The Responsible Jewellery Council launches a new Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit

• New toolkit strengthens RJC’s commitment to drive positive meaningful impact on the ground
• Highlights of new kit include tools, templates, checklists and practical guidance

London XXX: The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), the world’s leading standard – setting organisation for the global jewellery and watch industry, today launched an updated Human Rights Due Diligence Toolkit for its members and the wider industry.

The new toolkit includes significant upgrades, expanded scope and a full re-design from the original toolkit delivered in 2013. Member companies will find practical advice to help them meet the requirements of COP 6 Human Rights. The Toolkit will also be valuable for the wider industry to implement human rights due diligence (HRDD).

The toolkit features key enhancements, including context on Human Rights and what due diligence means for the industry. It provides practical steps to carry out due diligence, and how these steps can vary based on a company’s size and role. Each step includes a practical set of tools, including templates, forms, and checklists to simplify the Human Rights due diligence process as much as possible, particularly for smaller businesses.

“Human rights are mission critical, and essential to the work of the RJC,” said John Hall, Interim Executive Director. “At the RJC we put people and planet first – making a commitment to people working in the industry and the wider community. This toolkit is available for the entire industry and is designed to protect human rights both within the company and throughout the supply chain.”

This toolkit complements the RJC’s Code of Practices (CoP), the standard to which all RJC members are committed. The COP includes workplace health and safety, remuneration, non-discrimination and other provisions, which really define the meaning of human rights in a jewellery industry context. RJC members also commit to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

This toolkit is the latest edition to a wide variety of tools offered by the RJC to the wider industry including:

• The Gender Equality Toolkit
• The Retailer Toolkit
• The Small Business Sustainability Toolkit
• The Due Diligence toolkit for Diamonds and Coloured Gemstones
• The Due Diligence toolkit for Precious Metals

With every toolkit RJC delivers, it recognises and addresses a critical and timely, common need. Stakeholders want to know where jewellery comes from, how it is made and who has a hand in crafting it. The RJC deepens trust with consumers and confidence to our member companies by providing increasingly transparency into those areas.

ABOUT RESPONSIBLE JEWELLERY COUNCIL

Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is the leading standards organisation of the global jewellery and watch industry. It has over 1,600 member companies in 71 countries, that span the jewellery supply chain from mine to retail. RJC Members commit to and are independently audited against the RJC Code of Practices – an international standard on responsible business practices for diamonds, coloured gemstones, silver, gold and platinum group metals.

RJC is ISEAL Code Compliant. Our system has been independently evaluated against ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice – a globally recognised framework for effective, credible sustainability systems.