Encouraging suppliers to carry out human rights due diligence
This project works directly with 70 suppliers to six member companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to strengthen their human rights due diligence capability.
It delivers consultation and engagement to enable learning about challenges specific to the area, and help suppliers meet those challenges.
Location:
India & IndonesiaDuration:
8 monthsPartner(s):
Embode
Why the project is needed
Globally, requirements for human rights and responsible supply chain due diligence are increasing. It is critical for our members that suppliers understand their roles and responsibilities for meeting HRDD requirements and are able to develop context-specific solutions. Within APAC, there are specific human rights issues which need to be addressed and suppliers are keen to develop their own approach to HRDD.
About the project
To address these issues, the APAC Hub runs the Supplier Engagement Consultation Research Project. It involves face-to-face consultation with suppliers in India and Indonesia to drive engagement across different commodities and tiers.
It helps suppliers:
- gain knowledge and better understand their experience on human rights due diligence (HRDD) and other buyer-imposed compliance measures
- improve practice by gaining insights into how HRDD and other compliance measures, as well as purchasing practices, can be made more effective
- facilitate planning and inform further steps and activities to improve effectiveness and impact of responsible supply chains in APAC
Outputs from the project are intended to be:
- a written report that provides supplier perspectives and explains the most impactful and challenging aspects of HRDD
- a live briefing of the insights from the report with discussion and, if agreed, supplier testimonies
- a set of APAC-specific recommended standards for improving human rights due diligence approaches for greater impact and effectiveness
Objectives
- Bottom-up insights: This will be the first independent ‘bottom-up’ consultation with suppliers for brands and buyers to listen to
- More effective risk management: We can hear directly from suppliers on how to manage their salient risks better
- Root cause analysis: We will learn from suppliers what the root causes of issues on site are, and understand the role of buyers in reducing those issues
- Consolidation of supplier data: Instead of one-on-one supplier engagement per buyer, we will get consolidated data across a group of suppliers
- Lower costs: Brands will get the engagement insights of up to 40 suppliers for the cost of one supplier engagement project
- Expanded reach: Suppliers will be able to provide insights into how due diligence responsibilities can be expanded to their supply chains