Unilever’s Responsible Partner Policy 

Global supply chains often run through regions where labour exploitation, environmental degradation and weak governance create conditions of structural violence. In such contexts, low wages, unsafe working conditions, and discrimination can perpetuate cycles of poverty and instability. Suppliers operating without ethical oversight may engage in corruption or tolerate human rights abuses, undermining social cohesion and increasing grievances.

Given its vast global value chain, Unilever recognised a responsibility and a business imperative, to address these systemic risks. Transforming its supplier relationships into engines for fairness, transparency and respect for rights became central to preventing exploitation and reinforcing long-term market stability. 

Unilever introduced its Responsible Partner Policy (RPP) to set clear, enforceable ethical standards across every stage of its global supply chain. This framework requires suppliers and business partners to comply with obligations covering labour rights, anti-corruption, environmental stewardship, and non-discrimination. The standards are embedded into procurement contracts, with compliance monitored through a combination of self-assessments, third-party audits and whistle-blower systems accessible to workers. Importantly, the policy is integrated into Unilever’s core sourcing strategy and suppliers that fail to meet these requirements risk losing contracts, while those exceeding them may gain preferential business opportunities.

The approach leverages Unilever’s market power to influence thousands of upstream and downstream partners, ensuring that ethical practice is not optional. This is strategic peacebuilding because it directly addresses root causes of exploitation and instability within supply networks while preserving the operational reliability and reputational trust that underpin Unilever’s long-term commercial success. 

The Responsible Partner Policy strengthens several Positive Peace pillars.

• Equitable Distribution of Resources is advanced by enforcing fair wages, safe working conditions, and non-discriminatory hiring, ensuring that the economic benefits of trade are more evenly shared across the supply chain.
• Low Levels of Corruption are promoted through strict anti-bribery clauses, transparent procurement processes, and active monitoring to reduce illicit practices that undermine institutional trust.
• Acceptance of the Rights of Others is embedded in the non-discrimination requirements, which explicitly protect gender equality, freedom of association, and respect for cultural diversity among workers. For example, suppliers must provide written human rights commitments, prohibit forced and child labour, and allow workers to form unions without retaliation.

By linking continued business with these ethical standards, Unilever aligns partner incentives with global norms that protect human dignity, while ensuring that commercial relationships support rather than erode social stability. 

The policy creates a reinforcing system where compliance with ethical standards becomes a competitive advantage in Unilever’s value chain. As more suppliers adopt these norms to retain contracts, ethical practices become industry expectations rather than exceptional behaviour. This elevates standards across entire sectors, reducing exploitation and corruption while protecting vulnerable workers.

Over time, this systemic shift increases trust between producers, workers and end-consumers, creating more resilient supply networks that can better withstand disruptions. By embedding human rights and anti-corruption safeguards into the mechanics of trade, Unilever has transformed market access into a driver of systemic fairness and long-term peace.