Dear all,

Please find below a list of some new resources that may of use to you that came available over the last few months.

Report on Conditions in Morocco

The Spanish CCC last march published a report called "The responsibility of Spanish garment retailers for the social and working conditions in small production centres in Northern Morocco." An english language summary of the report is now available at our website, go to:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/publications/02-03-morocco.htm

The report shows that the majority of workshops - of which there are more than 500 in the city of Tangier - are inadequately located in the lower floors of buildings. These workshops commonly employ an average of 60 workers, the majority female, and, on a significant number of occasions, also adolescents. Some of these workshops are legally recognised as companies and therefore sometimes have an official name, but many are completely clandestine or informal. All the clothing manufactured in these workshops is for exportation and the majority is destined for the European market. The report includes a table that compares workers' social and working conditions in the garment workshops. A translation of the full report is expected in the next few months, those of you who can read spanish can contact the spanish ccc for a full copy, ropalimpia@pangea.org

And a report on conditions in Bulgaria

Already in 2001 the Bulgarian Gender Rerseach Foundation published in 2001 the results of a research conducted in the framework of the CCC, an english translation of the report called "Social environment and standards at the work place in the garment industry in Bulgaria" is now available at:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/publications/01-bulgaria.htm
Next to information about the situation in the garment industry in Bulgaria the report also takes a close look at the opportunities that international standards provide for improving the situation in the country.

Manual for Research on Homeworkers

The Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in the UK and WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment, Globalizing & Organizing) jointly published the Manual for Value Chain Research on Homeworkers in the Garment Industry. The extensive and very informative manual (nearly 200 pages!) outlines in detail how research in the garment subcontracting chain (or value chain) can be organized, using a technique called 'mapping'. The first part is more general and introduces concepts and issues about homeworkers and value chains. The second part provides the tools needed to carry out the research, including for example suggestions on how to conduct interviews with different actors, and the last part is about using the research and analysis to make an impact on people's working lives. The manual can be downloaded at:
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/global/wiego.html or ordered via publications@ids.ac.uk

UNRISD publication on Codes and CSR

The United Nations Research Institute for Social development UNRISD, together with the The United Nations Non Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) last july published a new book called "Voluntary approaches to Corporate Responsibility - Readings and a Resource guide".

• The first section, "Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy", written by Rhys Jenkins, details the changes that have taken place in corporate regulation, explores what is behind the growing number of corporate codes of conduct, and describes the different stakeholders involved.
• Section two, Peter Utting's contribution on "Regulating Business via Multistakeholder Initiatives: A Preliminary Assessment", outlines the move from state-led regulation in the 1960s and 1970s, to corporate self-regulation in the 1980s and 1990s, to the more recent trend of co-regulation involving corporations, NGOs and multilateral organizations.
• Section three is Renato Alva Pino's survey of information sources on corporate social and environmental responsibility.

This volume is available free of charge from NGLS or from UNRISD, contact tombez@unrisd.org or download the full text via:
http://www.unsystem.org/ngls/documents/publications.en/
develop.dossier/dd.07%20(csr)/1contents.htm

New SOMO/CCC Monitoring Project

In 2000-2001 the Dutch research centre SOMO coordinated a project that brought together the different code monitoring initiatives where CCC is involved in (such as the UK based ETI, the dutch based Fair Wear Foundation, and the swedish and swiss CCC pilot projects). Recently some new funding was obtained to continue the project. Next to information exchange and debate it is foreseen to publish a terminology guide and to investigate what the possibilities are for building complaints procedures for workers as well as for NGOs and trade unions to file complaints about violations of codes of conduct. Lastly the plan is to write several case studies documenting the experiences gained within the many pilot projects conducted so far. For more information check out www.somo.nl/monitoring. CCC international secretariat is again a partner in the project and we welcome all your input and reactions, please contact Ineke Zeldenrust via info@cleanclothes.org

Report on seminar on Codes, Monitoring and Worker Organizing

A two-day seminar was organized last february by Maquila Solitarity Network in Puebla, Mexico, called "Codes, Monitoring and Worker Organizing" which brought together representatives of labour, women's, non-governmental and independent monitoring groups from Mexico, the Caribbean, the US, Central America and Canada to discuss, debate and seek common ground on whether and how codes of conduct and monitoring can assist workers in organizing to improve conditions and win respect for their rights. The full report can be found at
http://www.cleanclothes.org/ftp/PueblaRpt.pdf
and of course via www.maquilasolidarity.org

ILO monitoring project in Cambodia

Last june the ILO social dialogue progamme published the third synthesis report on working conditions in Cambodia's garment sector. The report (as well as the two previous ones) are available at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/publ/cambodia3.htm

The project that reports describe was set up by the ILO after the 1999 trade agreement between the US and Cambodia specified that export quota could be increased probided the Government of Cambodia supports "the implementation of a programme to improve working conditions in the textile and apparel sector, including internationally recognised core labour standards, through the application of Cambodian labour law".

The project aims to improve working conditions in Cambodia's textile and apparel sector through:

• Establishing and operating an independent system to monitor working conditions in garment factories;
• Providing assistance in drafting new laws and regulations where necessary as a basis for improving working conditions and giving effect to the labour law;
• Increasing the awareness of employers and workers of core international labour standards and workers' and employers' rights under Cambodian labour law;
• Increasing the capacity of employers and workers and their respective organizations to improve working conditions in the garment sector through their own efforts;
• Building the capacity of government officials to ensure greater compliance with core labour standards and Cambodian labour laws.

The synthesis reports make for interesting reading both about the situation in Cambodia's factories as well as about the methodology developed for the independent monitoring system. They are based on visits undertaken by the local monitoring teams (who were trained as part of the project) to 30 factories.

Clean Clothes Campaign Video Catalogue

The Clean Clothes Campaign have recently collated and reviewed their good collection of videos from around the world. There are examples of documentaries from Britain, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the Far East and elsewhere. The tapes not only show footage of campaigners and workers talking abut the conditions in which they work, but typical shots will include shocking footage of Thai factory workers on protest demonstrations as well as women talking about their difficult lives as bonded labourers on the Island of Saipan, for example. See:
http://www.cleanclothes.org/campaign/video.htm