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Article

1 Jul 2015

Author:
Unilever, on Guardian (UK)

Q&A with Marcela Manubens, Unilever VP of Social Impact

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Advancing human rights across our business is the right thing to do. Safe working conditions, freedom of association, fair wages, prevention of forced labour, harassment and discrimination must be universal. Sadly, at the moment, they are not. There is clearly a moral obligation to act, and a business case to do so...Transparency is critical to engage everyone in bringing solutions to complex issues. That’s why we agreed to pilot the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework... [t]he report focuses on eight key salient issues in depth...: discrimination, fair wages, forced labour, freedom of association, harassment, health and safety, land rights and working hours...It is...clear that addressing human rights is everybody’s business. It cannot be limited to a function or a department but to every single individual within the company...We have a long way to go and we cannot do this alone. Only when business achieves a critical mass of consensus and is working together to promote human rights, will the lives of people around the world improve.

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