...

Artel published UNGC report for 2022

Central Asia Materials 31 January 2023 15:34 (UTC +04:00)
Artel published UNGC report for 2022

Artel Electronics LLC (Artel), Central Asia’s largest home appliance manufacturer, has published its first Communication on Progress report as part of the UN Global Compact (UNGC). The UNGC is the world’s largest business community dedicated to sustainable development, with members including Microsoft, Panasonic and Nestle. Artel was one of Uzbekistan’s first companies to become a full participant of the program.

In joining the Global Compact, Artel committed to 10 principles of the UN Global Compact in the fields of human rights, labor rights, environmental protection and anti-corruption, and to advance the UN’s 27 Sustainable Development Goals.

Every year, participants must report their activities in these directions and progress in aligning with ESG standards. Artel’s report outlined its progress to and including November 2022.

In human rights and labor rights, Artel has paid attention to initiatives that give a voice to employees. Regular “Meet the Management” sessions have been introduced as well as an anonymous whistleblowing function, through which employees can raise concerns directly to the top management. A full-time compliance officer also now works at the company.

As a key project, the company introduced an internal legal clinic that provides objective and impartial information to employees of the company on legal issues. Elsewhere, the company also championed Gender Equality, by joining the UNFPA and UN Women to help advertise the #OrangeTheWorld campaign around Uzbekistan, and participated in several projects on female empowerment.

As a result of the company’s efforts, the proportion of women employed has risen by 5% in the last year, and staff turnover has decreased by 10%. This shows that the initiatives of the company in HR have been particularly effective.

In environmental protection, Artel has been working on its R&D and is introducing technology that increases efficiency and reduces consumption of electricity, gas and water. The company is also working with international consultants to assess its emissions and create a sustainability strategy. Artel also planted over 4,000 trees in the national Yashil Makon initiative to create a greener environment for all.

Finally, the company has been working hard to identify and tackle instances of corruption. Artel has radically overhauled corporate governance in line with international standards. It has introduced a supervisory board, specific committees covering areas of responsibilities, and an Independent Director, former Vice President of Samsung Mr. Kim Uy Tak. The company has also introduced an anti-corruption policy, an anonymous whistleblowing function with a full-time compliance officer. The whistleblowing function allows employees to raise concerns securely in a way that is reported directly to the top management.

Other social projects include providing urgent medical care to children, water provision to rural areas, and aid in response to natural disasters such as provision of appliances to new houses following the flooding in Jizzakh.

In line with its participation in the UNGC, Artel was also instrumental in initiating Uzbekistan’s first “Championing Business Sustainability” conference with the UN, the first ESG conference directed at the Uzbek private sector. Artel looks forward to building on this progress in 2023, and continuing its contribution to the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals. As an active participant of the UNGC, the company hopes to be an example to similar businesses in Uzbekistan in advancing their ESG agenda.

Tags:
Latest

Latest