Wilmar ranks top in children's rights protection
Published on: Friday, November 09, 2018
Sandakan: An independent report published by the Global Child Forum on the protection of children's rights in Southeast Asia has assessed Wilmar International Ltd (Wilmar) as the best performing company in the region for its corporate responses in three impact areas, the: workplace, marketplace, and community and environment.Wilmar – an agribusiness group – scored 8.74 out of a maximum of 10 points in the report titled "Corporate Responses to Protecting Children's Rights in Southeast Asia" published in September this year. Wilmar was commended for its Child Protection Policy which it launched in November 2017 that goes beyond a conventional policy against child labour, with the Global Child Forum noting that the policy includes a remediation plan should incidences of child labour surface in Wilmar's or its suppliers' operations.
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The report further highlights Wilmar's efforts in providing various facilities and other benefits for their workers' children, including establishing schools at many of their production sites.The Global Child Forum is a non-profit foundation initiated in 2009 by the Swedish royal family as an independent platform for informed dialogues on children's rights. It gathers leaders from governments, the private sector, academia and civil societies to promote cross-sector partnerships, as well as to promote the sharing of knowledge and best practices in its efforts to achieve and strengthen children's rights.According to Wilmar group sustainability general manager, Perpetua George, "We are honoured that our work in safeguarding the rights of children was highlighted in this report. More importantly, the report acknowledges our journey towards transparency, with Wilmar being among the very few companies to report transparently on grievances against us, provide progress updates for each case and publish this information on our website."
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The report also highlights the steps Wilmar has taken to review and improve its labour practices, having identified and prevented exploitative practices apart from establishing areas of improvement. "As the world's largest palm oil processor and merchandiser, Wilmar continues to be committed to sustainability, which includes protecting the rights of our workers as well as that of their children.
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"We are fully aware that we are far from perfect and that our sustainability endeavours are an ongoing process with much room for improvement, especially in protecting children's rights. However, acknowledgements like this are encouraging and reaffirm that we are on the right track. We will persevere with our efforts, despite the many challenges we often face," George added in a statement today.Wilmar has been closely engaging with its workers and external parties over the years to gain a better understanding on the needs of women and children at its operations in order to formulate specific policies to protect their rights. Apart from the Child Protection Policy, Wilmar also has in place policies relating to equal opportunities and sexual harassment, in line with its objectives of respecting and empowering its workforce. These policies form a critical component of Wilmar's overall sustainability commitments and efforts.These policies by Wilmar are aligned with and guided by international standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, International Labour Organization conventions, the United Nations Global Compact, the UK Modern Slavery Act, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its covenants.Wilmar also formed the Women and Children Committee in 2008, which has been instrumental in developing action policies on women and children while ensuring that these are understood and internalised among its workers.George further added, "The Women and Children Committee acts as a platform for honest, open and transparent discussion on issues involving women and children at its Malaysian operations, with health and safety being the key aspects that are advocated, apart from childcare and education. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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