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18.07.2024</p> <ul class="socials"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/home?status=https%3A%2F%2Fergonassociates.net%2Fergon-update-july-2024%2F" class="share" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fergonassociates.net%2Fergon-update-july-2024%2F&title=Ergon+Update+%26%238211%3B+July+2024" class="share" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-6 col-push-1 | col-m-8"> <h2>Ergon Update – July 2024</h2> <div class="show-m"> <p class="date">Posted by <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/ergon-update-july-2024/">Ergon Update – July 2024</a><br/> </p> <ul class="socials"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/home?status=https%3A%2F%2Fergonassociates.net%2Fergon-update-july-2024%2F" class="share" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fergonassociates.net%2Fergon-update-july-2024%2F&title=Ergon+Update+%26%238211%3B+July+2024" class="share" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <figure class="feature-img"><img src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Brett-GIZ.jpg"></figure> <div class="row"> <div class="col-6 col-push-4 | col-m-8 text"> <div class="wysiwyg-content"><p>Welcome to Ergon’s regular newsletter, covering our recent work supporting clients on human rights, labour standards and gender.</p> <h5>Case studies and publications</h5> <p><strong>Facilitating efforts towards Living Wage</strong></p> <p>Ergon has recently provided support to accelerator and multi-stakeholder platforms on living wages. This included facilitation of the first phase of the Living Wage Lab 2.0 initiative, a project of the GIZ-backed multi-stakeholder Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Textilbündnis). Through two peer-learning workshops facilitated by Ergon’s <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/alastair-usher/">Alastair Usher</a>, <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/brett-dodge/">Brett Dodge</a> and <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/felix-sternagel/">Felix Muser</a>, textile companies and NGO participants shared experiences with various implementation models, barriers to progress. They also explored practical implementation of responsible purchasing practices, social dialogue on wages, and industry collaboration towards improving wages for low earners in global textile production. Participating companies will now continue to develop their own living wage strategies and collectively explore opportunities to work more effectively on this issue. For more information on the Living Wage Lab and the workshops, see this <a href="https://www.textilbuendnis.com/en/einkaufspraktiken-anpassen-existenzen-sichern/">article</a> or contact one of the Ergon team.</p> <p>In June, Brett also facilitated a workshop on ‘Achieving Living Wages for All’ at a UN Global Compact event in Schlieren, Switzerland. The workshop explored ways in which companies can begin to address low pay and achieve living wages in their direct operations and supply chains. Many member-companies agreed: making a commitment and taking steps towards paying living wages is not only feasible but also makes good business sense. See <a href="https://forwardfaster.unglobalcompact.org/living-wage">UNGC Forward Faster: Living Wage</a>.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2983 size-full" src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Living-wage-Stuttgart-e1721313460365.jpg" alt="" width="1275" height="857" srcset="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Living-wage-Stuttgart-e1721313460365.jpg 1275w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Living-wage-Stuttgart-e1721313460365-300x202.jpg 300w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Living-wage-Stuttgart-e1721313460365-1024x688.jpg 1024w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Living-wage-Stuttgart-e1721313460365-768x516.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1275px) 100vw, 1275px" /></p> <p><strong>Promoting Decent Work for a Just Transition </strong></p> <p>Ergon has been providing ongoing support to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in connection with its implementation of the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition”. As part of our engagement, we are supporting GIZ’s efforts to work with companies to create good jobs in the Special Initiative’s partner countries, including Senegal, Ghana, and Rwanda. Our role has focused on supporting the Special Initiative’s job creation objectives through the promotion of labour standards by means of enhanced labour rights risk identification, management, and reporting. Please contact <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/macduy-ngo/">Macduy Ngo</a> for further information on our work on just transition.</p> <p><strong>ILO Decent Work Country Programmes</strong></p> <p>We have been continuing our close work with the ILO’s Office for the Caribbean, and its national constituents in the region, to support the ongoing development of new Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs). The DWCPs set strategic priorities at the country level to advance decent work and broader national development goals over a 4–5-year period. This includes integrated approaches to address key challenges shared across the region, including jobs growth and job quality, enterprise development, workforce skills, gender inequality, the application of international labour standards, and advancing a just transition in the face of acute climate change vulnerability. This work is led by <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/sam-kelly/">Sam Kelly</a>.</p> <p><strong>BII GBVH Trainings </strong></p> <p>Ergon continues to support DFIs and their clients on how to prevent and respond to risks of gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH). In June, we worked with British International Investment (BII) to deliver two online training sessions on how to design and implement effective GBVH risk management, reporting and response systems. The trainings were targeted at E&S professionals and HR managers based in Asia and Africa, including BII investees. Over 470 participants attended the trainings, including companies, investors and DFIs. For more information on our gender work, please contact <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/kirsten-newitt/">Kirsten Newitt</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2985 size-full" src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BII-training.png" alt="" width="1098" height="628" srcset="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BII-training.png 1098w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BII-training-300x172.png 300w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BII-training-1024x586.png 1024w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/BII-training-768x439.