GPSNR Working Groups Update: November 2021

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It’s been a busy month, to say the least! If you haven’t had the chance to take stock of everything that has happened, here is the update: 

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The group has finalised the Theory of change, which is currently in the process of being designed for public communications. They have also published the Environmental Risk Study, which can be found here. 

Currently, the group is working on developing the RFP for the Economic Risk Study. 

Smallholder Representation Working Group

After three successful smallholder onboarding workshops for smallholders from Indonesia, India and Cambodia since July 2021, the working group completed three more onboarding workshops for Thailand, Ivory Coast and Sri Lanka. 

More than 80 smallholders from all three countries participated, and the working group is now working on inducting those who apply for membership into the GPSNR ecosystem. The group is also busy with the fourth smallholder international call of 2021 on 25th November to prepare smallholders for GA 2021, as well as to seek smallholders’ views on plans for 2022. 

Policy Toolbox Working Group

The group has finalised the reporting requirements which have been put up for vote to all ordinary members before the General Assembly on 14th December. Take a look at the resolution here.

Capacity Building Working Group

This month, the group worked on presenting GPSNR’s position on rubber agroforestry at COP 26 via the agroforestry Task Force and completed the first review of the GPSNR Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs).The GAP Task Force is now working on finalising the GAPs, including preparations for pre-GA webinar on 2 December 2021, while a separate Task Force has started work  on commencing developments on the GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform. The work on the strategy review and implementation plans for Indonesia and Ivory Coast remain in progress. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

This working group has finalised the traceability benchmark internally, and will be holding a introducing the document  during the pre-GA webinar on 30th December 2021. The document will go out for broader consultation among the membership soon. The WG will also  provide a summary of possible tools to the EC based on traceability studies conducted last year. 

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The group has discussed and explored solutions to identified root causes for each focus area of shared responsibility. It is also continuing to draft activities and a framework for Shared Responsibility for integration into other processes such as the Implementation Guidance, which will include consultations with GPSNR members and WGs to ensure alignment on Shared Responsibility for the platform. 

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The Road Ahead for GPSNR’s Working Groups

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

Moving forward, a key focus of the Strategy and Objectives Working Group is to look at increasing Working Group alignment within the Platform. Considering the interconnected nature of the work and the plan for Working Group-level Theories of Change, there is merit in bringing the Co-Chairs of Working Groups together to explore how to create better alignment. To this end, the Working Group is considering activities for the end of the year to build unity and alignment across all Working Groups.

The Working Group is also developing a procedure to assess external programs that are brought forward for GPSNR’s support, either by member organizations or by Working Groups. This process will involve evaluating the measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the project and to what degree the project links to GPSNR’s Theory of Change. 

Under the Equity sub-Group, the Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand are now underway following the award of the proposals to the selected bidders.  

Smallholder Representation Working Group

Prior to the General Assembly (GA), the Smallholder Representation Working Group had organised three international calls to prepare smallholders for the GA. A fourth international call will be held sometime mid-October. 

In the lead-up to this final international call, a round of national calls are being held with the help of the various Country Champions. During these national calls, smallholder members will be able to gather their thoughts around the GA, approved resolutions and Executive Committee election results, as well as to think collectively about the issues they would like to cover as a category during the international call, and, moving forward, the details of the engagement mechanism they wish to implement within the category.

Post-GA, the Smallholder Representation Working Group will explore how best to integrate members of the newest category into the various Working Groups. The Working Group is also looking at its exit strategy, having achieved the goals set out for it in its Terms of Reference document.   

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

Following the approval of the proposed policy framework, a multi-stakeholder Technical Working Group will be set up to draft the Implementation Guidance for member companies. 

Concurrently, the Working Group will also develop a policy equivalent and implementation guidance for smallholder producers, and civil society.   

The Shared Responsibility Working Group, whose creation was approved by the Executive Committee, will be established to identify how the responsibilities and costs of implementing sustainable natural rubber initiatives can be more equitably distributed across stakeholder categories. It will help to inform the development of the Implementation Guidance, while bearing in mind that whatever requirements are defined for smallholder members, those members should not carry the burden of a higher cost to implement sustainability activities and comply with the Policy or Implementation Guidance to be developed.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

At the end of July 2020, the Capacity Building Working Group had presented finalized capacity building strategies for four selected countries, to the Executive Committee.

For its next steps, the Working Group will be developing implementation guidelines and an evaluation framework. This will be crucial in ensuring that the various capacity building activities are put in place in a concise and effective manner leading to the outcomes framed in GPSNR’s Theory of Change. The Working Group will continue to discuss the feasibility and find consensus on an approach that relates to carbon compensation schemes around natural rubber. 

Finally, the Working Group will also refine its group structure to better address the changing roles and responsibilities it now faces.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group has awarded the GIS Database and Mapping Tools study to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison study to e-Audit Hong-Kong Limited (e-Audit). 

The studies are ongoing, and the Working Group will then use those studies to develop next steps as well as recommendations to the Executive Committee.

The Working Group will also be continuing conversations on risk-based approach methods to evaluating field-level legal, social and environmental risks.

GPSNR Staff September 30, 2020
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GPSNR Working Groups Update: July 2022

Start here for a full update on the working groups since the July 2022 General Assembly!

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Executive Committee (EC) approved the creation of the Assurance Model Task Force, which will look into finalizing GPSNR’s Assurance Model design by the end of this year. Members interested to join the Task Force should look out for a call-for-participation that should be sent out soon. The Risk subgroup also received feedback from the EC on its plans and will discuss the feedback while continuing to refine GPSNR’s risk-based approach.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

In July 2022, the Smallholders WG began discussions on the following developments: Smallholders Policy-equivalent Framework with HCVN; ‘Intro to Agroforestry’ pilot workshops with CIRAD and Dr Maria Wang; and HCSA Toolkit field trials with HCSA. Preparations are also being made for an onboarding workshop for smallholders in Malaysia to be held in the first week of August!

Policy Toolbox Working Group

On updates for the Policy Toolbox Working Group, the Implementation Guidance was approved by the General Assembly and the latest version of the guidance is available here. The guidance will continue to be updated regularly, starting with updates for section 7.1 and 7.2 for all categories. The Reporting Requirements process has also started and the Secretariat is processing the responses from the PPT category.

Capacity Building Working Group

The Capacity Building WG is currently reviewing proposals for the Comprehensive Disease Fighting Approach in Indonesia, and will formalize a decision in August 2022. Projects in Indonesia, Thailand and Cote d’Ivoire are also being advanced, with concrete developments expected to be shared in August. 

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The working group is putting forward the plans to implement the shared responsibility framework, which was recently approved by the General Assembly. 

GPSNR Secretariat July 27, 2022
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