NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 25 – Listed local agri-business firm Kakuzi Plc has announced the appointment of 50 champions within its employee ranks to spearhead its Sexual Harassment Awareness, Reporting and Prevention (SHARP) program.
The appointing of the SHARP champions is part of the firm’s ongoing Human Rights promotion efforts to mitigate operating risks associated with Sexual Harassment vices at the workplace.
Speaking when she confirmed the appointment of the SHARP champions, Kakuzi Plc Human Rights Manager Stella Wangechi said the champions would steer Sexual Harassment Awareness Reporting and Prevention (SHARP) programs across the firm’s operating locations. The champions were unveiled during the firm’s recent SHARP Outreach Week.
“At Kakuzi Plc, we have a zero-tolerance policy to sexual harassment, and we are actively working to foster globally benchmarked workplace Human Rights programmes as part of a commitment to enhance our corporate sustainability,” Wangechi said. She added that “SHARP is one of the ways Kakuzi is supporting and advancing UN Global Compact’s ten principles while at the same time fulfilling the corporate responsibility to respect Human Rights as envisaged in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights.”
The appointment of the champions to steer SHARP programmes comes hot on the heels of the recent naming of an Independent Human Rights Advisory Committee (IHRAC) chaired by former Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai. With the appointment of the IHRAC to its Board last month, Kakuzi PLC has become the first corporate organization in Sub Saharan Africa to constitute and establish such an independent advisory panel benchmarked against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
In appointing the IHRAC, Kakuzi joins a growing list of globally focused institutions’ progressively adopting the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including football governing body FIFA, Global Chemicals manufacturer BASF SE, Adidas, among others.
Through the SHARP initiative, Kakuzi employees are sensitized on their roles and responsibilities towards ensuring the enjoyment of Human rights as a prerequisite to a safe, healthy and conducive working environment for all.
The firm has also progressed in developing and rolling out an Operational-Level Grievance Mechanism (OGM) benchmarked against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The OGM provides timely and sensitive resolution of any grievances connected to Kakuzi’s operations in a formal, transparent and consistent manner.
