DOCUMENT NO: KK-WV-2.00
Statement of Commitment
Kakuzi PLC is committed to respect Human Rights as guided by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the four principles of the UN Global Compact. We respect all internationally recognized Human Rights frameworks including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Bill of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental principles and Rights to work, the Bill of Rights under the Constitution of Kenya and the Kenya National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
Our Human Rights Policy aligns with our Code of Ethics and our Business and Environmental Policy covering employee and community relations, health, safety, diversity and environment.
Our commitments are founded upon the recognition that the community that we live in, the people and institutions that we interact with, the environment that we enjoy and the products that we trade in are all an integral part of meeting our responsibility to respect Human Rights. As a result, we are committed to prioritize interventions that uphold the dignity and respect of all people.
Scope of Commitment
This Policy applies to employees of Kakuzi as well as the surrounding community. Our commitment to respect Human Rights also extends to those that we conduct business with including suppliers, service providers and contractors among other stakeholders all of whom we shall encourage to respect the principles of this Policy. As a first step in implementing Human Rights, we are committed to listening to, and learning from all our stakeholders. We commit to engage in meaningful dialogue in the development and implementation of this Policy.
As we conduct business, we acknowledge that a diverse outlook of our employees plays a key role in enriching our supply chains. In this regard, our Company is committed to ensure that men, women and all gender groups are accorded equal treatment in terms of access to opportunities within the Company. We are committed to undertake a gender mainstreaming process that will integrate gender equality across all policies, programs and processes of the Company. The Company will also establish gender committees and any other committee in order to ensure that the interventions made by the Company are inclusive and responsive to the experiences of men, women and all gender groups.
Kakuzi recognizes the important role of Human Rights Defenders in the promotion and protection of Human Rights. We do not tolerate any threats, intimidation, harassment, or violence against any of our stakeholders, including Human Rights Defenders. We commit to take any allegations of retaliation seriously and investigate them thoroughly, with referral to an independent expert or organisation where necessary. We respect freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in our engagement process to ensure that our workers, our communities and all other stakeholders can freely express their concerns.
In order to enhance Access to Remedy, we have established an independent Operational Grievance Mechanism (OGM) to provide an effective channel for all stakeholders to raise their concerns. The OGM will operate alongside other due diligence measures including continuous assessments of our Human Rights Impacts and our Award-Winning Program -the Sexual Harassment Awareness, Reporting and Prevention Program (SHARP).
In order to enhance collaborative approaches in our Human Rights strategies, the Company commits to strengthen the existing platforms of engagement with stakeholders and the surrounding community in order to hear, understand and respond to any issues or concerns. We shall also seek to collaborate with key partners, business associations, Government institutions and Civil Society to gain access to their expertise and receive feedback on how our operations can strongly contribute to the advancement of Human Rights.
In the conduct of our business we commit to abide by National Laws, Policies and Standards and will also be guided by relevant international policies and standards. We shall also continue to work in conjunction with State and Non-State actors at National and Local levels.
Priorities
We recognize that for this Policy to be successful, it is important to set out priority areas. These priorities represent a roadmap to respect and advance Human Rights. On the basis of continuous impact assessments and input from key stakeholders this Policy shall be reviewed and updated from time to time in order to act upon findings and to reflect emerging priorities.
We are committed:
- To establish a Senior Management function to spearhead the development and implementation of our Human Rights strategy.
- To continue to integrate Human Rights and gendered approaches into policy, operations and management systems.
- To periodically conduct a comprehensive and credible Human Rights Impact Assessment and learn from its recommendations.
- To design and implement an Operational Grievance Mechanism.
- To engage in ongoing and meaningful dialogue with our stakeholders and communicate on the adoption of the Human Rights Policy
- To train our employees and surrounding communities on Human Rights and their roles in respecting and advancing the same.
- To Monitor and Report on our Human Rights performance
Revision Date: December 2021|| Approved by MD || Revision No. 00/2021