December 10 marked the seventy fifth anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Common Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a landmark doc that for the primary time acknowledged human rights and freedoms are inherent to all people, no matter nationality, ethnicity, faith, or every other standing. For Cisco, as we work to securely join every thing to make something doable, this anniversary is a chance to mirror on the intersection between know-how and human rights.
Since our inception practically 40 years in the past, Cisco know-how has helped prospects and companions make infrastructure stronger, monetary companies safer, transportation safer, and first responders sooner. However at the same time as know-how creates unmatched alternative and potential for society, we acknowledge the inherent threat of know-how being misused. Navigating this stability – securely connecting billions of individuals whereas respecting human rights – is core to who we’re at Cisco.
We consider it’s incumbent on us to combine respect for human rights into our operations, insurance policies, and decision-making processes – and importantly – adapt our method in alignment with the altering know-how panorama. Listed below are just a few examples of the way in which Cisco has advanced to handle the issues we face within the digital age.
Cisco’s International Human Rights Coverage was first adopted in 2012 and is up to date on an annual foundation. The coverage publicly states Cisco’s dedication to respect all internationally acknowledged human rights articulated within the Common Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Worldwide Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Worldwide Covenant on Financial, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the eight core Worldwide Labour Group (ILO) conventions.
In 2018, we shared our Human Rights Place Statements documenting Cisco’s standpoint on encryption, knowledge localization and sovereignty, surveillance by governments, web of issues, massive knowledge analytics, and synthetic intelligence. We additionally constructed our Enterprise & Human Rights workforce, liable for setting Cisco’s human rights technique and embedding human rights due diligence to handle potential impacts to human rights in any respect phases of our worth chain.
In 2020, we created our Human Rights Advisory Committee, a cross-functional group of senior leaders throughout Cisco’s enterprise that advises the BHR workforce on points associated to Cisco’s help of and respect for human rights. The Human Rights Advisory Committee meets on a quarterly foundation to debate rising human rights dangers and alternatives and Cisco’s work to handle them.
We additionally have interaction with suppliers globally to drive conformance to our human rights insurance policies. As a founding member of the Accountable Enterprise Alliance (RBA), Cisco adopted the RBA Code of Conduct as its Provider Code of Conduct. This Code units requirements for labor, well being and security, surroundings, ethics, and administration methods. This previous yr, our audits coated the working circumstances of greater than 446,000 employees, and our packages helped give employees a voice on well being and security, bonded labor, and accountable mining.
In 2023, we launched a brand new Environmental, Social, and Public Coverage Committee of our Board of Administrators. A part of the Committee’s obligation is to strategize and govern our method to human rights, reflecting the rising significance of and a focus to those points on the highest ranges of our firm.
We consider transparency round our commitments to respecting human rights is arguably simply as necessary because the insurance policies, frameworks, and tips we’ve put in place. Being clear not solely provides our prospects and workforce the arrogance to belief us, however it additionally helps us to repeatedly study and enhance.
So, as we acknowledge the anniversary of UNDHR, I’m happy to share each our FY2023 Cisco Objective Report and Cisco ESG Reporting Hub – highlighting Cisco’s ongoing method to respecting human rights as we work to energy a extra inclusive future for all.
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