Enhancing access to remedy for human rights violations in the botanicals sector

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Project overview
Key learnings
Impact

Introduction

Project details

Project lead: UEBT

Project partner: Rainforest Alliance

Duration: September 2023 to November 2024

Sector focus: Botanicals

Geographical focus: Turkey, Asia

Project overview

To effectively address key human rights risks, such as child labour and unsafe working conditions, in supply chains, sustainability systems require enhanced human rights due diligence (HRDD) tools and approaches.

UEBT, building on previous learning, sought to assess and address human rights risks and impacts in the botanicals sector, and jumpstart scheme-level improvements. Through a gap assessment, UEBT identified points for improvement in their existing frameworks. Training materials developed were used to build internal capacity, and within companies in Turkey’s high-risk supply chains. Field tests helped refine these tools for wider use, and focus groups and a tip-sheet enabled learnings to be shared with ISEAL community members.

Learn more about UEBT’s approach to human rights.

Key learnings

Testing the HRDD tools developed in the field in Turkey was critical to refine them and ensure real-world applicability.
Internal capacity building was central to the project’s success. Training UEBT staff, auditors, and member companies helped raise awareness of human rights risks and built confidence in applying HRDD concepts across operations.
A lack of existing HRDD tools and approaches means that organisations must develop their own methods – leading to inefficiencies and variations in quality. Future innovation could involve creating simple, adaptable resources to help organisations implement HRDD – including standard self-assessment tools and adapting emerging resources like the OECD self-assessment.
Human rights issues in the botanicals sector are complex, particularly related to child labour, gender discrimination, and unsafe working conditions – highlighting the need for further integration of HRDD into all processes and urgent, practical action using tools like Human Rights Action Plans (HRAPs).

Impact

Overall, the project helped UEBT to embed human rights considerations more deeply into their systems – better equipping them to handle complex risks.

The Human Rights Action Plans (HRAPs) created through this project are designed for use by local companies working with smallholders at the field level. There is potential to scale these tools to other regions and sectors.

UEBT’s future efforts will focus on engaging more stakeholders in HRDD processes – particularly small-scale producers – and collaborating with other sustainability systems to scale and sustain these efforts.