Verité and CREA are organizing a process to facilitate the development of standards for the knowledge, skills, and competencies of social auditors. This program is being undertaken with the financial support of the US Department of State's Office of International Labor Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility. The project runs from January 2008 – December 2009, and will promote dialogue among stakeholders on social auditor standards through surveys, a wiki, conferences and meetings. The project will result in:

• A comprehensive set of standards for the knowledge and skills of social auditors.

• A training and accreditation pathway by which auditors can receive recognition for achieving the necessary knowledge and skills.

Core questions the Social Auditor Standards Project will answer include:

• What should social auditors know and what should they be able to do?

• How can training courses best teach the knowledge and skills required?

• What accreditation or other system can best guarantee that courses reliably teach the skills and knowledge required of competent social auditors?

Over the next eighteen months, the collaborative process will include input from interested brands from a spectrum of sectors, retailers, social monitoring groups, multi-stakeholder initiatives, non-governmental organizations, labor groups, investors, and other relevant organizations. For more information about the project, click here.