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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
11.17.2004 ET
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Launch of the World's First Individual Certification Scheme in the Field of Sustainability Assurance
(CSRwire) LONDON - AccountAbility and International Register of Certified
Auditors (IRCA) are delighted to announce, jointly, the launch of the
world's first individual certification scheme in the field of
sustainability assurance - "The Certified Sustainability Assurance
Practitioner Program".
There is an increasing need for assurance of non-financial and financial
information as part of an organization's performance against sustainable
development commitments, policies and strategies. This is relevant to
secure internal quality, and to provide credible information to interested
stakeholders externally. This is important to those stakeholders concerned
with specific social and environmental aspects of an organisation's
performance. It will also be of interest to those concerned with the
impact of non-financial risks, which can affect financial performance and
valuations.
Commenting on this important step in sustainability assurance, Maria
Sillanpää, Managing Director of AccountAbility, said, "the challenge in
delivering effective practitioner certification in this field is
considerable and the development of this first iteration of the program
has been informed by an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process.
What we have delivered is the first version, created to enable structure
dialogue: from this foundation we anticipate that the program will
continuously develop as a result of stakeholder feedback and our own
experiences in running the program."
Simon Feary, Director of IRCA, added: "this program represents an exciting
new activity for IRCA. We are pleased that we can contribute our experience
in personnel certification to support the developing field of
sustainability assurance." AccountAbility developed the AA1000 Assurance
Standard to provide a credible foundation for sustainability assurance,
combining the best from both traditional auditing methodologies and
leading edge practice in stakeholder engagement and indicator development.
Since its launch in early 2003, it has underpinned the external assurance
of a growing number of sustainability reports, as well as being used
internally for quality assurance. It is increasingly used in conjunction
with related standards such as the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
and the ISAE3000 non-financial assurance guidelines provided by the
International Assurance and Auditing Standards Board. This is a positive
sign of standards convergence.
There remains a gap, however, in standards governing the emerging
profession of sustainability assurance practitioners. There is growing
confusion as to what experience is relevant and how best to judge
individual competence, often as part of assurance teams. As a result, the
growth of sustainability assurance has been constrained, with
corresponding damage to quality and credibility.
Recognising this gap, AccountAbility and IRCA believe that the program,
based on an AA1000 platform, will be successful as they have brought
together their respective expertise in the fields of sustainability
assurance and individual certification to develop this international
program for practitioners. The program is intended for practitioners both
internal and external to an organization whose performance is being
assured, including but not restricted to those explicitly using the AA1000
AS.
This program is has been developed for individuals, however, it is
understood that effective sustainability assurance often requires
multi-disciplinary teams as a result of individual and wider
organizational competencies.
It is anticipated that the program will be subject to an ongoing
multi-stakeholder dialogue facilitated by workshops and an online forum
(www.accountability.org.uk) and
will be reviewed one year from its implementation.
To find out more about the program, to download the certification
criteria, to download the application forms or to provide your feedback,
please go to www.irca.org or www.accountability.org.uk.
Information for editors
AccountAbility is an international, not-for-profit, professional institute
for business, non-governmental organizations, public sector organizations
and individuals committed to enhancing the performance of organizations
and to developing the competencies of individuals working in social and
ethical accountability and sustainable development. AccountAbility is
dedicated to promoting accountability for sustainable development and
enhancing the performance of organizations and developing the competencies
of individuals in social and ethical accountability and sustainable
development by:
Creating a credible assurance standard and underlying accountability
framework
Providing quality professional development and certification
Advocating an enabling public policy environment for organizational
accountability
Developing innovative 'ideas-for-action' through research and
practise.
For more information about AccountAbility or the CSAP program, go to www.accountability.org.uk
International Register of Certificated Auditors Established in 1984, IRCA
is the world's oldest and most recognized and respected auditor
certification body. We have awarded certification to over 26,000 auditors
and have more than 120 countries represented on our register of individual
auditors and practitioners. Another important element of our business
involves the approval of organizations that provide auditor training. The
award of IRCA training approval has achieved international recognition and
is eagerly sought by training organizations around the world with over
50,000 students completing ICRA certified courses in over 100 countries
each year. For more information about IRCA or the CSAP program, go to www.irca.org
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