alliance for grievance mechanisms
in supply chains
our declaration
The 8 Commitments
The declaration outlines eight commitments which represent our founding principles. Our intention is to work together to protect human rights and the environment throughout supply chains, via globally harmonized grievance procedures and access to remedy (“Abhilfemassnahmen”) at private sector level.
1. Respect International Standards on Responsible Business Conduct
We (the signatories) recognize that private businesses have a responsibility to identify, prevent and mitigate actual and potential adverse impact on human rights and the environment that are directly or indirectly linked to their business activities across their supply chains. We acknowledge the role of businesses to respect human rights in line with the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework for Business and Human Rights’, and recognize to follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights as well as on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We also recognize to follow the international standards laid down in the Minamata Convention, Stockholm Convention and Basel Convention.
2. Respect National Legislation
We recognize that private businesses have an obligation to apply the national laws of the countries in which they operate. In countries where national laws and regulations conflict with these international standards on Responsible Business Conduct and these international environmental standards, we will seek to apply the provisions with the higher level of protection.
3. Ensure Strong Involvement of Rightsholders
We recognize that involving potentially affected rightsholders closely from the beginning and giving them an ongoing strong voice in grievance procedures and access to remedy protocols will increase their trust and thus their acceptance. Furthermore, involving rightsholders will also facilitate the necessary local and cultural adaptation and the continuous improvement of any grievance system and access to remedy procedure.
4. Increase transparency and Accessibility of Help Lines for Rightsholders
We recognize that reporting a human or environmental rights violation requires courage and a safe space for all rightsholders. Having many different grievance channels from a variety of organizations could lead rightsholders to mistrust and confusion and translate into low usage of the tools to submit complaints. Reducing the number – still with multiple channels – is expected to increase confidence in reporting violations.
5. Collaborate between Governments, Businesses and Civil Society
We recognize that businesses and Civil Society alone will not be able to drive the necessary change. We therefore recognize the need for strong alliance and collaboration between public and private actors as well as civil society representatives of Trade Unions and NGOs in a Multi-Stakeholder Initiative (MSI). We acknowledge this form of collaboration as indispensable to define a path for the adoption of an effective framework for grievance mechanisms and access to remedy.
6. Collaborate across Businesses, Sectors and Systems
We recognize the need to follow a collaborative approach to organize and implement effective grievance mechanisms and remediation activities in local and global supply chains, across businesses, commodities, industries, sectors, and geographies. Such collaboration will foster fast learning and the evolution of harmonized standards for technical interoperability, efficient monitoring, effective investigations and concerted, sustained remediation efforts.
7. Comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation
We recognize that the European Union rules for data protection and privacy (GDPR) must be complied with globally.
8. Report on Progress
We agree that it is our common interest and our responsibility to introduce reliable metrics to report progress of implementation to encourage the adoption of the appellando standards. We further recognize the necessity for the alliance to set common impact indicators and report publicly on their progress to ensure that these procedures make the positive contribution that we are aiming for.
the alliance
Sign Declaration
Register online and demonstrate your alignment with our principles for the protection of human rights and the environment in supply chains.
Once approved we will publish your company logo, country, city and quote (where provided) on the www.appellando.org website in the Signatories of the Declaration section, within your selected sector/branch.