We are committed to upholding human rights as an integral part of our vision for a more equitable, inclusive, and greener world. Our deep respect for human rights is embedded in our corporate values, driving our obligations to our employees, our suppliers, customers, consumers and new business acquisitions and business partners including agents, clients and local communities where we operate.
To translate our commitment into action, we have established a robust Human Rights policy. It is aligned with the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and our commitment extends to upholding the Human Rights Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and implementing the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. We adhere to all applicable human rights laws wherever we operate. However, where those laws and international human rights standards vary, we follow the higher standard. Where they differ, we adhere to the law of the land while seeking ways to respect international human rights to the greatest extent possible.
We value –
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We assess and identify for actual and potential human rights impacts by regularly organising systematic human rights risk assessments. Our robust assessment deep dives into our operations and mirror the reality on ground. Working closely with our key stakeholders we identified 10 salient human rights issues in our operations. These are the most important human rights at risk of negative impacts in our business operations and activities. These are –
Between fiscal year 2022-2024, we assessed close to 20,000 employees, workers, contract workers and community members across 36 manufacturing plants in 9 countries which covers 100% of our owned operations. We also assessed suppliers covering 76% of our procurement spends for human rights impacts. The assessments covered our own employees, third-party and contract employees, women, children, migrant workers, and local communities.
The assessment helps us to develop effective action plans that will contribute positively to people and communities across our operations. These assessments are key in improving our due diligence system and refining our policy and procedures.
We have developed action plans for our 10 salient issues. These plans are customised for each region based on their assessment scores and they lay out our strategy to address and strengthen our response on every parameter. The plan defines the actions our teams and supply chain need to take on ground. The plan takes into consideration the best-in-class standards and international laws of human rights.
To track and progress on our human rights action plan, we have established a cross-functional working committee comprising representatives from departments and clusters. This committee is entrusted with implementing human rights mitigation plans across our operations.
We are also actively strengthening systems and processes. This includes improving our labour contracts for our contract workers, improving our physical infrastructure for people with disabilities and creating awareness on human rights among others. We are also revising supplier contracts to include human rights clauses and are collaborating with suppliers to implement corrective actions and capacity-building initiatives where necessary. We have organised a number of ESG awareness trainings for our suppliers which included training sessions on human rights.
We have established a dedicated Board-level committee focused on ESG, with human rights as a pivotal area of discussion. This committee convenes bi-annually to assess ESG risks, devise mitigation strategies, identify emerging focus areas, and monitor progress on the action plan.