Featured project
Grievance mechanism project
Strengthening channels for workers to raise issues in supply chains and helping suppliers know what actions to take when they receive a grievance from workers.
GlobalHelping workers and communities voice issues and get them resolved
Providing workers and communities with effective grievance mechanisms is central to meeting the requirements of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Furthermore grievance mechanisms are a core element in human right due diligence and in the global efforts towards responsible business practices pushed through human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) legislation.
We help our members and their suppliers make sure they have the right systems in place to receive, investigate, prevent and respond to complaints. And, most importantly, implement remedy to solve them. Grievance mechanisms can also be important early warning systems and provide critical information for broader human rights due diligence processes.
The UNGPs state that if workers, farmers, community members or other stakeholders raise a complaint about a company, it has a responsibility to provide a resolution for those affected.
Grievance mechanisms should offer multiple opportunities for workers to raise concerns and provide feedback. We help our members and their suppliers:
- develop processes and benchmark their actions using our Grievance mechanism maturity framework and guidance
- evaluate and identify areas for improvement using a self-assessment tool available to members only
- implement effective grievance mechanisms in line with the UNGPs
- identify and remedy human rights violations in their supply chain
- understand the support needed to implement effective grievance mechanisms
- build capacity through best practice sharing. This is done in collaboration with World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Business For Inclusive Growth (B4IG)
Grievance Mechanisms Working Group
This group helps members and suppliers strengthen their grievance mechanisms. Its objectives are to:
- explore how grievance mechanisms can be effective for workers, farmers and communities
- support scaling up of effective grievance mechanisms in line with the UN Guiding Principles in supply chains
- encourage collaborative projects and best practice sharing globally and through the APAC and Africa hubs
- increase understanding of how grievance mechanisms can reach vulnerable groups in supply chains
- explore how access to remedy can be advanced at all supply chain levels
Resources
See all resourcesDesigned with and for workers: Joint Lessons from AIM-Progress, Ethical Trading Initiative and Oxfam Business Advisory Service on worker-led grievance mechanisms
Designed with and for workers brings together six years of lessons from AIM-Progress, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and Oxfam Business Advisory Service on building grievance mechanisms that workers trust and use. Drawing on nine projects, 14 brands engaged directly and 29 suppliers supported with hands-on advice, the paper shows that most suppliers already have…
AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanism Roll-out project – Executive summary
The AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanism Project Summary, encapsulates the lessons learned, recommendations, and early successes from AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanism project finalised end of May 2024. The project aimed to improve suppliers’ implementation of grievance mechanisms in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The project initiated in early 2023, was designed…
Grievance Mechanism Maturity Framework
News and events
See all latestThe road to an effective grievance mechanism: launching the AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanisms Maturity Framework & Guidance 1.0
We are delighted to launch the AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanism Maturity Framework & Guidance 1.0 (GM MFG) – to download click here. The maturity framework will support FMCG companies and beyond to accelerate the development and implementation of grievance mechanisms in own operations and supply chains – a crucial component in the implementation of the UN…