Verité in the News
Read coverage of Verité’s work in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, and more.
Farm Labor Due Diligence in 2022
The Farm Labor Due Diligence Initiative is a Verité-led collaborative launched in 2022 to help define and support good human rights due diligence in global agricultural supply chains. The project centers on creation of open-source tools and other resources and is supported by an Advisory Council of leading companies and civil society organizations.
CUMULUS Forced Labor Screen in 2022
In 2022 Verité’s patented, secure, technology-driven CUMULUS Forced Labor Screen™ system implemented a new Employer Pays Verification feature and surpassed a major milestone, having proactively screened more than 1,000 entities in global supply chains for the presence of the ILO forced labor indicators.
SENDEROS in 2022
The Sowing Rights, Harvesting Better Futures (SENDEROS) project promotes adherence of the sugarcane and tobacco sectors in Mexico to national regulations and international labor standards. In 2022, SENDEROS collaborated with the Mexican government, companies, producers, and farmworkers to build capacities to detect, remedy, and prevent labor rights issues.
STREAMS in 2022
As part of the Supply Chain Tracing and Engagement Methodologies (STREAMS) project, Verité developed the Supply Chain Traceability Matrix. Launching in early 2023, the Matrix is an accessible, interactive platform to learn how different traceability methods can be used to combat labor abuses in global supply chains.
COFFEE in 2022
During 2022 Verité conducted actionable research and engaged stakeholders as part of the Cooperation On Fair, Free, Equitable Employment (COFFEE) project to create, refine, and launch a set of 17 tools comprising the Socially Sustainable Sourcing Toolkit (S3T) to meet the needs of key coffee sector stakeholders.
Living Income and Living Wage Study for the Colombian Coffee Sector
On October 6 and 7, 2022, Verité, in partnership with the Anker Research Institute and with support from, RGC Coffee, organized two online sessions to present the results and recommendations of the “Living Income and Living Wage Report” for rural areas and small towns of coffee-growing regions in central Colombia.
When Coffee Farmers Face Crises, Farmworkers Suffer Most
Labor is the single largest component of most coffee farmers’ costs of production. In Latin America, for example, labor accounts for the majority of production costs.
How to Conduct Effective Forced Labor Due Diligence at Scale?
Social audits have proven to be ineffective in detecting and preventing debt bonded labor, the most pervasive and entrenched form of forced labor in global supply chains today. While deep dive, focused, worker-centric investigations of the type conducted by Verité and like-minded organizations, are the gold standard to detect and remedy these abuses, it is neither practical nor cost effective for buyers, investors, and other stakeholders to use this approach at every workplace in high-risk countries, sectors, supply chain tiers, or migration corridors.
Reflections on Workers’ Rights to Safe and Decent Conditions
Dhaka Principle 7 – Working conditions are safe and decent – the vital principle to ensure migrant workers enjoy safe and decent conditions of work, free from harassment, any form of intimidation or inhuman treatment. They should receive adequate health and safety provision and training in relevant languages.
