AccountAbility’s AA1000S Assurance Standard will fill the ‘assurance gap’ by providing a robust, credible framework for the independent quality assurance of social and sustainability reporting.

“Sustainability reports will not have a shred of credibility for NGOs if they are not externally verified using a generally accepted framework.
AA1000S is clearly the front runner for such a framework, and should be the first point of call for companies wishing to engage more productively with
the international NGO community”
[Ed Mayo, Executive Director, New Economics Foundation]

The Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility will release its AA1000S
Assurance Standard: Guiding Principles consultation document on 12th June at
a London event on Assurance, Risk and Reporting (hosted by Cable & Wireless)
and on 25th June at a Brussels event(hosted by Nike and in partnership with
CSR Europe).

There will be an intensive consultation period through to September managed through a high-level Technical committee, and including international meetings and web-based AccountAbility Forums.

“If financial auditors were required to disclose as much about themselves as
will be required of social and sustainability auditors under AA1000S, the Enron-Anderson debacle might never have happened”
[Barry Coates, Director, World Development Movement]