Wednesday 27 November 2019
International Tourism Partnership (ITP) offers the first industry training focusing on the risks of modern slavery in hotel operations and recruitment. This training was developed by Hilton to train their staff and generously shared with ITP for use by their members and now the entire industry for free.
The new comprehensive training module on the Risks of Modern Slavery in Labour Sourcing was showcased by Head of Programmes for ITP, Anjana Raza, at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights.
What is the training?
While the hospitality industry has training and tools available to manage risks of modern slavery for sexual exploitation, this is the first publicly available online training module made by and for the hotel industry focusing on risks in the labour supply chain. It is designed to help hospitality companies improve awareness of modern slavery risks in their key services, in particular human resources, procurement and legal, specifically targeting the recruitment of staff or contractors to work in hotels.
The training comprises of three modules covering: what is modern slavery, identifying risks in operations and supply chain, and providing real-life case studies to underpin the learnings. At the end of the training, users are tested and, those who are successful, receive a certificate.
“At Hilton we take a comprehensive approach to driving respect for human rights across our value chain through due diligence, local investments and trainings like this one. Respecting human rights and addressing the risks of modern slavery is an imperative for our entire industry. We hope this training will advance these efforts as we join forces with our peers to take on these serious global issues.” Katie Fallon, EVP and Global Head, Corporate Affairs, Hilton.
ITP’s work on human rights
ITP brings together engaged hospitality companies to identify key social and environmental challenges and develop practical solutions for the industry.
In 2017, ITP worked with its members to identify the priority areas of actions in which the industry can deliver the greatest impact and contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Alongside carbon, water stewardship and youth employment, ITP commits to raise awareness of human rights risks, embed human rights into corporate governance, and address risks arising in the labour supply chain and during construction.
This training follows the launch of ITP’s Principles on Forced Labour in 2018, through which hotel companies agree that every worker should have freedom of movement, no worker should pay for a job, and no worker should be indebted or coerced to work.
The launch of the training is the latest in a range of multi-stakeholder projects to ensure there is a shared demand for responsible recruitment across the hospitality industry.
“The hospitality industry can play an important role in preventing the exploitation of people,” says ITP Director Madhu Rajesh.
“This training is currently being used across our membership of leading hospitality companies to better equip their legal, human resources and procurement teams to identify and address the risks within their recruitment practices. It is now free to use for the entire hospitality industry, and we encourage widespread engagement with this training, as the industry continues to drive action to ensure that communities are being supported and protected now and for future generations.”
Visit training.tourismpartnership.org to access the free training.