Sustainability

Advancing human rights

We believe everyone should be treated with fundamental dignity and respect, and provided an equal opportunity to thrive. We’re committed to ensuring this for all the people connected to our business—including our employees, people who work in our supply chain, customers, and people who live in the communities where we operate.

Progress

Whole Foods Market completed a human rights due diligence management systems assessment, which will inform a wider human rights saliency assessment of Amazon’s global grocery business in 2024

Saliency assessment Human rights saliency assessment conducted for Amazon Private Brands to improve our understanding of human rights risks in the supply chain and how to address them through strategic actions and risk management plans

New training introduced to help our sourcing and procurement teams understand how their efforts can improve supplier working conditions and environmental performance

Our approach

We’re embedding respect for human rights throughout our business activities and relationships, and we work to engage with partners and suppliers that are also committed to respecting human and labor rights.

Just as we’re committed to promoting the rights of our employees, we’re committed to working with our suppliers to embed respect for human rights in their operations and supply chains and to help us further our goal to support the fundamental dignity of everyone we work with.

Our human rights strategy is informed by leading international standards and frameworks developed by the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). We’re committed to respecting and supporting the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Core Conventions of the ILO, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Our strategy to deliver on these commitments is based on the UNGPs and has five pillars:

  • Developing and maintaining strong policies and standards
  • Embedding human rights into our business operations and decision-making
  • Assessing, prioritizing, and addressing risk
  • Engaging with stakeholders
  • Improving access to effective grievance mechanisms and remediation procedures
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Global Human Rights Principles

From the associates in our fulfillment centers, to the drivers delivering packages to our customers, to the factory workers making the products we sell—people are critical to our mission of being Earth’s most customer-centric company. Our Human Rights Principles demonstrate our commitment to respecting fundamental human rights and the dignity of people connected to our business around the world.
Explore Global Human Rights Principles

Our salient human rights risks

Identifying and prioritizing the most salient risks connected to Amazon operations and business relationships is central to our human rights due diligence practices. We completed an enterprise-wide human rights saliency assessment in 2020. Through this assessment, we identified nine salient human rights risks across our operations and business relationships.

Each year, we expand on our commitment to conduct business-specific human rights assessments, ensuring we’re always raising the bar on how we evaluate and respond to risks across our operations and supply chain. Our salient human rights risks:

  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion

  • Safe and healthy working conditions

  • Modern slavery and forced labor

  • Fair wages and hours

  • Freedom of association

  • Future of work

  • Right to privacy

  • Product safety and security

  • Social, economic, and environmental justice

Human rights impact assessments

We use human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) to assess and address risks connected to our operations and business relationships. HRIAs help us understand causes of systemic issues, enhance ongoing engagement with critical stakeholders, implement the correct risk-based mitigation measures, and refine strategies for ongoing risk management across our supply chain.

Twitch

In 2022, Twitch conducted its first HRIA in partnership with Amazon’s central Human Rights team and consulting firm BSR. Twitch is an Amazon subsidiary that provides interactive live-streaming services for content spanning gaming, entertainment, sports, music, and more. The HRIA identified the most salient human rights risks and opportunities related to Twitch’s services, including content governance and online safety, incorporating a focus on vulnerable groups.

Read assessment
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Amazon devices

In 2020, we conducted our first HRIA on the raw and recovered materials supply chain for Amazon-branded digital devices. Using the UNGPs as a framework to guide the assessment, the HRIA results indicated we’re directly linked to potential risks for Tier 1–2 manufacturing and reverse logistics suppliers.

Read assessment
A purple Amazon Echo device sitting on a counter.

Human rights partnerships

We recognize that many human rights risks are complex issues with widespread social impacts. Addressing these risks requires cross-industry engagement to find effective solutions. We collaborate with credible, knowledgeable, and innovative industry partners around the world who share our vision.

1 - 11 of 27 partners

Related downloads

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Human rights and environmental complaints procedure

If you have a concern about a human rights or environmental issue related to our business or supply chains, we strongly encourage you to use this webform to report your concern directly to us. The webform can be viewed in various languages by selecting the desired language at the top of the page.
Learn more

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