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px" /></p> <p><strong>Supporting corporate HRDD through saliency assessments</strong></p> <p>In recent months, we have been working with clients in a range of sectors, including energy, toy manufacturing and pharma, to identify salient human rights issues in their operations and value chains. These assessments serve not only help identify the most pertinent human rights issues linked to a company’s operations, but also to help prioritise and sequence possible actions for the company to take to mitigate the most severe and likely negative impacts. The clear, risk-based and action-oriented approach of a saliency assessment is increasingly useful to companies facing scrutiny and legislative requirements related to their management of human rights issues.</p> <p>Our approach to saliency assessments utilises a solid analytical framework with both internal stakeholder engagement with relevant company functions, and external engagement with key representative stakeholders across industry, experts and civil society. It also makes use of our internal risk indices relevant to different countries and sectors, as well as bespoke desk research components for deep dives into specific issue areas, where necessary. If you are interested in finding out how Ergon could support your organisation in conducting a saliency assessment, please reach out to <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/steve-gibbons-ergon-co-founder-and-director/">Steve Gibbons</a> or <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/laura-curtze/">Laura Curtze</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Assessing risk among service providers</strong></p> <p>Earlier this year, Ergon supported @Sedex with the development of a new Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) for service providers – or companies or individuals offering services to a business. These can include cleaning, security, logistics and construction companies, as well as temporary labour, customer service or transport providers. The purpose of the Service Provider SAQ is to enable Sedex members to assess labour and human rights risk associated with their service providers, and the controls in place to manage these risks. The Service Provider SAQ uses an innovative, characteristics-based approach to provide risk-based tailoring of the self-assessment. – Sedex plans to launch the SAQ later this year, but for those interested in learning more about it, we recommend Sedex’s <a href="https://www.sedex.com/blog/why-assessing-service-provider-suppliers-is-essential-for-human-rights-due-diligence/">blog</a> on why assessing service providers is essential for human rights due diligence. For more information on Ergon’s work relating to the development of human rights and ethical trade risk tools, please contact <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/laura-curtze/">Laura Curtze</a>.</p> <p><strong>HRDD in challenging contexts</strong></p> <p>Ergon recently supported the Joint Ethical Trading Initiative (JETIs) to develop a report on conducting human rights due diligence (HRDD) in challenging contexts. The report provides practical examples of how companies operating in or sourcing from challenging contexts are managing human rights risks by implementing special HRDD measures, with case studies including the West Bank, China, and Myanmar. It also contains an introduction of key principles of responsible business conduct in challenging contexts, a special chapter on Ukraine, and an overview of useful resources to support business. The study demonstrates the importance of partnerships and supply chain transparency to support risk identification, not rushing decisions when it comes to working in challenging contexts, and the importance of a progressive improvement approach to doing due diligence. Please contact <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/matthew-waller/">Matthew Waller</a> for more information.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2986 size-full" src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Report-pic-e1721313032414.jpg" alt="" width="566" height="518" srcset="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Report-pic-e1721313032414.jpg 566w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Report-pic-e1721313032414-300x275.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 566px) 100vw, 566px" /></p> <h5>Events</h5> <p>The Ergon team has been busy contributing to and attending a variety of relevant events over the last few months. Some examples below.</p> <p>In May, Ergon Associate Director <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/matthew-waller/">Matthew Waller</a> attended @IPIECA week in London as part of the panel for a discussion on new mandatory human rights due diligence legislation, consequences for the energy sector and just transition, and how Ergon are helping clients meet emerging challenges. Ergon Director <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/steve-gibbons-ergon-co-founder-and-director/">Steve Gibbons</a> and Senior Consultant <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/catherine-morgans/">Catherine Morgans</a> were also in Dublin for the IAIA Conference on Just Transition, leading a session on human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) and our learnings from biofuels HRIAs.</p> <p>In June, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-morgans-71330299/">Catherine Morgans</a> was also in Almería, Spain to present on a panel alongside Appellando’s Kristian Moeller at the IFAMA 2024 World Conference. The panel discussed the importance of human rights issues to the future of the agriculture sector, the business case for HRDD and the challenges faced by the migrant workers who are crucial to the sector in southern Spain.