In continuation of introducing measures identified in the Group’s recently announced ESG implementation plan, this month Solway started a new project aimed at promoting human rights due diligence initiatives, including identifying business-specific human rights issues, planning corrective actions, applying human rights principles in the Group’s day-to-day operations, conducting regular monitoring and the disclosure of information.
As the first step in rolling out measures adopted as a part of its Human Rights Policy, Solway launched a series of corporate trainings with the aim of raising awareness and creating a business culture in which everyone understands and respects the human rights of Solway’s stakeholders, including employees, customers, business partners, people in local communities, and co-workers.
The launched series, consists of three sessions targeting different recipients from Solway line managers to the high-level executives, including the CEO as well as external parties such as Solway’s critical buyers. The training modules are developed around a basic understanding of human rights and their relevance to business and our Group’s business specifically, as well as related challenges across the value chain, and finding and applying practical solutions.
During the conducted sessions the trainees came to recognize that human rights issues can be present in many daily situations, and that it is important to always be vigilant. The training showcased recent developments and challenges and taught more than 30 high-level executives, asset managers and critical suppliers across 8 countries to recognize human rights issues in their own environment. The Group expects to train all employees exposed to human rights risks across the various regions by 2023.
Earlier this month Solway also implemented additional internal awareness-raising campaigns. We informed all our countries’ operational business heads about their responsibilities in promoting the Group’s human rights commitment to employees and the rest of the relevant stakeholders. All high-level employees were informed about the Group’s commitment and new policy on human rights and asked to participate in trainings and provided with the relevant communications materials to support the further education within local subsidiaries.
The next steps will be the introduction and establishment of grievance mechanisms and the presentation of the results of the Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA), as well as the implementation of a process to prevent, mitigate and remediate potential and actual human rights impacts identified on the basis of the HRIA.
To watch the Human Rights and Due Diligence Training highlights please click on the link.