Memberships and collaborations
We recognise the importance of stakeholder engagement for our human rights programme. We value constructive dialogue with civil society, including human rights defenders, to advance respect for human rights.
We firmly believe that the most effective approach to advancing human rights in our sector is to work together as an industry. We are therefore an active participant in many industry groups in business and human rights:
GSMA
Vodafone is a member of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with almost 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors.
We are members of the GSMA Mobile Alliance to combat Digital Child Sexual Exploitation which is a group international of mobile operators that seeks to collaboratively create significant barriers to the misuse of mobile networks and services for hosting, accessing or profiting from child sexual abuse content.
United Nations Global Compact
Vodafone is a participant in the United Nations Global Compact – both internationally and through a number of UNGC country networks. As part of this, Vodafone supports the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. We are committed to making the UN Global Compact and its principles part of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our company, and to engaging in collaborative projects that advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals.
United Nations B-Tech
Vodafone is an active member of the multi-stakeholder UN B-Tech Community of Practice project led by the UN Human Rights Office. The Community of Practice provides a shared space for technology companies including Vodafone and the UN Human Rights Office to collectively discuss common challenges, solutions, and best practices related to implementing human rights in company policies and processes.
Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC)
Vodafone is a member and currently holds the Chair of the Joint Alliance for CSR (JAC ) initiative. JAC is an association of telecommunications operators established to improve ethical, labour and environmental standards in the information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain. JAC members undertake regular audits of suppliers in ICT value chains. They cover labour, health and safety, environmental, ethics and management systems. Vodafone uses these assessments in addition to our own to identify and manage risks in our supply chain.
Vodafone actively contributes to JAC working groups, where members seek to collaborate on specific human rights topics. These include a working group on Mitigation and Remediation.
