Celebrating International Human Rights Day, Every Day
Each year on December 10th, the world recognizes International Human Rights Day, which enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being.
On this 75th anniversary of the United Nation’s landmark global pledge, the business community around the world is being challenged to strive for continuous improvement and transparency across global supply chains to better support communities and people everywhere.
Ford’s focus on human rights begins within our company and extends to our suppliers, and by extension throughout the value chain – from ensuring a responsible EV supply chain to supporting a just transition in our company and in the communities in which we operate.
The Most Salient Human Rights Issues for Ford:
- Access to water and sanitation
- Air quality
- Child labor
- Climate change
- Equal and fair wagers
- Forced labor and ethical recruitment
- Harassment and discrimination
- Human trafficking
- Occupational health, safety and well-being
- Product safety and quality
Leading with Transparency
Being a responsible company starts with transparency. To best fulfill our commitment to human rights, in May we released a Value Chain Transparency Guide for all global suppliers who want to do business with Ford.
The process enacts specific reporting requirements aimed to create one of the most transparent supplier guidelines in business today. Striving for full transparency across a global supply chain is a critical step in monitoring, mitigating and addressing potential human rights issues.
How Our Human Rights Policies Help Protect People
- Prohibit the use or support of human trafficking
- Follow ethical recruiting practices
- Recognize and respect employees’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining
- Comply with applicable laws regulating hours of work and support a living wage
- Hire or use private or public security forces for protection of the company’s projects with proper supervision and due diligence
- Do not engage in unlawful eviction or taking of land, forests and waters securing the livelihood of human beings
- Commit to not tolerating harassment or discrimination of any form, supporting diversity and women’s rights, providing a healthy and safe working environment, protecting consumer and employee data privacy, and prohibiting bribery
How Our Human Rights Policies Help Protect the Environment
- Minimize impact on climate change aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement, striving towards carbon neutrality
- Minimize vehicle criteria and greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency
- Consider environmental performance throughout the life of a vehicle and address in-service concerns
- Use recycled and renewable materials, reduce substances of concern, and improve recyclability of our products through material selection and product design
- Achieve continual environmental improvement in manufacturing
- Reduce emissions, increase energy efficiency, and utilize renewable energy in our manufacturing operations
- Mimic ecosystem performance, eliminate waste, divert waste from landfill to products, reduce fresh water usage, reduce single use plastic, and support safe and accessible drinking water in our manufacturing operations and communities
- Utilize materials with reduced toxicity in our manufacturing processes
- Follow Ford procedures designed to safeguard the environment when we discontinue manufacturing operations
- Conduct environmental due diligence in connection with potential real estate transactions
Holding Us Accountable
We work with leading NGOs and have co-founded consortiums to ensure raw materials are responsibly produced.
- The Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade
- The Responsible Minerals Initiative
- The Copper Mark
- The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance
- The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber
You can learn more here.
Putting it in Writing
Ford is guided by the following to help ensure our human rights efforts support both people and the environment:
Protecting Human Rights and the Environment
Our formal company policy that protects human rights and environmental sustainability within the communities in which we operate, respecting the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct
Our guidelines for suppliers that outlines our requirements and expectations for supplier relationships including the protection of human rights and the environment, the responsible sourcing of materials, responsible and lawful business practices and the associated implementation of these principles.
Global Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Transparency
Our reporting requirements which require qualifying businesses to provide disclosures related to steps being taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in our supply chains or any other part of our business.
“Ford’s Supplier Code of Conduct reflects our long-standing core principles and values, but it’s not a static document. We will continuously refine and improve the Code to address the types of challenges that are inevitable in a supply chain as complex as Ford’s, whether they are related to labor, resources or materials sourcing. Our goal is to provide every member of our supplier community with the tools and support they need to help us meet our ambitious carbon neutrality targets while also operating lawfully, responsibly and with the highest respect for human rights.”
“Our goal is to ensure that everything we make – or that others make for us – complies with or exceeds all applicable laws and regulations and is consistent with our commitment to protect the environment, enhance the health and well-being of the communities that surround us and respect human rights."
Project Spotlight
Responsible Sourcing and Women’s Empowerment in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Ford and its philanthropic arm, Ford Fund, are working with international partners to support and promote a program that’s empowering women working in copper and cobalt supply chains in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The program aims to increase access to profitable, sustainable enterprises by training women on financial education, business management, mining innovation and leadership, and formalizing women’s Artisanal Small Mines cooperatives that allow equal access to market opportunities. The program will track the impact of and inform future public policy and private programs through an analytical study on women in cobalt and Artisanal and Small Mines supply chains.
Go Further
To learn more about Ford’s efforts in protecting human rights and building a transparent, sustainable and responsible global supply chain, please explore:
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