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The Palm Oil Rights Observatory is an important effort to increase transparency in the palm oil supply chains. Extensive analyses will be conducted to identify improvements in the sector, while all the involved actors will be stimulated to take responsibility for their actions. Additionally, the Observatory will also inform workers and communities about their rights and the RSPO principles and mechanisms.  

Around the world, millions of people work on palm oil plantations. These people are an indispensable workforce, but their fundamental labour rights are often not respected. Most people that work on plantations do not earn a living wage, and many of the women do not have a permanent contract, which means that they do not have an income if they become pregnant or get sick.   

As CNV Internationaal, together with our network of local unions we can set up social dialogue processes in the sector to improve the working conditions. We can make an impact if we work together, to realize a living wage and safe working conditions for all the workers on the plantation.   

RPSO has designed a grievance and mediation mechanism that is based on several key principles to ensure its effectiveness and fairness. Transparency is essential during this process, in order to maintain the confidence of the involved actors.   

The key principles are:   

• Behave ethically and transparently  
• Operate legally and respect rights  
• Optimize productivity, efficiency, positive impacts and resilience  
• Respect community and human rights, and deliver benefits  
• Support smallholder inclusion  
• Respect workers’ rights and conditions  
• Protect, conserve and enhance ecosystems and the environment