InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA — The Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has sharpened its priorities for 2025, reaffirming commitments to human rights due diligence, labor protection, land rights, and gender empowerment across the global sustainable palm oil supply chain.

Formed in 2014, the HRWG plays a central role in ensuring RSPO’s Principles & Criteria (P&C) adequately protect fundamental rights. The group provides strategic advice and technical guidance, develops tools and standards, and supports dispute-resolution mechanisms involving human rights cases within the RSPO system.

RSPO and its members recognize their collective responsibility to respect human rights, complement government protection responsibilities, and guarantee access to remedy for affected individuals.

Priorities for 2025

According to RSPO, HRWG’s 2025 workplan includes ensuring effective Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) implementation by all members. The group will also work to secure basic rights and fair working conditions for plantation laborers, mill workers, and smallholders.

Respect for customary land rights and protection of local communities form another major focus. HRWG stressed that land disputes must be settled through fair and rights-based approaches.

Women’s empowerment also features strongly, with the group promoting RSPO’s adoption of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) across supply chains.

HRWG further aims to produce more accessible guidance documents to help members and stakeholders better understand and apply human rights standards.

Through these steps, RSPO hopes to ensure human rights commitments are not merely stated in policy but fully embedded in daily operations throughout the industry. (T2)

Read more in the September 2025 edition of InfoSAWIT Magazine.