PROGRESS (Global Value Chains & SDGs)

PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE VALUE CHAINS IN INDIA FOR AN EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTION OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO THE SDGs (PROGRESS)

Project Overview

Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) and Aston India Centre for Applied Research (AICAR), Aston University, UK have teamed up to explore and investigate how private sector companies – as part of GVCs, production networks and FDIs in India have/could better contribute towards achievement of specific SDGs, particularly inclusive education and life-long learning (SDG4), employment and decent work for the youth (SGD 8), women’s social and economic empowerment (SDG 5), sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12), and Climate Action (SDG 13).This project referred to as the PROGRESS project is being supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. The project was officially launched in October 2018 and will run till September 2021.

The generated evidence would be used to engage and support policy and practice (industry) level discussions and actions through multi-stakeholder processes involving four key sectors viz. i) Apparels & Textiles, ii) Agro-Processing, iii) Pharmaceuticals, and iv) Gems & Jewellery. Further, the experience of the project would also be used to engage with the international actors to highlight the contributions through this GVC approach and areas that need attention. It would thereby highlight and demonstrate methodologies for achieving sustainable and inclusive GVCs aimed at benefiting the youth, women and local environment in India.

The project would pursue the research into the four sectors, keeping the SDG impacts in mind in the following four Work Packages

Policy & Regulation
Innovation and Business Competitiveness
Measurement and Monitoring
Sustainability Communication

Objectives

The project activities would be implemented with the following objectives

To leverage global and local commitments by leading businesses/brands in GVCs and investments, for creating positive SDG impacts along their network in India, especially on women, youth and environment;
To assess challenges and opportunities for Indian industries in selected sectors to contribute towards the SDGs;
To create internal capacity and ‘buy-in’ in these sectors towards inclusive, innovative business models/approaches;
To help businesses better measure, document and monitor their contribution to the SDGs;
To communicate effectively with key internal and external stakeholders and contribute towards enabling business environment;
To create a neutral and enabling space (platform) for multiple-stakeholders to dialogue on and identify areas for policy reforms and industry actions in selected sectors.

Anticipated Outcomes

The project activities would be implemented with the following objectives:

Demonstrate evidence based models/approaches for GVCs to achieve specific SDGs, particularly focusing on women, youth and environment in India (in terms of decent work opportunities, empowerment and local environmental impacts);
Evolve sector-specific multi-stakeholder platform to champion positive impacts of GVCs on women and youth in India;
Greater momentum for relevant policy and regulatory processes in selected sectors, demonstrating movement towards achievement of selected SDGs;
Initiation of business (firm level), industry-level and investor level strategy and actions toward achievement of selected SDGs.

Events

Roundtable discussion on, 'Addressing the adverse impacts of the pandemic on women workers in the apparel and textile value chain', 14 August, 2020

CRB organised a roundtable discussion, ‘Addressing the adverse impacts of the pandemic on women workers in the apparel and textile value chain, on 14th august 2020. The discussion marked the presence of key stakeholders of the A&T sector to understand what solutions can be explored to address the challenges to the women workers in the A&T sector especially in the context of the pandemic.

PROGRESS session, 'Business resilience in times of crisis: a multi-sector perspective on decent work and economic growth (SDG 8)' at CRB's ISS 2020, 29 October, 2020

A PROGRESS session at CRB’s conference 2020 titled, ‘Business resilience in times of crisis: a multi-sector perspective on decent work and economic growth (SDG 8)’ was organised on 29th october 2020. Representatives from the various project sectors (A&T, Agro-Processing and Gems & Jewellery) and academia shared their inputs on how the issue of Decent Work has been addressed in volatile, uncertain situations and spoke about the challenges faced by value chain stakeholders across sectors to ensure Decent Work.

Workshop on, 'Delivering on SDGs: Aligning Action by the Global North with Southern Priorities', 10 December, 2020

On 10th December, 2020, a workshop titled “Delivering on SDGs: Aligning Action by the Global North with Southern Priorities” was organised, with the aim to bring various national and international stakeholders together for a discussion on SDGs. The objectives of the discussion were:

Showcase the developments in the project thus far, especially to highlight the perspective of value chain actors in the developing economy with regards to SDGs
Understand the nature of engagement/interaction between MNCs/lead firms and value chain actors in an emerging economy/production center for promoting SDGs
Deliberate on the role of policies in supporting the SDG agenda

Virtual discussion on, 'COVID19 and Its Impacts on Food Loss and Waste: A Multi-stakeholder dialogue', 19 June, 2020

On June 19, 2020, an on-line stakeholder discussion was held on COVID19 and Its Impacts on Food Loss and Waste: A Multi-stakeholder dialogue. The virtual session saw stakeholders from the Agro-processing sector in India (as part of the PROGRESS project) and experts sharing their perspectives and views.The stakeholders present included thosefrom government, industry, civil society, academia, logistics, and international organisations. The objectives of the discussion were:

To understand how stakeholders in the agro-processing sector can address/have addressed the problem of food loss &waste (using the framework and indicators of SDG12)
To examine challenges presented by COVID19 and the lockdown in managing food loss &waste in India
To discuss how interventions by the government (Centre and States) and private sector actors can help reduce food loss &waste in the supply chain

PROGRESS Inception Meeting, 9 April, 2019

On April 9th, an inception meeting for PROGRESS was organized in New Delhi on April 9th, 2019 with key stakeholders from Apparel & Textiles, Agro-processing and Pharmaceutical sector. The stakeholders included representatives from industry (firms and associations), academia, government, civil society, voluntary standards, MNCs and multilaterals amongst others. The purpose of the meeting was

Introduce PROGRESS to key stakeholders and initiate the process of establishing the multi stakeholder platforms/ groups across sectors
Refine the research questions on the themes of policy, innovation, measuring & monitoring, and sustainability communication through collective group work and deliberations for each of the sectors

Gems & Jewellery Sector Meeting, 28 May, 2019

On May 28th, 2019, a meeting focusing on the Gems and Jewellery sector in India (as part of the PROGRESS project) was held in Mumbai with key stakeholders from the sector. The stakeholders included representatives from skilling councils, industry associations, voluntary standards, brands and civil society amongst others. The purpose of the meeting was

To introduce PROGRESS to key stakeholders and initiate the process of establishing a multi stakeholder group for the Gems & Jewellery sector
To refine the research questions on the themes of policy, innovation, measuring & monitoring, and sustainability communication through collective group work and deliberations for the sector.