For many years now, VINCI and QDVC have made it a point of principle to transparently report on their activities in Qatar, as well as communicate about the vigilance measures in place.
VINCI and QDVC responded to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC). Their latest report on corporate practices in the Gulf, published in 2019, ranks QDVC at the top of an evaluation of 50 companies for its transparency on the actions it has taken to prevent human rights risks in its activities in Qatar.
The questionnaire that companies were asked to complete was developed by NGOs, trade unions as well as International Labour Organisation experts and independent researchers. QDVC provided a detailed response, which is also available online. It describes the measures taken by QDVC in the areas of health and safety, working conditions, living conditions, recruitment, measures to address risks associated with subcontracting, employee representation, and consultation and complaint mechanisms.
Furthermore, in 2020, the BHRRC questioned QDVC about the measures put in place for its workers in Qatar in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which was also made publicly available. Similarly, audit reports drafted by the BWI on QDVC’s operations were published in French and English, in particular on the VINCI website.
The 2019 report by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) ranked QDVC top of its 50-company evaluation for its transparency regarding efforts to prevent risks relating to human rights in its operations in Qatar
Involved in a variety of initiatives, the Group takes a proactive approach to communicating about and sharing its experience with other companies in the same industry, through the Building Responsibly group, or with any other interested party. Given the complexity and the sometimes systemic nature of the challenges, VINCI believes it is essential to take a collective approach that involves everyone across the board to develop effective responses to improve conditions and encourage the emergence of a virtuous ecosystem.
VINCI is an active member of the working group on human rights and forced labour set up by Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG). In this forum, VINCI works with other companies to develop risk prevention tools for temporary workers in the supply chain, for example through pre-qualification questionnaires for temporary work agencies and tools to assess human rights performance. A second working group was set up to develop due diligence mechanisms for member companies with respect to responsible recruitment of migrant workers in the Gulf, with a view to extending the pilot project involving VINCI and the ILO project office in Qatar to the UAE.
Most recently, VINCI was invited to talk to a group of business representatives, government employees and international civil servants about its experience in the region as part of a series of lessons organised by the ILO Academy on fundamental principles and rights at work, as well as at the Fair Recruitment Knowledge Hub and the ILO Global Business Network on Forced Labour.
Furthermore, as a member of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, VINCI regularly speaks at conferences, seminars and conversations organised through the initiative with other companies, international organisations, NGOs as well as certain public bodies, chambers of commerce and professional associations in various regions throughout the world.
Moreover, as VINCI is fully aware of the importance of raising awareness and training the engineers and talent of tomorrow, the Group collaborated with a group of independent experts specialised in operations and human rights in construction to develop a business case for students. The exercise considers in detail the risks of forced labour in Qatar and the measures put in place by QDVC. The aim is to put students in a real-life situation where they can identify the issues and consider for themselves the measures they would put in place. This document was made available to a great many universities in several countries, in particular during the Conference of Grandes Écoles bringing together France’s elite higher education establishments and the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum.
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