COVERCO is multidisciplinary , including professionals in: Law, Medicine, Sociology, Communication, Business Administration, Education and Pastoral Theology. In practice, this means we can call on in-house experts to audit a business's books, interpret local law and international conventions, and sense the complexities of human relationships on the farm or factory floor.

COVERCO is independent of all national and multinational corporations, unions and governments. Because we are independent, COVERCO can gain the confidence of all relevant parties: management, workers, NGOs, community and advocacy groups, unions and governments. In practice, our independence is demonstrated by the fact that we own the information we gather and the studies we produce.

COVERCO is not a substitute for unions, management or joint union-

management endeavours, nor for governmental or advocacy groups. We believe in the right of workers to organize. In practice, this means we do not serve as agents for workers, even when they have.

legitimate, documented complaints. But, when monitoring, we do explain to inquiring workers how to contact a local legal aid office. Whether or not a formal complaint is lodged depends on the worker's initiative.

Nor do we serve as consultants to management. When management asks that we use our credibility to communicate a new policy to workers, we decline. But we do tell management where they can go for help. And we certainly will not be used by management to sniff out signs of union activity.

Furthermore, COVERCO has no power to enforce a Code of Conduct. That is not our task. Our job is to document as accurately as possible the real situation on the ground, note areas where compliance is a problem, and make that information public. Thus, consumers have access to reliable information and the different actors in the global economy (corporations, unions, advocacy groups, governments and global organizations like the World Bank and the WTO) are encouraged to move beyond posturing to concrete actions.

COVERCO is transparent and discrete . The findings of our investigations will always be made public. At the same time, proprietary information and partial results of ongoing studies will be held in the strictest confidence.

Finally, COVERCO is a not-for-profit , registered non-governmental organization. We raise a proportion of our funds from charitable support.

Juan Antonio Álvarez	Malvina Armas	Hector Castañeda	Judith Castañeda
Specialist in Education and Communication	Labor lawyer specializing in women's rights	Sociologist and Protestant pastor	Economist and General Coordinator of CEDEPCA
Homero Fuentes	Kenneth Kim	Edna Rodríguez	Sandra Sánchez
Sociologist and coordinator of the Socio-Political program of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation	lay mission worker of the Presbyterian Church in Canada	Lawyer specializing in women's rights, university professor, consultant to the OAS	Community Educator
Anabella Sibrián	Dennis Smith
Physician and specialist in children's rights	Writer and editor, CEDEPCA; lay mission worker, Presbyterian Church (USA)

COUNTRY PROFILE