OPEN INVITATION – PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY

Webinar Series

CERTIFICATION IN THE PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY:

DISCERNING BEST PRACTICES AND APPLYING LESSONS FROM OTHER SECTORS

You are cordially invited to participate, either in person or via the Web, in the final in a series of webinars examining best practices in the certification of voluntary business standards. After the November 9 signing of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers by 58 companies, the focus of multi-stakeholder discussions will move to the next phase: the development of mechanisms for effective governance and oversight. These webinars provide information from experts familiar with the certification of management, process, environmental, labor, and supply chain standards—a useful resource for participants in and supporters of the code. Through an open, expert-led dialogue, these webinars hope to foster learning and consensus building and ensure that best practices pave the way forward.

Webinar 3:

Labor standards and supply chain certification, Wednesday, December 1, 12:00-1:30pm EST

Chair:

Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt, Assistant Professor, School of International Service, American University

Moderator:

Krista Hendry, Executive Director, Fund for Peace

Presenters:

Jorge Perez-Lopez, Executive Director, Fair Labor Association

Elly Harrowell, Campaigner, Global Witness – to speak on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme

Rochelle Zaid, Executive Director, Social Accountability Accreditation Services (accreditation body for SA 8000)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPATING:

You can participate in person or remotely. To attend in person, please come to American University (4400 Massachusetts Ave, Washington DC), Ward Building Room 102.

To join via the Web, use Mozilla Firefox (free download available at www.mozilla.com) as your browser and click on the link below. (You can use other browsers but may run into compatibility issues.) When prompted enter your first and last name, and hit the “Run Wizard” to ensure your software is compatible and up-to-date. The Wizard will prompt you to plug in a microphone to finish. Hit “Next” to skip this step, as you only will be able to type questions to the panelists during the Q and A session through the “chat box” function. Please direct questions for the panelists to Heather Elms and technical questions to Sophie Grumelard.

http://americanlive.wimba.com/launcher.cgi?room=_ac_s__28986_1_123292&X-Wimba-IntegrationType=classroom&X-Wimba-PlatformType=blackboard&X-Wimba-PlatformVersion=9.1.407.9&X-Wimba-CoursePkId=_28986_1&X-Wimba-IntegrationVersion=4.0.2-0&X-Wimba-RoomId=_ac_s__28986_1_123292&X-Wimba-CourseId=CTRL-SIS-KGD-2010F

No RSVP required. Please feel forward this invitation to anyone you feel might be interested in participating!

For more information or questions, contact:

Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt at or

NOW AVAILABLE: VIEW THE ARCHIVED WEBINARS

Webinar 1:

Management and process standards, Wednesday, October 27, 12:00-1:30pm EST

Chair:

Heather Elms, Associate Professor, Kogod School of Business, American University

Moderator:

Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt, Assistant Professor, School of International Service, American University

Presenters:

Claire Mahon, Senior Researcher, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Dr. Marc Siegel, Commissioner, ASIS International, Global Standards Initiative

David Simpson, Director of Standards and Collaborative Governance, AccountAbility

Webinar 2:

Environmental certification, Wednesday, November 10, 12:00-1:30pm EST

Chair:

Heather Elms, Associate Professor, Kogod School of Business, American University

Moderator:

Jorge Rivera, Associate Professor, George Washington University School of Business

Presenters:

Petra Tanos, Coordinator, Sustainable Value Chains, Rainforest Alliance

Sarah Buffaloe, LEED Associate, US Green Building Council

Ben Cashore, Professor, Environmental Governance & Political Science, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

To access the archived webinar, enter American University’s BlackBoard site at https://blackboard.american.edu Use “new12” as your Username and Password. Under My Courses, click on Certification Webinar Series. In the left hand navigation toolbar, you will find the presenters’ Power Point slides. To watch a playback of the webinar, go to Wimba Classroom and Archives and click on the Wimba Classroom link. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the blue arrow under Enter to start the playback. (Sound will kick in with the video after approximately 20 seconds.)