Season's Greetings from YESS and Responsible Sourcing Network

 

Dear Friends,

As we approach the end of 2023, we want to take a moment to reflect on the journey we have been on together over the past year and provide a quick update on what we have in store in 2024. We are excited to share that we have started conducting YESS assessments in India and Pakistan, we transitioned YESS to a multi-stakeholder membership initiative, and we are partnering with Sumerra to rollout YESS globally. 

During this holiday season you have the opportunity to contribute to our efforts with a generous donation. Your support will allow us to magnify the impact of our due diligence approach, create lasting change by training yarn and fabric manufacturers, and move us closer to our shared vision of ethical and sustainable value chains. 

Thank you for being an integral part of our Responsible Sourcing Network community. We wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season filled with warmth, happiness, and the spirit of positive change.  

Patricia Jurewicz and the RSN Team 

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First Third-party YESS Assessments in Pakistan and India 

RSN’s due diligence initiative, YESS: Yarn Ethically & Sustainably Sourced, conducted the inaugural third-party due diligence YESS assessments in Pakistan and India in 2023. The Pakistani spinning units of Artistic Fabric Mills (AFM), Ltd. and Nishat Mills, Ltd., underwent YESS assessments in collaboration with ELEVATE, an LRQA company, as part of its Global Trace Protocol (GTP) project. Three Indian manufacturers, Shahi Exports, Raymond, and Sree Santhosh Garments had their spinning and fabric mills undergo YESS assessments in collaboration with Verité as part of its Supply Chain Tracing and Engagement Methodologies (STREAMS) project. Both projects were generously supported by the U.S. Department of Labor. (photo: Liz Muller) 

 

 

Partnering with Sumerra to Scale YESS

In Q4 RSN/YESS and Sumerra signed an MOU to commit to working together to design and build a system to manage YESS auditors and coordinate YESS assessments. This is a strong partnership since RSN’s due diligence expertise complements Sumerra's global presence, which will support YESS in scaling. Many brands and mid-tier suppliers are also already familiar with Sumerra due to its management of Higg assessments for the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and verifications for the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP). 

 

a man cutting cotton fabric samples for isotope testing

STREAMS Isotope Pilot with Oritain and YESS

In addition to supporting the YESS assessments, Verité’s STREAMS project also supported a pilot of isotope testing with Oritain. The objective was to see how the mills could benefit from bringing YESS’s management system requirements together with an isotope check to increase transparency, identify risk, and educate suppliers on how to address them. An overview of the pilot will be released in 2024 covering key learnings and reflections on coordinating due diligence and traceability technologies. (photo: Anup Singh)

 

 

Introducing RSN's Team Members

RSN is proud to introduce our newest team member, Michael Baldino-Kelly—Director of Program Development. Michael brings a background in monitoring and evaluation, program management, and quality assurance in the international development, humanitarian, and public health sectors. Also joining us earlier in the year: Roslyn Kauffman—Operations Manager—responsible for finance, operations, and human resources; and Emilie Switzer Jacobsen—Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator—point person for YESS membership. Welcome team! 

       

 

Conflict Minerals Research and a PhDDr. Raphaël Deberdt headshot

RSN’s Minerals Program Researcher, Raphaël Deberdt, conducted extensive research on conflict minerals in collaboration with European stakeholders to contribute to a study of reviewing the functioning and effectiveness of the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation. He also defended his dissertation Responsible Sourcing and the (In)Visibilization of Congo’s Artisanal Cobalt Miners in the Age of the Green Energy Transition to complete his PhD in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. Way to go Dr. Raphaël! 

 

With Great Appreciation

We want to express our gratitude to the individuals and organizations that make up our larger team of collaborators and supporters: all of our funders, RSN Board of Directors, YESS Sponsors and Advisory Committee Members, Liz Muller of Liz Muller & Partners, auditing firms ARCHE Advisors and SCS Global Services, our accounting team at Sutro Li, interim Operations Associate Serena Yau, and Salesforce consultant Kelsey Brynne Chirlinn. Thank you all for being an essential part of our work and for bringing your unique talents to the table. What we accomplished wouldn't have been possible without you! 

 

Looking ahead to 2024, we're excited to intensify our efforts to rollout YESS. Together we will:

  • Deliver in-region workshops and begin YESS assessments in Vietnam & Bangladesh
  • Establish a scalable system to train and approve auditors and audit firms
  • Build out on boarding support and virtual training for mills
  • Expand third-party YESS assessments in Pakistan & India
  • Formalize partnerships with related initiatives
  • Start supporting risk-mitigation capacity with local collaboration

 

Opportunity to Contribute

Thank you for doing your part to end modern slavery and exploitation of vulnerable communities tied to products we all use every day. With your support we will continue to shine a light on these issues and implement impactful solutions. For more information or to find out how you can get involved with any of our projects, please contact us at info@sourcingnetwork.org    

Thank you for your contribution.

Donate Here

 

Patricia Jurewicz