Human Rights Day 2023:
Advancing action through collaboration
December 10 is Human Rights Day. This year, the event focuses on the theme of Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All, marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At Givaudan, we’ve made an explicit commitment to respect human rights. This commitment is a vital part of our purpose ambition to source all materials and services in a way that protects people and the environment before 2030 and our ambition to improve millions of lives in the communities where we source and operate by the same time.
Aligned to our purpose we believe strongly that we must take responsibility for our actions and act with empathy and humility wherever we are present. We care about the impact of our decisions, large and small, on those around us. This includes impacts on human rights and preventing harm to any person(s) associated with our business.
What’s our approach to human rights?
Our approach to human rights forms an important part of our contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, our commitment to the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles and to the principles outlined in the WBCSD CEO Guide to Human Rights, which we signed in 2021. It is aligned to the most stringent and recognised global frameworks. These include the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of June 2011 and the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy of March 2017.
When we talk about human rights, we mean the rights which are expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights (including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. In some cases, where our principles and practices are stricter than applicable legislation and are aligned with applicable human rights frameworks, we apply our own internal higher standards. We actively participate in key Human Rights forums such as UN Global Compact’s Peer Learning Meeting on Business and Human Rights held in Copenhagen in November 2023 which focused on living wage and promoting a life of dignity for all workers, families and communities.
What are our key focus areas?
Our approach, underpinned by our Human Rights Policy, is built around key areas where we can deliver the greatest impact. These include:
- the right to a decent workplace, health and wellbeing, consumer health and safety, child labour and forced labour; and
- the rights of communities where we operate and source (including right to clean environment).
You can read more on our approach here.
What does this look like in practice?
Through our extensive Human Rights programme, we are implementing a range of initiatives across our key focus areas. As a business with strong links to agricultural supply chains through our sourcing activities, labour conditions and fundamental rights at work are of particular focus within this work. Alongside our activities in the field, we are rolling out rigorous training programmes for colleagues across and outside Givaudan on human rights.
Sustainable jasmine production in Egypt’s Nile Delta
Improving lives and livelihoods our vanilla supply chain in Madagascar
Advancing human rights in palm oil sourcing in Indonesia
Find out more about Human Rights Day here.