The aim is to achieve a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship between our operations and society.
No human rights violations are accepted in connection with our operations, and they would represent a breach of our policies and standards. In 2007, additional steps were taken to safeguard human rights and labour standards in our operations.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a common ethical foundation. Our commitment is further rooted in our support for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the United Nations Global Compact principles covering human rights and labour standards, in addition to the principles on the environment and anti-corruption.
We respect and promote fundamental labour rights and standards, such as minimum wage requirements, the regulation of working hours, the prohibition on child or forced labour, and freedom of association and collective bargaining.
While practices of association may vary in different countries in accordance with local standards, we endeavour in all our operations to involve our employees and their appropriate representatives in the development of the company.
We believe in diversity and equality of opportunity, and prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace be it based on race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, political views or national or ethnic origin. There were no known serious incidents of discrimination during 2007.
Our commitment is further underlined through our support agreement with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
Screening for human rights and labour standards
Careful procedures to manage and screen for human rights and labour standards risks in all our operations are integrated into our business processes.
We systematically conduct analyses of countries relevant to our operations in order to build a robust knowledge platform about local conditions, business culture and external factors - including human rights and broader social, political, security and ethical risks.
Before making an investment decision, additional risk and impact assessments are also conducted. Throughout the whole business process, we manage such risks through stakeholder dialogue and involvement.
In 2007, we also developed a human rights risk assessment tool to further strengthen our human rights screening procedures, which was piloted in five countries with a view to identifying particular risks of any form of complicity in human rights abuses.
Our procedures for integrity due diligence were also revised and, from 2008 onwards, they will include human rights screening of all new investments and contracts. We also took additional steps to integrate our integrity and social responsibility standards into our supply chain.
Drawing on our experience in Nigeria, we worked with partners to include a commitment to the Global Compact principles in several licence agreements in Africa and Asia.
Given the precarious situation and vulnerability of many indigenous peoples and their livelihoods, we pursue a dedicated policy that requires special attention to be devoted to indigenous peoples and their needs in impact assessments and stakeholder involvement processes.
We operate in many countries with indigenous populations, including Canada, Norway and Russia. Ensuring a constructive dialogue and collaborative relations with these groups is therefore an important part of our operations. There have been no incidents of violations involving the rights of indigenous peoples in 2007.
Human rights training
A revision of our training programme in human rights was initiated in 2007 and it will be tested in 2008 and made available to managers and staff in relevant operations and functions. Through its Integrity Programme, Hydro trained a total of 1,151 managers in its oil and energy division between 2006 and 2007 in areas such as human rights, anti-corruption and integrity.
Our use of security services and operations in conflict zones, where human rights challenges may be particularly complex, is covered by our commitment to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. In 2007, all country managers in Statoil completed a training session on the Voluntary Principles, and human rights scenario training was conducted with the Nigeria country team.
Multi-stakeholder initiatives
We continue to work with partners and to collaborate in multi-stakeholder initiatives in order to better understand the business implications of our commitments to human rights.
We continue to be an active participant in the Business Leaders' Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), the UN Global Compact and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
We support the work of Amnesty International Norway, the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the UNDP (Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund) through corporate agreements.
