associations will become involved, promoting inter-industry co-operation on corporate responsibility.
The US government said the aim was to ‘create and promote a robust CSR infrastructure at the regional, country and industry levels’ in Latin America so that US businesses buying from the region can be more confident that their suppliers are following codes of conduct.
The programme is allied to wider US efforts costing $40m over three years to build ‘labour and environment capacity’ in countries that have signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Most of the money is being spent on modernizing labour justice systems and combating the worst forms of child labour.
Nelidov said that many business people in Latin America are of the opinion that better labour standards hamper competitiveness and the project would therefore have to stress the business benefits.
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