2010
AMBATOVY SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
49
C5.1 Management Approach to Human Rights
Ambatovy takes human rights very seriously and has a
number of policies in place to ensure that all employees are
treated fairly, equally and with dignity and respect. We also
strive to ensure that the companies and organizations that we
interact with follow the same principles and practices and treat
their employees with the same fairness.
Ambatovy is committed to upholding the laws of Madagascar
and is bound by our agreements relating to the IFC
Performance Standards and the Equator Principles to
respect human rights. Our commitment to respect human
rights is manifested in our initiatives designed to monitor
our performance. The grievance mechanism is our primary
conduit to ensure that any concerns over the infringement
of human rights are heard in a systematic and confidential
manner.
Human Rights Targets
Targets for Human Rights Performance in 2010
Respect human rights as well as cultures, customs and
values in dealings with employees and others who are
affected by our activities (ICMM principle 3).
Ensure suppliers are aware of and in compliance with the
ethical standards required by Ambatovy.
Increase awareness among our employees and local
communities of child sexual exploitation and our zero
tolerance policy on this issue.
Respect the human rights of our employees through sound
policies on collective bargaining and non-discrimination,
practised through open communication.
Promote the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human
Rights.
Results and Next Steps
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This is a daily task for us at Ambatovy. We ensure
compliance through our stakeholder engagement,
mitigation and community relationship programs.
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We have a supplier code of conduct and in the future we will
be looking to increase its distribution and implement systems
for monitoring compliance.
q
Ambatovy conducted a rigorous education program on our
zero tolerance policy. We take this issue very seriously and
in future years will be looking to increase employee
awareness of the strict prohibitions in the code of conduct.
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By the end of 2010, we had put in place a collective
bargaining process with elected employee delegates and
discussions were ongoing with management. We look
forward to an agreement in 2011.
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More work needs to be done foster a greater awareness
of and commitment to the Principles in the Malagasy context.
Ambatovy will continue to take an active role in doing so.
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Major challenges encountered
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Challenges en route to resolution
q
Good progress made toward goal
C5. Human Rights
