AIM-PROGRESS looks back on an eventful 2018 with a good number of deliverables including:
· Release of annual member benchmarking survey on the state of responsible sourcing in the industry which allows members to benchmark themselves against their peers.
· Official launch of our AIM-PROGRESS hub in Asia-Pacific, managed by ELEVATE. Priority topics of interest to the local representatives of our member companies are: responsible recruitment, collaboration on commodity sourcing and local supplier capability building.
· Release of the updated Responsible Sourcing Journey (RSJ) – our blueprint of how to put in place a robust responsible sourcing programme, underpinned by a self-assessment tool for members, so companies can rate themselves on the maturity scale.
· Mutual Recognition of audits, with a current shared list of suppliers audited by member companies comprising 21,000 records - a huge opportunity to avoid duplication of audit efforts.
· Impact measurement: together with Sedex and Impactt Ltd, AIM-PROGRESS released the Worker Wellbeing Assessment tool (WWBA) which measures issues that can be missed with an audit, such as worker happiness and safety.
· Translation of our Business Toolkit for Suppliers into Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish
· Organisation of a supplier event in Shanghai gathering over 280 supplier representatives and addressing in particular corruption & bribery, as well as workplace related issues, such as health & safety, working hours, social security and contract labour management.
· Our on-the-ground project on improving working conditions in Mexican cane sugar has taken off with the support of four brands and one mill, addressing water, rest and shade. Conversations have also started on a more systemic approach to the sustainability of cane sugar in Mexico with a number of local organisations and brands.
· Collaboration with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF): AIM-PROGRESS and CGF signed a memorandum of understanding on collaborating on forced labour and the implementation of the CGF priority industry principles, as well as sharing deliverables of interest with each other’s member base.
· We are happy to report two new additions to our member base: adm Group and L’Occitane joined AIM-PROGRESS during the course of 2018.
· AIM-PROGRESS also revamped its website in 2018, with the intention to provide a more streamlined look & feel; it is now in a responsive format: it adapts to the size of the device you are using to access it.
