0
150
Respecting Human Rights
We are committed to doing business with
respect for people's fundamental dignity and
their human rights. We use the UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights
as our starting point for understanding,
avoiding and addressing human rights
risks in our operations and value chain.
Human rights due diligence
Assess
Integrate and act
Track
Communicate
Respecting human rights in
high risk contexts
Heineken N.V.
Annual Report 2020
Introduction
Report of the
Executive Board
Report of the
Supervisory Board
Financial
Statements
Sustainability Other
Review Information
Our Human Rights due diligence process has been
constantly evolving since 2016. It focuses on four
key areas:
Assess - and prioritise human rights risks;
Integrate - the Human Rights Policy and identified
risks into ways of working.
Track - and audit policy implementation.
Communicate - progress internally and externally.
Engagement with stakeholders and industry is
key. We are proud to be a founding member of the
Consumer Goods Forum coalition to end forced labour,
an active member in AIM-Progress and to have a seat
at the European Round Table for Industrialists and
World Economic Forum social initiatives. We continue
to draw from the experience of NGO partners on topics
such as local sourcing and respecting human rights in
high risk contexts.
In 2020, the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark
ranked HEINEKEN number three in the Agri-product
category for its human rights disclosures and eighth
across all industries.
We started conducting human rights risk assessments
and action planning workshops in 2016. Following the
workshops, operating companies develop practical and
relevant action plans to address the potential human
rights risks identified.
To date, we have completed risk assessments and
workshops in 16 operating companies: Brazil,
Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia,
Haiti, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico, Myanmar,
New Zealand, Nigeria, Serbia, South Africa, Timor-Leste
and the UK.
In 2020, we developed online workshops and we will
continue to strengthen regional governance structures
and human rights monitoring in the coming year.
Managing human rights risks across our value chain
is an ongoing priority. We have enhanced our supplier
screening and due diligence process. An automated
supplier risk management tool allows us to identify
elevated risks in our value chain and focus on actions to
mitigate them.
Following research by the African Studies Centre
Leiden (ASCL) into the socio-economic and agronomic
dynamics of the Sorghum value chain in Nigeria,
we identified potential human and labour rights
risks in this market. We will conduct a Human and
Labour Rights risk assessment of sorghum farms and
aggregators in Nigeria, and Nigerian Breweries and
farm owners will develop an action plan to address
any issues identified.
Based on the human rights risks identified through
our work with Shift, the leading centre of excellence
on business and human rights, we revised our Human
Rights Policy in 2018. We also strengthened the human
rights section of our Supplier Code and compliance is
integrated into our global sourcing activities. In 2019, we
developed practical implementation guidelines to help
operating companies embed the revised Human Rights
Policy in their activities.
We have established regional cross-functional Good
Governance platforms to address human rights issues
and focus operating companies' time and resources on
the common risks for their region.
We track our Human Rights risks and impacts
through four key channels: The HEINEKEN risk
control framework; Global Audit Human Rights
reviews; Speak Up; and third-party assessments.
The HEINEKEN risk control framework embeds
respect for human rights in our internal controls.
The Risk Committee maintains oversight of
programmes and actions to strengthen respect
for human rights. It is comprised of the chiefs of
global functions and chaired by HEINEKEN's CFO.
Each operating company must check their own
policies and practices against the Human Rights
Policy and implementation guidelines.
With the support of KPMG, Global Audit increased
capacity to review operating companies against the
key principles of our Human Rights Policy. Any gaps
identified are included in the issue management
system and operating companies must develop plans
and take action to mitigate them.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, in-depth human
rights audits were carried out in four more operating
companies. Through a partnership with Ulula, mobile
phone technology enabled parts of these audits to
be conducted virtually through new measurement,
listening and engagement tools.
We commission 46 independent third-party audits
of our outsourcing practices in Africa. The outcomes
enable us to address areas for improvement including
strengthening our guidelines for outsourcing
and supporting respect for human rights of non
employee workers.
Openly communicating about our human rights
commitments, progress and dilemmas is vital to
build trust with stakeholders. New circumstances
and incidents trigger new approaches and policies,
and we share our learnings to prevent future impacts.
An example is our response to concerns over the
working conditions of Brand Promoters in Africa.
Internally, we provide dedicated webinars,
communication and training for all regions on our
Human Rights Policy and guidelines.
Learn more about this topic on the website
We may face human right dilemmas in countries
that are politically less stable. We constantly
review whether we can continue to operate in such
countries and, if so, how?
Our Policy is that operating companies should
never knowingly contribute to human rights
violations by others, or where human rights are
compromised. We will always protect the security
of our employees, their families and of our facilities.
We work with security staff who are properly
instructed and trained to respect human rights.
The Good Governance Platform for the Africa,
Middle East, East Europe region (AMEE) has
acted as an operational hub to develop principles
and solutions to meet this policy commitment.
Its actions have included:
- Internal and external consultation on the
potential human rights scenarios we may face;
- Developing a methodology to assess and rank
operating companies according to human
rights risks;
- Eight golden rules on how to address
Human Rights in high risk contexts; and
- Individual action plans and strengthened
governance structures in the highest risk
Operating Companies.
Looking ahead, we will extend their Good
Governance approach beyond AMEE.
