GPSNR Working Groups Update: January 2022

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All GPSNR working groups have begun planning the year ahead. Here are all their updates: 

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

After finalising the Theory of Change, the group is working on developing next steps for itself based on the ToC and updating its own Terms of Reference and membership.It is also busy with developing the RFP for the Economic Risk Study, which will be published soon.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

Apart from onboarding workshops in Ghana, Liberia, Malaysia and Colombia, the group is focussed on its newly formed task force to develop the GPSNR Smallholders Policy Framework before the General Assembly of 2022.   

Policy Toolbox Working Group

The group saw a major milestone in the approval of the reporting requirements at the 2021 General Assembly. In the coming months, they will be developing guidance for the reporting requirements and a transparency roadmap before the reporting cycle begins in mid-2022. At the same time, the group continues to refine the Implementation Guidance before the General Assembly of 2022 while supporting the smallholder working group with the Smallholder Policy Framework. Additionally, this group is busy with finalising the compliance panel operational guidance.

Capacity Building Working Group

The group recently closed two RFPs for the assessment of the Knowledge Sharing Platform and GAP coaching for Indonesia respectively. While finalising and appointing service providers from the applicants, the group will also review and finalise the strategy and approach for capacity building in Thailand, including integration with Agroforestry Task Force workstream. To this end, the recently formed Thailand capacity building national subgroup had its first meeting in January 2022. 

The working group is also working on capacity building plans for Indonesia and Ivory Coast. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

Having received members’ input on the traceability benchmark, this working group is now refining the benchmark based on the feedback. They will also be providing a summary of tools based on traceability studies conducted in 2021 to the EC.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The Shared Responsibility working group has appointed a consultant from New Foresight to support the Shared Responsibility (SR) framework development. The consultant is now working on completing the preliminary interviews to gather perspectives on the SR Framework, as well as a data collection exercise. After this, the group will work on drafting the SR framework and policy and preparing a resolution for it by the General Assembly of 2022. 

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Secretariat Update – July 2019

This full-time educational program enrolls a talented pool of diverse students from across the globe and includes academic courses such as Geopolitics, Economics, Asian Cultures and International Business in Asia. For the course ‘Company Project’, which is aimed at giving the participants broad practical knowledge, students interact and work closely with corporate companies and organizations. For the 2019 course, students had the option of choosing from a list of 5 unique partner companies/organisations, which ranged from the likes of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and South East Asia based mobility service provider Grab, and which were involved in different types of sectors including NGOs, FinTech, Healthcare, Mobility. 30 Students who were interested in working with non-profit organizations in Asia were selected to work with GPSNR as their host organization.

As a partner organization for the program, GPSNR was given the responsibility of assigning a research project to the selected group of highly motivated students, who will work on the given topic for a duration of two and a half months. After discussions with the strategy and objective Working Group, ‘Equity in the Natural Rubber supply chain’ in Asia, with main focus on China, Thailand and Indonesia, was concluded to be the chosen main topic of research for the participants. The research will focus on better understanding the cost benefit analysis at different levels of the supply chain, including social and environmental externalities. Students will work on this research project, the findings of which will be submitted to the platform by 12 September 2019.  

Increasing engagement with research organizations and academic institutions such as ESSEC Business School in Singapore, to ensure a science based approach to sustainability in the rubber industry, will remain a key objective for the Platform.

GPSNR Statement of Support for Gender Equality

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) recognizes the valuable contributions women make to the natural rubber industry and affirms its commitment to fostering an inclusive and sustainable sector. We believe that all individuals, regardless of gender, should have equal opportunities to participate in and benefit from the sector.

As part of this commitment, GPSNR has prioritized gender inclusivity in its capacity-building initiatives, ensuring that women benefit from our projects. To date, 43.49% of the 14,000 smallholders who benefitted through GPSNR’s initiatives are women. We will continue to integrate and prioritize gender inclusivity Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in relevant sustainability initiatives, ensuring that women have equal representation and access to opportunities. These efforts will help create an environment where all participants can contribute to and benefit from the growth of the sector.

GPSNR is committed to advancing social sustainability alongside environmental goals, recognizing that the well-being of all stakeholders is essential for long-term success in the rubber industry. By supporting gender inclusivity, GPSNR seeks to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future for the entire natural rubber value chain.


View the statement in other languages here

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