ICSI SAS – 01 – Social Audit Standard on eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality
Applicability and Scope
This Social Audit Standard (‘the Standard’) is applicable to the Social Auditor as defined under Sub-Regulation (f) of Regulation 292A of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 conducting the Social Audit of the Social Enterprise as defined under Sub-Regulation (h) of Regulation 292A of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018. This Standard deals with procedures, responsibilities and duties of the Auditor with respect to the Social Audit being conducted by him/ her of the Social Enterprises engaged in the activities prescribed under sub-regulation 2(a)(i) of Regulation 292E of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018.
Objective
ICSI Social Audit Standard – 01 (ICSI SAS-01) aims to aid the Social Auditors with necessary instructions or guidelines for the effective Social Audit of Social Enterprises engaged in the field of “eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality”. Social Auditor shall follow the minimum criteria as specified in this proposed Social Audit Standard issued by the ICSI.
Effective Date
This Social Audit Standard will be in force with effect from –/–/20–.
Social Audit Process and Documentation
Social Auditor shall conduct the Social Audit in accordance with the procedures/ mandates established and notified by the ICSI from time to time. Social Auditors shall perform their functions that provide sufficient and adequate evidence to support Social Audit. Social Auditor can acquire evidence for the effectiveness of Social Audit through inspection, observation, inquiry, consultation, interview, questionnaire, analytical
procedures and/or other research techniques or any other acceptable methods as he/she deems fit. The procedures to be followed are as under:
I. Define Social Audit Objectives and planning Social Audit;
II. Intimation to the Management of the Social Enterprise about the Audit Plan;
III. Identification of Stakeholders and Consultation;
IV. Visit to/inspection of the area where project/activity was implemented;
V. Collection of Data, Analysis and Assessment;
VI. Reporting.
I. Define Social Audit objectives and planning Social Audit
The Social Auditor shall define the object and scope of the Social Audit prior to conducting Social Audit. It is always better to have a proper plan prior to Social Audit and it includes nature, timing and extent of the procedures and standards to be followed while conducting Social Audit. This is the first stage of Social Audit process. The Social Auditor should also analyse the report, recommendations of the previous Social Audit, if any, and review the corrective actions taken by the Social Enterprise with respect to the recommendations suggested in the previous Social Audit Report.
II. Intimation to the Management of the Social Enterprise about the Audit Plan
It is expected that the Social Auditor should intimate the audit plan to the Management of the Social Enterprise so that they can have the necessary documents and materials ready and available for the Auditor.
III. Identification of Stakeholders and Consultation
The key stakeholders who can be involved in the Social Audit Process include project beneficiaries, their family members, officials of the local bodies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), media, educational institutions, employers, contractors, suppliers, supervising staff from the social enterprise, funding body etc. The consultation must be done with the stakeholders to extract accurate and needed information.
IV. Visit to / inspection of the area where project / activity was implemented
The Social Auditor must make it a point to visit / inspect the location and this will also give him / her better opportunities both for collection of data and consultation with the stakeholders.
V. Collection of data, analysis and assessment
This activity involves identifying key issues that need to be cross checked in the Social Audit as well as how information and data pertaining to the activity undertaken by the Social Enterprise will be collected. Moreover, in Social Audit Process, two types of data are crucial. Primary data collected from stakeholders and community members, followed by Secondary data collected from various other sources. Gathering secondary information is very important in the process of Social Audit. Secondary data are inevitable for making Social Audit Reports. Information required for preparing Social Audit Reports may not be available in single point but may be in different records in different forms.
Social Auditor shall collect the relevant information through any of the following methods:
- Documents and records
- Previous Social Audit Report, if any
- Questionnaires and surveys
- Interviews
- Observations
- Published data from authorized sources
Evaluation should be based on certain criteria and suggestive list of such criteria is provided hereinafter. However, the list is inclusive and not exhaustive and the Social Auditor must exercise his own discretion and judgement on case to case basis. Also, the feedback from stakeholders should be considered while preparing the Social Audit Report.
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Sl. |
Particulars |
| A. Eradication of hunger, poverty, malnutrition | |
| 1 | Initiatives taken for ensuring access to food all year round, create stable food systems, eliminate food wastages, etc. |
| 2 | Programmes conducted for infants, children and adults who are
underweight and suffering from malnutrition. |
| 3 | Initiatives taken and financial assistance given to address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and old age people. |
| 4 | Assistance given for school meal programmes and continuous supply of nutritious food to children, pregnant women and adolescent girls and assistance given to decrease child stunting. |
| 5 | Initiatives taken for access to food all year round for people below poverty line. Awareness campaigns for nutritional requirements conducted, nutrition charts distributed or published |
| 6 | Assistance given for establishing cropping system-centric inventions for food safety. |
| 7 | Initiatives taken to promote and extend improved technologies i.e., seed, integrated nutrient management (INM), integrated pest management (IPM), input use efficiency and resource conservation technologies along with the capacity building of the farmers/extension functionaries. |
| 8 | Initiatives taken for promoting birth control education in the target section. |
| 9 | Initiatives taken for promotion of education to improve the living condition of the target section. |
| 10 | Initiatives taken to promote urban farming, food donation and provision of essential supplies. |
| 11 | Initiatives taken for improving the employment rate of women of the target section. |
| 12 | Technical assistance, advisory services, awareness campaigns and allied programmes conducted to eradicate hunger, poverty and malnutrition in the target area. |
| 13 | Initiatives taken to use safety nets and nutrition programs to cushion the impact of the food and financial crises. |
| 14 | Logistical arrangements such as procurement, storage, transportation, allocation and delivery of food supplies to different areas covered in the project. |
| 15 | Initiatives taken to increase public investment to eradicate hunger, poverty and malnutrition. |
| 16 | Initiatives taken to promote sustainable food production methodologies/ systems and implement best agricultural practices that increase productivity and production. |
| 17 | Initiatives taken to progressively improve land and soil quality and to strengthen the capacity for adoption to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other contingencies. |
| 18 | Initiatives taken to increase investment in rural infrastructure, agricultural research, technology development and plant and livestock gene Banks in order to enhance agricultural productivity and capacity. |
| B. Eradication of inequality | |
| 1 | Initiatives taken for improving the income growth of bottom line or people who are below poverty line. |
| 2 | Initiatives taken to empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic or other status. |
| 3 | Skill development training programmes conducted for the female and LGBTQIA+ population of the target segment in order to generate equal employment opportunities. |
| 4 | Awareness campaigns and allied programmes conducted by the social enterprise to eradicate different kinds of inequality prevailing in the target area. |
| 5 | Measures taken to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration plans/policies. |
| 6 | Ensuring universal access to all facilities, activities and legislations implemented by respective government/local bodies. |
| 7 | Ensuring Regional Equality by decentralising public services, offices and industries. |
VI. Reporting
The Social Audit Report shall include information about the objective set out at the beginning of the Social Audit, methodologies adopted, observations, findings and recommendations if any. The Social Auditor shall also identify the challenges faced in implementation of the projects / activities and suggest areas for improvement based on observation, interview and feedback received from stakeholders. The Social Auditor shall also list out the limitations of the audit process which might include non-availability of stakeholders, lack of response from stakeholders contacted and point out the extent to which such limitations impact the Audit Report. The Report of Social Audit shall be as per the format notified by the ICSI from time to time
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