The “WHY” of Our Contract Supplier Work

FOUR LENSES through which to see our work

Lens 1: Human Rights We say that each and all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. That means we are all equal.

Lens 1: Human Rights That means that the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration Human Rights apply to each of us, apply to all of us.

Lens 1: Human Rights If we take the time to really read this Universal Declaration of the rights of each and all persons, then we see that it declares the right to work, the right to decent work that supports the worker and his/her family. the right to work, the right to decent work that supports the worker and his/her family.

Lens 1: Human Rights Workers in the contract supplier systems, in the supply chains and the value chains come to work to support themselves and their families, come to work to create a viable, option- filled future. option- filled future.

Lens 1: Human Rights In some countries, workers are protected – by laws by systems to enforce the laws by the right to organize and engage in collective bargaining But…

Lens 1: Human Rights In other countries, in so many other countries, especially where the supply chains produce products or services The laws are lacking The systems are lacking The right to organize is not operative.

Lens 1: Human Rights Our contract supplier work brings our power to bear to assure those rights in the workplace throughout the supply chains, whether in factories or fields. We do not differentiate, all are included because we see through the lens of human rights.

Lens 2: Sustainability The lens of Sustainability, Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability Allows us to see how the intersection of economic and social sustainability impacts the lives of workers in the supply chains

Lens 2: Sustainability Economic sustainability means - that workers can sustain themselves - that workers’ families can sustain themselves themselves - that communities can sustain themselves - that communities can sustain themselves through the compensation that they receive for the work that they do,

Lens 2: Sustainability and by the taxes that are paid by those who benefit from being located in the community. The workers, their families and their communities benefit from the social and physical infrastructure that those taxes provide.

Lens 2: Sustainability Economic sustainability is a means to social sustainability. The ability to earn sufficient income leads to stability of family & community. Migration should not be necessary. Remittances should not be necessary.

Lens 2: Sustainability So many workers in the supply chains in factories and/or fields away from the support of family and community…need our support. Existing conditions, existing systems neither recognize nor support the right of workers to a sustainable future.

Lens 2: Sustainability Our sustainability work focuses on the ability of workers to sustain themselves and their families in a healthy environment. Our contract supplier work is designed to create a viable, option filled, sustainable future.

Lens 3: Security In 1994, The United Nations Human Development Report defined security in a new and different way.

Lens 3: Security “For too long, the concept of security has been shaped by the potential for conflict between states. For too long, security has been equated with the threats to a country’s borders. with the threats to a country’s borders. For too long, nations have sought arms to protect their security.

Lens 3: Security “For most people today a feeling of insecurity arises from worries about daily life. Job security, income security, health security, environmental security, security from crime – These are the emerging concerns of human security all over the world.”

Lens 3: Security In the Human Development Report 2006, the UNDP connects “the idea of human security to the wider debate on development. “The aim was to look beyond the narrow perceptions of national security, defined in terms of military threats and the protection of foreign policy goals,

Lens 3: Security “and towards a vision of security rooted in the lives of people…. “In the world of the early 21 st century national security looms large on the international agenda…. “Against this backdrop it is easy to lose sight of some basic human security imperatives.”

Lens 3: Security Our contract supplier work, anchored in our belief in the inherent dignity of all persons, is about the security of workers in the workplace in their families and communities in their control over their future.

Lens 4: UN Millennium Goals The Millennium Goals are a particular challenge. Anchored in reality, they demand that we look at the root causes of some of the systemic issues faced by communities and countries around the world.

Lens 4: UN Millennium Goals While the contract supplier work does not directly address these goals or the underlying situations that the goals address, We need to recognize that our work is directly related

Lens 4: UN Millennium Goals  To the ability to find decent work …and therefore to be able to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger  To achieve universal primary education …which means ensuring the end to child labor  To promote gender equality and empower women …which means protecting women in the work place and making sure the women also are in positions of and making sure the women also are in positions of management and leadership in the workplace. management and leadership in the workplace.

Our Obligation to Use the Powers We Have Power as investors Power as investors Power as consumers Power as consumers Power as persons of faith Power as persons of faith Power as persons of hope Power as persons of hope Power as the community of ICCR to support and sustain one another Power as the community of ICCR to support and sustain one another

Continuing our Learning to See We see in so many ways, so many places. We see in the media; we see in the reports we read. We see in the photos and in the videos. We see the faces of people we have met. We see the factories and fields where they work. We have seen so much with our eyes.

Continuing our Learning to See Over the years, we have learned to see with our hearts, to see with our memories of time spent, work done, so many, many words heard… Within all this, really because of all this, we have learned to see with our hearts.

Continuing our Learning to See That is why we do this work on the contract supplier systems… because we have learned to see. The lenses help us to focus what we see. The lenses help us to organize, to get a handle on what we see. But we do our work because we have learned to see.

For more information for permission to use the presentation, please contact: CREA: Center for Reflection, Education and Action PO Box 2507 Hartford, CT TEL: © CREA 2007