This is Unilever’s first ever human rights report. What led you to do this now?
At Unilever, we’re striving to build a company that represents a responsible and successful business model, in which business exists to serve – not take from – society. The company’s commitment to this ambition is reflected in the fact that they created my role, which promotes Unilever’s social impact across our value chain. In 2014, we strengthened the enhancing livelihoods ambition of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and under our new pillar – Fairness in the Workplace – we committed to report publically on our implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Advancing human rights across our business is the right thing to do. Safe working conditions, freedom of association, fair wages, prevention of forced labour, harassment and discrimination must be universal. Sadly, at the moment, they are not. There is clearly a moral obligation to act, and a business case to do so. Our people are Unilever’s greatest asset and through empowering them, we create a fairer and more sustainable business.
Transparency is critical to engage everyone in bringing solutions to complex issues. That’s why we agreed to pilot the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework and, over the past year, we have been gathering information from across our own operations and extended supply chain. We have learned a lot and are proud to be the first company to create a detailed, stand-alone report using the framework.
I sincerely hope that this report will stimulate an honest discussion. Speaking openly and honestly about the tough challenges we all face is the only way to resolve them.
Can you explain a little about the report’s key findings?
Based on the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework and methodology, the report focuses on eight key salient issues in depth, describing the progress made and analysing the challenges faced in each area. These are: discrimination, fair wages, forced labour, freedom of association, harassment, health and safety, land rights and working hours.
It is clear that in order to address systemic human rights abuses such as human trafficking, we cannot do it alone. These are complex issues and there are no quick fixes. We need collective action and a mechanism to engage pre-emptively if we want to achieve transformational, sustainable change. Collaboration models are critical.
It is equally clear that addressing human rights is everybody’s business. It cannot be limited to a function or a department but to every single individual within the company. And that while compliance audits are important tools that bring accountability and help us understand the overall direction of improvement, they are not an end in themselves, providing only a snapshot in time and working best as part of a broader approach to collaboration, engagement and continuous improvement.
Finally, respect for human rights is the necessary foundation of our business. But we are cognisant that we must build on this foundation and engage actively in the promotion of rights if we want to succeed in our commitments.
I believe this report shows Unilever’s genuine commitment to addressing these issues and working with others to resolve them.
What challenges have you faced creating this report?
It has been a real learning process. I’ve been humbled by the extent of the challenge we face, but also encouraged by the strength of Unilever’s commitment to tackling these difficult issues.
One major difficulty was that we lack centralised data to conduct a representative year-to-year progress analysis. We will be focusing on strengthening the systems and then tracking our effectiveness of dealing with those issues.
The scale of our supply chain also poses a significant challenge. We have around 76,000 suppliers across the globe, we sell products in more than 190 countries, and we directly employ around 172,000 people – and that is only the direct relationships over which we have influence. Each country has its own cultural norms, social, legal and economic challenges, and often very diverse opinions on what it means to respect human rights.
At times it has also been uncomfortable to discuss some of these challenges in a public forum. Transparency has often been penalised, and therefore businesses do not commonly engage in publicly addressing problems such as gender harassment, excessive working hours, fair wages or health and safety practices.
These sorts of thorny issues are not exclusive to Unilever, and I firmly believe that if we are to solve them, we need to step outside of our comfort zone and speak openly about the challenges we face.
What have you learned from your first year of reporting?
We’ve learned some really valuable lessons during the past year. Many of the issues we face are incredibly complicated. There are no simple solutions.
The reporting process highlighted the progress we have made –implementing our Responsible Sourcing Policy across our global supply chain, achieving our target of halving the number of accidents in our factories and operations since 2008, and our work to develop our own framework for fair compensation. But it also highlighted that despite the gains we’re making, human rights issues remain prevalent in the industries and geographies where we operate.
The whole process has re-affirmed just how important it is to maintain a continual two-way dialogue with our employees, suppliers and external stakeholders. It’s also hugely beneficial to share best practice and move towards an industry consensus. Being transparent and accountable is crucial to tackling these difficult issues. This is something I feel deeply passionate about.
What do you hope to achieve by publishing this report?
We have a long way to go and we cannot do this alone. Only when business achieves a critical mass of consensus and is working together to promote human rights, will the lives of people around the world improve.
We will know we have been successful when 172,000 people around the world understand what this agenda means in their job, and are empowered to translate it into action; when they are including human and labour rights in every decision that they make; when we have evolved beyond “do no harm” to “do good”.
I do hope this report serves as an incentive and catalyst for action, and that it recognises the progress made by the company and the individuals who make it happen every day. I also trust it recognises the valuable contribution that stakeholders’ consultation and collective initiatives bring to the table. But I also expect the level of the detail of this report to yield some challenging questions and potential criticism. That’s part of the process. I only hope that our honesty helps to stimulate a worthwhile two-way conversation with our employees, suppliers, stakeholders, and the wider business community – and prompts impactful action.
Together, we can make real, lasting change.
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