In line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we recognize the responsibility of companies to respect human rights, wherever they operate.
We also understand that companies can undermine human rights through their action or inaction and that this is particularly relevant in countries where ESG conditions are less favorable.
Companies can also improve and strengthen human rights, for example by properly informing and consulting local communities about their (planned) activities, by providing good quality jobs or by encouraging gender equality in societies or sectors where this is not yet common practice.
Our most salient human rights risks relate to our role as a lender and investor and less in our internal operations. Therefore, our human rights approach focuses primarily on respecting the rights of our customers’ employees, local communities and other stakeholders related to the activities that FMO finances and promoting human rights in society at large.