The Social & Labour Convergence Program (SLCP) has launched a new Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Toolkit, designed to help companies understand how SLCP assessments can support them to implement mandatory HRDD and to respect human rights in their supply chains.

Amsterdam-based SLCP provides the tools to capture accurate data about working conditions in global supply chains.

The HRDD Toolkit explains how SLCP’s Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) is uniquely useful in supporting HRDD compliance. As it is critical for sustainability initiatives to be clear on which components of due diligence they can support, the HRDD Toolkit provides an honest depiction of SLCP’s tool, system, design, and scope to ensure that the approach aligns with the demands of the policy, guidance, or law.

Essentially the toolkit is aimed at brands to show them how they can get some of the data they need to comply with legislation from the SLCP tool. This in turn will benefit factories by enabling them to use their SLCP assessments to meet the data needs of their partner brands. This will protect them from a new onslaught of duplicative social audits/ assessments that could occur as brands get to grips with the requirements of the emerging laws.

In terms of industry-wide benefit, there is a proliferation of sustainability initiatives, all with different scope, size, and design. It also means these initiatives have different offerings which can support companies in unique ways towards implementing meaningful due diligence. This toolkit is an honest depiction of SLCP’s usefulness for human rights due diligence (including areas where companies need to turn to other sustainability initiatives for support.)

Janet Mensink, ED, SLCP said, “The SLCP HRDD Toolkit reinforces the value of SLCP as a facilitator for conducting human rights due diligence. There is a growing appetite from various stakeholders for clear, practical communication on how initiatives can support human rights due diligence. SLCP offers an effective tool for supporting due diligence. With over 75 per cent of facilities who completed SLCP assessments in 2022 being repeat users of the tool, SLCP data can now be used not only to identify risks, but to track and monitor progress towards improved working conditions.”