The success of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) – as a new international monitoring initiative – is dependent on ongoing input by local NGOs and unions in garment-producing countries. These groups are intimately aware of the problems facing workers in their region and have a crucial role to play both in applying the broad global norms of the FLA to local settings and reporting the facts on the ground.

The NGO Advisory Council facilitates the involvement of committed NGOs in the FLA monitoring system. The NGO Council works on two fronts: 1) to increase the participation of NGOs in shaping and evaluating FLA standards, and 2) to develop a network of independent NGOs that can provide information on working conditions to help identify and correct workplace abuses in FLA factories. Without this hands-on involvement by local groups, there will be no way to verify that workers’ rights are respected and enforced and that working conditions fundamentally improve. Through the NGO Advisory Council, local and international NGOs will be better equipped to deal with workers’ rights issues in their countries because they will have a global network from which they can seek advice and support. This network will also provide NGOs with an important forum for publicizing the labor abuses prevalent in their region and coordinating advocacy on those issues in the international arena.

The NGO Advisory Council currently has members in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States. In order for the Council to be more effective, however, it will require the active participation of many more groups throughout the world, particularly in the centers of garment production.

Human Rights First currently coordinates the NGO Advisory Council. Human Rights First is one of the co-founders of the FLA and currently serves as an NGO representative on the FLA Board of Directors.