ICON follows the SDGs in all expertise fields and in all our interventions. In this section, a comprehensive overview of relevant aspects coming from the different fields of expertise are summarised around the sustainability in global value and supply chains showing our capacities to support organisations in meeting current environmental and social compliance requirements.

We apply 47 years experience in delivering advisory services and training on the ground in developing or least developed countries. At this end of all global value chains, the natural resources are extracted, processed and used with local labour force and finally sold to generate business for local, regional or global organisations. We work with multiple stakeholders on micro, meso and macro level which enables us to access the complexity of global value chains. We can apply methods to show transparency in the supply chains, we do understand the individual needs of the different actors and are therefore able to provide tailormade capacity building programmes to generate or improve decent job opportunities and to finally enhance environmental friendly industrial or production processes for our clients.

With our technically broad and sector wide longstanding experience we provide comprehensive advisory services, trainings and monitoring instruments to enable our clients to comply with environmental and social standards according to the recent legal requirements along all steps of the value chain. Our services target at real and measurable improvement of the situation in the frame of  Corporate Due Diligence and Occupational Health and Safety Standards.

The sector experience covers, among others, textiles, leather, wool, silk, cotton, agriculture products, processed food, wood, tourism, construction materials, packaging and cosmetic products.

Selective examples of our sustainability work in different sectors and countries on micro-, meso and macro level:

• 2015-2020: Palestinian Upgrading and Modernisation Programme. Strengthen the abilities of SMEs to upgrade productivity, quality, technology transfer etc. Setting up a corporate quality infrastructure system to apply quality certifications on the production processes including health and safety issues, AFD
• 2016-2019: Promotion of Economy and Employment (Eco-Emploi) in Rwanda. TVET and Skills Development for example for wood workers from companies (workshop management and safety, wood working machines, workplace health, safety and security practice etc.), GIZ
• 2017-2019: Private Sector Development Programme in Lebanon. Enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the table grapes and cherries sectors through the development of inclusive, social and economically sustainable value chains (innovation/ technology transfer, export promotion, good agricultural practices, ISO, HACCP, traceability, food safety, pesticide handling etc. for farmers, producers and exporters, EU
• 2017-2021: Auditing and advisory services to the German Alliance for Sustainable Textiles (Bündnis für nachhaltige Textilien), GIZ
• 2017-2021: Capacity Development for the Private Sector in Myanmar. Improving framework conditions and services for sustainable growth of MSMEs as well as small-scale producers (e.g. Mango & Tea, Tourism) to create decent jobs through partnerships with the Private Sector. Promote certification Global GAP/ASEAN GAP, organic certification focusing on environmental sustainability criteria, GIZ
• 2018-2019: In-depth Analysis of Agricultural Value Chains in Southeastern Madagascar – Adaptation of Agricultural Value Chains to Climate Change (PrAda), GIZ
• 2018-2020: Design and Implementation of a capacity building Programme for small and medium Town Water Utilities in Ethiopia to provide management, operational and technical skills to employees to ensure sustainable, efficient and reliable water services, AFD
• 2018-2023: Promotion of Rural Development in Northern Uganda (PRUDEV). Supporting the climate-smart, agriculture-based local economic development, development of an MRV (Measuring, Reporting & Verification)-System for greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, improving water management in micro irrigation, GIZ
• 2019: Project evaluation of the project ‘Improve the access to sanitation through construction of toilets for underserved communities and execution of Behaviour Change Communications’ in Nepal and Sri Lanka, DEG
• 2019-2022: Support the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) to build and strengthen their Environmental & Sustainability Unit (E&S) and their Financial Department, KfW
• 2020: Central project evaluation of the project ‘Solid waste management and circular economy’ in Algeria, GIZ
• 2021: Central project evaluation of the project: ‘Rural Development Cameroon’ to support private advisory services to disseminate improved environmental friendly crop and livestock production techniques, GIZ
• 2021-2023: Employment-oriented MSME promotion. To develop a conducive licensing system in Jordan to classify food establishments according to ISIC04, development of food health and safety standards with a General Safety Certificate and an Environmental Site Approval for the factories, warehouses and central kitchen, GIZ
• 2022-2024: Development of Training of Trainer modules on social and ecological sustainability standards in the Bangladeshi textile industry, GIZ