Human rights due diligence in conflict-affected areas

How are human rights handled in countries in conflict and war? Here warfair has a lot of experience. It requires thorough due diligence analysis. And there’s plenty of inspiration to be found here!

warfair specializes in importing products, especially food, from conflict-affected areas – with the aim of creating peace and good conditions for the civilian population. Trading in conflict-affected areas such as Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Congo requires an extra effort in the area of due diligence.

Before warfair enters into an agreement with a new supplier, a thorough risk assessment is made by conducting a country analysis, a supplier screening and a questionnaire to be completed and signed by the supplier.

In the risk assessment, warfair collaborates with organizations, contacts and journalists living in the local area and with refugees/immigrants from e.g. Somalia, Afghanistan and DR Congo who now live in Denmark. They help find the goods and gather information about the companies from their contacts and by doing internet searches, also in local languages. Risk assessments and questionnaires are continuously followed up with emails and inspections of the production units – both virtual and physical.

The due diligence report is approved by warfair’s ethics committee and only then does warfair launch the products on the Danish/European market. The ethics committee ensures that the company’s due diligence meets the highest standards and does not overlook relevant risks. The committee also manages a complaints mechanism where anyone can submit complaints about products, companies or employees.

Inspiration
Inspiration for both structure and specific policies can be found in warfair’s due diligence reports, which are published for full transparency. You can also find inspiration for your due diligence questions in warfair’s supplier questionnaire and for setting up a grievance mechanism. All freely available on the warfair website.