Secretariat Update – October 2019

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. 

Assurance is defined as demonstrable evidence that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled. In other words, thinking about Assurance is to ponder the question: how do we protect the credibility of our claim?

The Executive Committee (EC) has been working on an Assurance model concept since late 2019. Following the request for proposal put up in August 2019, an external consultant was engaged to conduct a review of the options for various Assurance Models that would support the desired outcomes of the Platform. In early 2020, the report from the consultant, which discussed existing approaches to Assurance and included recommendations for GPSNR’s approach to Assurance, was submitted to the EC. 

The EC considered the input from the report and expanded upon its findings by conducting a thorough benchmarking of existing Assurance model approaches. Following this exercise, the EC identified and defined several key characteristics that merit inclusion in GPSNR’s Assurance model concept.

In the process of developing these key characteristics, the EC also took into account the purpose, value and benefits of an Assurance model. 

A robust Assurance model would provide a credible and effective system to manage risks by supporting the achievement of sustainability impacts, focusing on accurate assessments of compliance, ensuring the effectiveness of its assurance strategies through good information management systems, and finding additional ways to create value for stakeholders.

A webinar will be held on Friday, 26 June 2020 to introduce GPSNR members to a proposed Assurance model concept.

A tabled summary of the process and timelines around the development of the Assurance model concept up until now is included below: