SUSTAINABILITY

Human Rights Compliance Assessments

Eni launched the Human Rights Compliance Assessment (HRCA) project in order to find definitive responses to a series of questions concerning the merits of its effective capacity to minimise the risk of violating human rights and in the complicity in violations carried out by third parties that occur within its sphere of influence. The HRCA is a tool for evaluating the degree of compliance with international standards that was designed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights , a highly respected institution operating on a worldwide scale that promotes the Business Human Rights Project (HRBP), which is currently one of the most important projects in the world aimed at providing companies with research and support about Human Rights topics.

The HRCA methodology has been developed in order to help companies to understand their responsibilities as far as respecting Human Rights is concerned, with reference to every aspect of the business they are involved in. The methodology makes it possible, by means of self assessments guided by independent experts from the Danish Institute for Human Rights Project, to identify behaviour and decisions that can have an impact on human rights in all types of business and operational areas. Thanks to the HRCA project, Eni intends to achieve the double objective of improving the training of people who work in the field and verifying any eventual weak or critical areas that exist.

In addition, the Human Rights Compliance Assessment project, which was launched in 2008 and enjoys solid consensus from the international community, is a fundamental element for guaranteeing due diligence and therefore comes under the remit of the UN Special Representative.

HRCAs in the countries of operations
Focus areas
Photogallery

The second phase of the HRCA requires Eni to turn its attention to the operational realities, carrying out self assessments of the potential risks of violating human rights or of complicity in violation by individual subsidiaries.

Every self assessment is preceded by intense research aimed at examining the national context and, in particular, the standards of protection and respect of human rights in force in the country, based on what the most authoritative international organisations and associations report. These assessments are then used to adapt the process in potentially critical areas and to carry out meticulous inspections of those aspects that potentially could require attention.

Every self assessment requires carrying out around ten meetings for each operational area, during which the participants examine the practices adopted, the learning processes developed during the operations carried out in the field and the actions that are currently being implemented. Up to the present time, around 40 managers from the Procurement, HSE, Human Resources, Security, Legal Affairs and Community Relations departments have enthusiastically agreed to share the challenge, the questioning and the results achieved in relation to respecting Human Rights in the operational context.

In 2008, two pilot projects were carried out, one in Nigeria , in Lagos, in November and the other one in Kazakhstan , at the KPO structure at Aksai, in December.
These projects were also used to test the validity of the methodology in relation to Eni's operational reality. At the end of the experiments, Eni collaborated with the Danish Institute for Human Rights in revising the tool and those aspects that could be improved, in order to adapt it to the special needs of the business and to optimise the organisation of a process that is necessarily complex and elaborate since it involves the entire company structure.

In 2009, three self assessments were carried out in Algeria , at the Eni structure and in Egypt , at the IEOC structure, in May and October respectively, and in the Republic of the Congo in December.

In all countries the Project produced a great deal of interest among the various company personnel involved. The opportunity to test HRCAs in situations that are so different from each other has made it possible to observe the way the areas of risk change according to the different cultures, regulations and operational aspects of the business, while from another point of view it was surprising to see how totally different contexts can be characterised by a company culture that is consistent in the values it promotes, in particular for the attention it places on people and the environment.

At the end of every self assessment a report is drawn up that covers the areas where attention is necessary and the suggestions made by the Danish Institute for Human Rights. This document represents an authoritative starting point for the elaboration and implementation of a plan for improving the specific operational situations.

The assessments completed to date and the requests expressed by different stakeholders point to areas of particular interest, present at several operational sites, that require the identification and fine tuning of actions aimed at an overall improvement of the entire corporate system. The main goal of the implemented HRCA process is to verify the compliance with the international human rights standards at site level. This process aims moreover at identifying potential areas of risk that are not directly controlled by the Company, but that might imply its complicity in case of human rights violations committed by the partners.

Infact, some improvement actions identified through the assessments refer to monitoring of suppliers in reference to respecting the basic human rights (especially labor standards and atmospheric emissions performances).

Focus areas - human rights

Issue	Focus area
Security	To raise the awareness of the security operators as regards the risks concerning the protection of human rights, within their area of responsibilities, and ensure that Eni’s security system is in compliance with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
Procurement	To raise the awareness of people operating in this area as regards the risks concerning the protection of human rights; to implement control measures regarding compliance with international standards on human rights on the part of the suppliers; to promote the respect of human rights within the supply chain.
Diversity management	To adopt an approach based on inclusiveness and centered on management diversity applied to both the management of Eni’s employees and to external stakeholders, with particular focus on the most vulnerable groups.
Involvement of the local communities	To develop forms and methods for the integration of human rights into the Social Impact Assessments (SIA) and into all communication and involvement activities of the stakeholders.