We believe that societies, economies and businesses thrive when human rights are protected and respected and that human rights abuses of any kind are unacceptable. As one of the world’s leading food companies, we have the responsibility to respect human rights throughout our business and value chain. Respect for human rights is fundamental to our purpose of making food the world loves, our commitment to ethical business conduct and our corporate value of putting people first. As a force for good, General Mills is accelerating action to respect human rights and positively impact all the people we depend upon — and who depend upon us. As a global food company rooted in agriculture, we recognize that we have an impact on human rights beyond just our four walls. While philanthropic programs can play a necessary role in mitigating human rights risks, those programs alone do not offset the potential impact within our value chain. Our goal: General Mills is committed to respecting the rights of all workers and communities across our value chain. Our goal is to assess and address our human rights impacts in alignment with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) . Our approach: To better understand our human rights risks and guide our work, we are following a strategic framework (see below) — which directly aligns with the UNGPs — to strengthen our ability to assess, address and prevent potential imp acts across our value chain; and we are taking a thoughtful approach in each step of our journey. Protection of human rights is embedded as a prior ity within our Global Responsible Sourcing program. Learn more . O ur policies and c om mitments: Our Human Rights Policy , Workplace Standards and Ethical Sourcing Policy, E mployee Code of Conduct , Supplier Code of Conduct and Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement set standards fo r our company, suppliers and partners regarding the protection of human rights. We respect and acknowledge internationally recognized human rights princip les. We are working diligently to imp lement the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNG Ps ) throughout our business. We have been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) since 2008 and are guided by the UNGC’s 10 principles regarding human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. We are also a signatory to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles . Our Human Rights Policy states the standards for our company, suppliers, and partners regarding the protection of human rights. These standards are based in part on the International Labor Organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work . Consistent with the principles outlined in our Employee Code of Conduct and Supplier Code of Conduct, we: n Prohibit forced labor, child labor and discrimination n Maintain safe and healthy working conditions n Value diversity and consider it core to our business strategy n Seek to compensate employees competitively and operate in compliance with applicable wage, work hours, overtime and benefits laws n Respect the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining n Recognize the importance of land rights as well as the principle of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), as outlined in our palm oil statement , and support implementation of FPIC by national authorities. Governance and accountability: The Global Impact Governance Committee (GIGC) has ultimate accountability for the company’s global responsibility programs and performance. Our Chairman and CEO convenes the GIGC, which consists of officers of the company, quarterly to monitor and approve strategies, policies and key investments related to sustainability and social responsibility initiatives. The Board has made it a priority to ensure sustainability and global responsibility are taken seriously at all levels of the company. The Board’s Public Responsibility Committee provides oversight and receives regular updates from the operating teams. At General Mills, we have resources appoint ed to advance our human rights st rategy. The role of Director of Global Impact Operations Integration has acc ountability for advancing respect for human rights across our value chain Human rights strategic framework Identify greatest human rights risks across our value chain and prioritize known salient issues Integrate human rights expectations into policies and business practices Utilize the UNGP reporting framework to publicly disclose how we assess and address human rights impacts Effectively mitigate risks and remedy harm through stakeholder engagement, taking action and tracking progress ASSESS INTEGRATE ACT AND TRACK COMMUNICATE Human rights GENERAL MILLS GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY 43 Food Planet People Community
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