CORPORATE & SUPPLY CHAIN RESEARCH & TRAININGS
organization
somo
description
SOMO provides an in-house research service for corporate and supply chain research (electronics, textile and pharmaceutics industries) that is available on request to CSOs most often located in the Global South. SOMO has a corporate research team of three people and a supply chain research team of six. They have access to a wide variety of private databases and also use publicly available information. Their team has a strong level of financial literacy, but given constant changes and new developments, they also count on being able to access a range of more specialized resource people, such as fiscal advisors who may have country-specific knowledge. The complexity of requests and collaborations varies. On one end of the scale, SOMO receives and responds to requests from partners doing their own research who may simply be asking for raw data with minimal explanation. At the other end of the scale, SOMO develops in-depth research with partner CSOs. In practice, small requests often lead to more intensive collaborations at a later date. With regard to follow up advocacy, SOMO participates in developing and implementing international strategies in close cooperation with local partners who have greater knowledge of their country context.
SOMO also provides trainings in areas such as corporate research, supply chain research, tax avoidance, and using corporate conduct standards in advocacy strategies. Their three to five-day research workshops are hands-on, catered to partner needs, and tend to include a learning component about how to use research findings for advocacy. Participants tend to be members of CSOs and unions, although public officials take part when appropriate. In some cases, they have collaborated with groups such as ActionAid and Oxfam Novib. Beyond their research services, SOMO’s work as an organization encompasses three thematic areas, including economic justice, natural resources, as well as rights, remedy and accountability.
impact
Illustration of Impact: In 2018, SOMO collaborated with Oyu Tolgoi Watch (OT Watch) in Mongolia to publish a study about tax avoidance by the owners of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill Resources. OT Watch works on environmental and human rights issues with affected communities and is a long-standing partner of SOMO. This collaboration enabled them to access SOMO's expertise to analyze the mine's tax regime. The impact of the report has been felt principally at the national level in Mongolia, raising attention to the unequal arrangement between the government and Rio Tinto and the tax revenue that the country has missed out on. The findings and recommendations were shared with the work of a parliamentary working group that audited the investment agreement for the mine. It is known that the contract with the company is being renegotiated, but the talks are secret. The report has become known among academics, economists, tax experts, civil society, government, journalists and others, increasing OT Watch's presence in research circles. The report was shared with affected communities, but they did not respond to OT Watch’s offer of further explanation or dissemination at the local level. This might be because communities have long understood that the economic arrangement at the mine is unfair. OT Watch plans to develop a layperson’s reader guide for future reports to make them more accessible for a range of audiences. SOMO has also collaborated with OT Watch to provide training on tax avoidance with civil society groups and tax experts in Mongolia, which OT Watch hopes will be repeated.