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Search On 28th June 2021, the Human Rights Coalition — Working to End Forced Labour (HRC) hosted an informative open house session for all CGF members. The HRC is a CEO-led Coalition of Action from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) consisting of 23 retailers and manufacturers committed to helping achieve fair and decent working conditions worldwide by driving individual and collective action in their businesses and supply chains to eradicate forced labour.
The session was opened by Didier Bergeret, Sustainability Director at the CGF, who oversees the HRC alongside the Forest Positive Coalition and the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative. He then handed the floor to the HRC’s two Co-chairs, Veronika Poutcheva, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility at METRO AG, and Paul Lalli, Global VP Human Rights, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC).
Veronika and Paul then spent the session providing their perspectives as co-chairs on the Coalition’s purpose, objectives and their experience as participants and leaders. The session covered the business case for fighting forced labour, the Coalition’s three projects, the importance of human rights due diligence (HRDD), the Coalition’s technical partnership with the Fair Labor Association and the International Organization for Migration, and how the Coalition is working in collaboration with the other CGF Coalitions of Action, namely the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) Coalition and the Forest Positive Coalition.
Coalition members Claudine Musitelli from Unilever and Gabriela Lopez from the Colgate-Palmolive Company also shared testimonies of the benefits of joining the HRC.
For those who missed the session, the full recording is available here:
