The purpose of the workshop is to present and discuss country cases from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa on the relevance of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors of the case studies are partners of the Managing Global Governance (MGG) Network. Representatives from international organisations and other stakeholders will share their experiences on how to promote sustainability within global value chains (GVCs) and how to improve access to finance for SMEs. The conclusions of the workshop will be included in a stocktaking study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut fuer Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) under the title “Leveraging Financial Services for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Sustainable Global Value Chains (GVCs)” which was mandated by the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI). This report will be presented to the GPFI at its next meeting in Berlin on 2-4 May 2017.