Our international growth exposes us - whether directly through our own operations or indirectly through our supply-chain - to areas of the world where human rights and good working conditions may be at risk.

Respect for human rights is an integral part of our corporate social responsibility. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights forms the basis for our commitment, and we are active supporters of the VPSHR and the United Nations Global Compact Principles.

We have recently renewed our collaboration agreement with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which also includes references to the fundamental labour principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

We respect and promote fundamental labour rights and standards, such as decent wages, the regulation of working hours, the prohibition on child or forced labour, and freedom of association and collective bargaining.

While practices of association may vary in different countries in accordance with local standards, we endeavour in all our operations to involve our employees and their appropriate representatives in the development of the company.

We believe in diversity and equality of opportunity, and prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace, be it based on race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, political views or national or ethnic origin.

Respecting human rights in our operations

The responsibility of corporations to respect human rights is one of the core principles of the policy framework for business and human rights issued by John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, in 2008.

In line with our support for this framework, we conduct human rights due diligence processes, or assessments of our ongoing activities to prevent harm to our various stakeholders, such as employees and communities where we operate.

As far as possible, such assessments will be integrated with the company's general systems for assessing and mitigating non-technical risks. Key elements in this approach include:

• We systematically conduct analyses of countries relevant to our operations in order to build a robust knowledge platform about local conditions, business culture and external factors - including human rights and broader social, political, security and ethical risks.
• Before making an investment decision, additional risk and impact assessments are conducted. Additionally, throughout the whole business process, we manage such risks through stakeholder dialogue and involvement.
• Our procedures for integrity due diligence include the human rights reputation of partners and other third parties with whom we may enter into a business relationship.
• Given the vulnerability of many indigenous peoples and their livelihoods, our policy requires special attention to be devoted to their needs in impact assessments and stakeholder involvement processes. We operate in many countries with indigenous populations, including Canada, Norway and Russia. No incidents of violations involving the rights of indigenous peoples were brought to our attention in 2008.

These and other processes help us to identify the source and nature of potential adverse affects of our activities on the human rights of our stakeholders. On that basis, we can develop a remedial plan to mitigate potential adverse impacts.

Grievance mechanisms

Since 2005, we have had a global Ethics Helpline for employees, business partners, and other interested stakeholders to confidentially and anonymously report their concerns about ethical issues - including incidents related to human rights - involving StatoilHydro or those acting on our behalf. The helpline is managed by an external party and is available in local languages, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Staff are also encouraged to raise such issues through line management, our human resources department, and/or their trade union representatives.

Impact assessment processes, particularly associated community consultations, linked with our operations can also provide avenues for voicing/expressing concerns and grievances related to our operations. In line with our general human rights commitments, including our commitment to implement the VPSHR, we are currently considering other systems and channels to enable host communities where we have operations to voice and address their grievances and concerns.

Human rights training

In 2008, we developed a human rights training module in the core training for the CSR network in the organisation. In addition, we have included human rights in the CSR components provided to StatoilHydro's project manager training on basic and executive levels. We have also provided training for selected business managers in regions with particular risks. 

In 2009, as part of our efforts to implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights in relevant operations, we will also be assessing the needs for developing and conducting human rights training of security staff.

Partnerships

We continue to collaborate with partners and in multi-stakeholder initiatives in order to better understand the business implications of our commitments to human rights.

For several years we have been active members of the Business Leaders' Initiative on Human Rights, which is now in its concluding phase. Other important commitments include the UN Global Compact and the VPSHR.

We support the work of Amnesty International Norway, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the UNDP (Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund) through corporate agreements.