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2987 size-full" src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1718971306569-e1721312991219.jpg" alt="" width="1532" height="976" srcset="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1718971306569-e1721312991219.jpg 1532w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1718971306569-e1721312991219-300x191.jpg 300w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1718971306569-e1721312991219-1024x652.jpg 1024w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1718971306569-e1721312991219-768x489.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1532px) 100vw, 1532px" /></p> <p>Ergon Director <a href="https://ergonassociates.net/people/steve-gibbons-ergon-co-founder-and-director/">Steve Gibbons</a> also had the pleasure of facilitating a panel at the Global Forum on Responsible Recruitment in London. Steve’s session examined how to embed practical and real progress on responsible recruitment on the ground, looking at case studies from Spain, South Africa and the UK. This major event in the business and human rights calendar brought together a range of actors – companies, NGOs, trade unions, academia governments and international organisations – to consider ways to better promote and embed responsible recruitment. The full conference can be watched again <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ7H-65VVW2paD7HaX2PiPoTU5sF1pmx7&si=5IXAmRJh6-cOeWzR">here</a>.</p> <h5>Other news</h5> <p>Last month, we welcomed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/l%C3%ADa-lockward/">Lía Lockward</a> to Ergon Associates, as part of City University’s summer Micro-Placements Programme. Lía is a second year International Political Economy student from the Dominican Republic. During her time at Ergon, she has been researching key human rights trends that will be of increasing relevance to the policy mandates of DFIs, in addition to supporting our work with international organizations and internal knowledge management systems.</p> <p>In early July, our team gathered at our headquarters in London for our summer strategy session – bringing together colleagues based in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. We took the opportunity together to reflect and discuss future plans and developments in our space – as well as to watch the football and engage in some mildly-competitive ten-pin bowling and film making. We will be sharing a few thoughts from our session over the coming weeks on LinkedIn.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2988 size-full" src="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ALLSTAFF.jpg" alt="" width="1333" height="1000" srcset="https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ALLSTAFF.jpg 1333w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ALLSTAFF-300x225.jpg 300w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ALLSTAFF-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ALLSTAFF-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px" /></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section class="section section-border section-related-articles"> <div class="wrapper"> <h2>More in </h2> <ul class="articles-list"> <li><a href="https://ergonassociates.net/ergon-joins-lrqa/" class="clearfix"><span class="title">Ergon joins LRQA </span> <span class="date">28.10.2024</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://ergonassociates.net/ergon-update-april-2024/" class="clearfix"><span class="title">Ergon Update - April 2024</span> <span class="date">11.04.2024</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://ergonassociates.net/why-gender-equality-is-key-to-climate-action-and-why-it-helps-to-take-a-sectoral-view/" class="clearfix"><span class="title">Why gender equality is key to climate action … and why it helps to take a sectoral view</span> <span class="date">08.03.2024</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </section> </main> <footer class="footer"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-2 col-l-3 col-m-4"> <h5>Address</h5> Ergon Associates Ltd<br/> Unit 1, <br/> 9a Dallington Street,<br> London EC1V 0BQ.<br> Company number: 5401100 </div> <div class="col-3 col-m-4"> <h5>General Enquiries</h5> +44 (0)20 7713 0386<br> <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c75727a735c796e7b73727d6f6f737f757d68796f32727968"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="462f28202906233421292827353529252f2732233568282332">[email protected]</span></a> </div> <div class="col-2 col-m-4"> <h5>Policies</h5> <a href="https://www.lrqa.com/en/privacy-notice/">Privacy Policy</a><br> <a href="https://www.lrqa.com/en/cookies-policy/">Cookie Policy</a> </div> <div class="col-3 col-m-4"> <h5>Newsletter</h5> <form data-form="mailchimp"> <input type="hidden" name="language" value="en"> <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Name"> <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="E-mail address"> <input type="submit" value="Submit"> <div class="ajax-message ok">Thank you for subscribing.</div> <div class="ajax-message error">Please fill in following form correctly.</div> </form> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div>  <script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script><script type="text/javascript"> var ajaxurl = 'https://ergonassociates.net/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'; </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-includes/js/comment-reply.min.js?ver=9c2108c8152fa740e5a74df501832aaf' id='comment-reply-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.4/jquery.min.js?ver=2.1.4' id='jquery-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery-easing/1.3/jquery.easing.min.js?ver=1.3' id='jquery.easing-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/jquery.transit.js?ver=1488917965' id='jquery.transit-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/jquery.cookie.js?ver=1488917965' id='jquery.cookie-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/jquery.ba-throttle-debounce.min.js?ver=1488917965' id='jquery.throttle-debounce-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/jquery.inview.js?ver=1488917965' id='jquery.inview-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/swiper.min.js?ver=1488917965' id='swiper-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/lib/jquery.nanoscroller.min.js?ver=1504112152' id='nanoscroller-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/main.js?ver=1504112152' id='main-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/themes/ergon/_/js/map.js?ver=1491497898' id='map-js'></script> </body> </html>