Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) (TSX:ABX) published its report on Human Rights today outlining the company’s revised policies and standards and their implementation since the merger with Randgold Resources.

The publication of the report coincides with the United Nations’ Human Rights Day, which commemorates the day, in 1948, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The theme for this year is Equality.

During 2020, Barrick updated several standards including the Use of Force Standard and developed a new Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Standard. It also revised, updated and restarted its human rights program, in which every operation conducts a human rights assessment on a two- to three-year cycle. To date, all high- and medium-risk sites have been assessed, with Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali completed during 2021.

Barrick trained its employees and contractors in these updated standards and policies and worked with independent human rights experts, Avanzar, to develop online modules to ensure that human rights training was not hampered by Covid-19 related travel and social distancing restrictions.   Barrick also developed ‘train the trainer’ programs to empower its site security leadership with the knowledge and skills to deliver long-term training to their teams and local public security forces. These programs were successfully implemented at the North Mara and Bulyanhulu operations in Tanzania during 2021.

In the report, president and chief executive Mark Bristow said that recognizing and respecting human rights was a core value for Barrick, and its Human Rights Policy was one of the first the group updated following the merger with Randgold Resources. It is codified in Barrick’s standalone Human Rights Policy and informed by the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

“Our policy, simply put, is to respect the human rights of all individuals impacted by our operations, including employees, contractors and external stakeholders. Wherever we operate, we seek to avoid causing or contributing to human rights violations and to facilitate remedial action. The policy is guided by our philosophy of building mutually beneficial relationships with our local communities,” Bristow said.

The report also provides an insight into Barrick’s salient human rights issues such as non-discrimination in the workplace, health and safety, working conditions, resettlement, security, water and the rights of indigenous people; and reflects on Barrick’s legacy human rights challenges as well as the actions the company has taken to remedy these.