By Rodrigo Limp Nascimento, President of Eletrobras
At Eletrobras, we put all our energy into the sustainable development of society. Among our commitments to Governance, the Planet, Prosperity and People, there is fundamentally unrestricted respect for the human rights of all our stakeholders. To put this into practice, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, we are implementing processes and projects to enhance our ability to identify and mitigate human rights risks for people involved in our operations and value chain, of which I highlight:
- Due diligence own operations, with the contracting, still in 2022, of the first independent human rights impact assessment (AIDH) of an Eletrobras hydroelectric power plant;
- Due diligence of special purpose companies (SPEs)/joint ventures that we hold equity interest and assume shared responsibility for proper socio-environmental management, which, starting this year, will also include a human rights training program for directors appointed to represent our companies in the SPEs' governance bodies;
- Due diligence from tier 1 suppliers, in order to share our commitments, practices and concerns with the subject, and agree on any necessary corrective measures;
- Promotion of gender and racial equality and diversity, evidenced by our corporate goal of obtaining and maintaining a percentage of management positions held by women at least equal to the total percentage of women in Eletrobras, and recognized by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index Seal;
- Training our workforce and raising the awareness of other stakeholders on human rights issues;
- Confronting sexual violence against children and adolescents, through, among others, our adherence to the Na Mão Certa Program, whose risk mapping and awareness-raising actions are carried out with our internal and external audiences; It is
- In 2021, gap analysis of Eletrobras in the light of the SA8000 standard, allowing us to identify opportunities for improvement in our social responsibility management before investing in certification under the standard.
Despite advances, there are still many challenges for the proper implementation of the human rights agenda in companies and society. Therefore, we are very proud of the partnership with CEBDS in carrying out the Business Practices in Human Rights project, which allows for the exchange and improvement of practices between the main corporate and academic actors on the subject. Reinforcing our commitments and frankly participating in the necessary difficult conversations about human rights, together we will continue to move forward in the common and fundamental objective of valuing and respecting all people in some way involved and impacted by our corporate activities.
