Anouk Heilen, Head of Social Sustainability, elaborates on our commitment to ensuring a living wage for all individuals within our supply chain and the pivotal role of elevated living standards in fostering a robust business environment. Globally, approximately 700 million people endure extreme poverty, grappling with insufficient resources for basic necessities such as food, shelter, healthcare, and education. This economic disparity perpetuates limited opportunities, particularly in rural regions and among women, hindering upward mobility.
As a global entity, millions within our value chain depend on Unilever’s success for their livelihoods. Anouk Heilen spearheads our livelihoods strategy, advocating for better standards through partnerships. She underscores the imperative and opportunity we possess to uplift people toward sustainable livelihoods.
What guides our pursuit of enhanced living conditions? At Unilever, our aspiration is for all individuals involved in the production and distribution of our goods to attain a decent livelihood, including earning a living wage. This encompasses access to essential needs for oneself and family, within a secure, dignified, and equitable work environment.
To actualize this vision, we adopt a dual strategy, focusing on implementation initiatives and collaborative endeavors.
How do we translate our aspirations into tangible actions? We have set forth three immediate objectives to achieve by 2026. Firstly, we aim to empower 250,000 smallholder farmers engaged in ingredient cultivation with livelihood enhancement programs, emphasizing income growth and sustainable agricultural practices.
Furthermore, we are committed to ensuring that a minimum of half our procurement expenditure is with suppliers who have pledged to uphold our Living Wage Promise. This initiative serves to engender awareness among suppliers, prompting them to identify and address wage disparities and track progress toward living wage benchmarks.
Lastly, we are dedicated to supporting the growth of 2.5 million small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within our retail value chain. This involves facilitating access to technology, digitization, financial services, and business training programs.
Why does Unilever prioritize advocating for a living wage? Beyond being a fundamental human right, providing a living wage has far-reaching implications, positively impacting access to social services, health, and education. It not only elevates individual income and livelihoods but also fosters productivity, supply chain resilience, and expands consumer markets.
Moreover, advocating for a living wage aligns with evolving societal expectations and impending legislative changes, ensuring our business remains adaptable and sustainable.
What progress have we made thus far in championing living wages? Internally, we achieved living wage compliance for our workforce in 2020 and received accreditation as a global living wage employer in 2021. Subsequently, we have extended this commitment to our supply chain, focusing initially on factories exclusively producing for Unilever. Presently, 99% of these factories adhere to living wage standards.
Challenges persist beyond our immediate operations. Many suppliers conflate minimum wage with living wage, necessitating educational initiatives to clarify the distinction and promote compliance. Additionally, as most of our procurement spending involves non-dedicated suppliers serving multiple clients, advocating for a living wage incurs additional costs, potentially impacting our competitiveness.
To address these challenges, we have initiated capability-building programs in partnership with the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), aimed at enhancing supplier understanding and compliance with living wage standards.
How are we fostering global change on living wages? Collaborating with like-minded organizations, we advocate for policy reforms to institutionalize living wage standards. Recent successes include advocating for inclusion of living wages in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the establishment of a global definition of a living wage by the International Labour Organization.
Furthermore, we are leveraging our influence to advance local advocacy efforts, catalyzing governmental commitments to align minimum wage policies with living wage benchmarks.
In conclusion, by championing living wages and fostering collaborative advocacy, we strive to elevate livelihoods and foster sustainable development worldwide.”
Anouk Heilen, Head of Social Sustainability, elaborates on our commitment to ensuring a living wage for all individuals within our supply chain and the pivotal role of elevated living standards in fostering a robust business environment. Globally, approximately 700 million people endure extreme poverty, grappling with insufficient resources for basic necessities such as food, shelter, healthcare, and education. This economic disparity perpetuates limited opportunities, particularly in rural regions and among women, hindering upward mobility.
As a global entity, millions within our value chain depend on Unilever’s success for their livelihoods. Anouk Heilen spearheads our livelihoods strategy, advocating for better standards through partnerships. She underscores the imperative and opportunity we possess to uplift people toward sustainable livelihoods.
What guides our pursuit of enhanced living conditions? At Unilever, our aspiration is for all individuals involved in the production and distribution of our goods to attain a decent livelihood, including earning a living wage. This encompasses access to essential needs for oneself and family, within a secure, dignified, and equitable work environment.
To actualize this vision, we adopt a dual strategy, focusing on implementation initiatives and collaborative endeavors.
How do we translate our aspirations into tangible actions? We have set forth three immediate objectives to achieve by 2026. Firstly, we aim to empower 250,000 smallholder farmers engaged in ingredient cultivation with livelihood enhancement programs, emphasizing income growth and sustainable agricultural practices.
Furthermore, we are committed to ensuring that a minimum of half our procurement expenditure is with suppliers who have pledged to uphold our Living Wage Promise. This initiative serves to engender awareness among suppliers, prompting them to identify and address wage disparities and track progress toward living wage benchmarks.
Lastly, we are dedicated to supporting the growth of 2.5 million small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within our retail value chain. This involves facilitating access to technology, digitization, financial services, and business training programs.
Why does Unilever prioritize advocating for a living wage? Beyond being a fundamental human right, providing a living wage has far-reaching implications, positively impacting access to social services, health, and education. It not only elevates individual income and livelihoods but also fosters productivity, supply chain resilience, and expands consumer markets.
Moreover, advocating for a living wage aligns with evolving societal expectations and impending legislative changes, ensuring our business remains adaptable and sustainable.
What progress have we made thus far in championing living wages? Internally, we achieved living wage compliance for our workforce in 2020 and received accreditation as a global living wage employer in 2021. Subsequently, we have extended this commitment to our supply chain, focusing initially on factories exclusively producing for Unilever. Presently, 99% of these factories adhere to living wage standards.
Challenges persist beyond our immediate operations. Many suppliers conflate minimum wage with living wage, necessitating educational initiatives to clarify the distinction and promote compliance. Additionally, as most of our procurement spending involves non-dedicated suppliers serving multiple clients, advocating for a living wage incurs additional costs, potentially impacting our competitiveness.
To address these challenges, we have initiated capability-building programs in partnership with the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), aimed at enhancing supplier understanding and compliance with living wage standards.
How are we fostering global change on living wages? Collaborating with like-minded organizations, we advocate for policy reforms to institutionalize living wage standards. Recent successes include advocating for inclusion of living wages in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the establishment of a global definition of a living wage by the International Labour Organization.
Furthermore, we are leveraging our influence to advance local advocacy efforts, catalyzing governmental commitments to align minimum wage policies with living wage benchmarks.
In conclusion, by championing living wages and fostering collaborative advocacy, we strive to elevate livelihoods and foster sustainable development worldwide.”
