Equipping businesses to meet the requirements of the Norwegian Transparency Act

Slave-Free Alliance co-hosted an event in Norway to inform and share knowledge about modern-day slavery among businesses and professionals in light of the new Norwegian Transparency Act.

Following the introduction of the Transparency Act in July this year, Slave-Free Alliance in Norway is working to support organisations in meeting the requirements of the new law.

The Act necessitates that companies promote respect for human rights and decent working conditions, including the provision of a living wage, across their operations and supply chains.

Sharing expertise

At the joint event alongside Hope for Justice, held at Litteraturhuset in Bergen, our team engaged with individuals and business representatives about the challenges they are facing in meeting these requirements and how to overcome these.

Both adults and students attended the two-hour event entitled ‘Kunnskapsdeling om moderne slaveri’, which translates as ‘Sharing knowledge around modern slavery’. The topics covered included social sustainability, modern slavery and human rights in business.

Key speakers

As part of the evening, there was a panel discussion between experts Marie Nordby, Business Development Manager – Human Rights Specialist at SFA, Jeanette Schultz Årvik, Senior Advisor at SFA, Maren Fluge Nordgreen, Project Coordinator at Future-Proof, and Karoline Løvoll Strømme, Hope for Justice’s Project Manager in Bergen.

The discussion centred around the topic ‘What can we do to create lasting change?’

Jeanette Schultz Årvik and Maren Fluge Nordgreen also delivered presentations. Maren represented Future-Proof, a project that is part of the Rafto Foundation – Raftostiftelsen – which works to promote human rights, hold governments and businesses to account, and teach democracy and human rights.

Marie Nordby said: “We want to work towards a reality where organisations are respecting human rights and ensure that they uphold decent working conditions for their employees and for workers in their supply chains.

“Jeanette spoke about the new Transparency Act in Norway, detailing some of the challenges that businesses are facing in their operations and supply chains, and explaining the importance of firms taking action. Meanwhile Maren Nordgreen spoke on human rights in businesses and how Future-Proof work with local companies. We are really grateful to Maren for sharing her knowledge and expertise. We also want to thank everyone who attended the event. It was a brilliant opportunity to share experiences, learn from one another and have discussion around how we best achieve the aims of the Transparency Act. Ultimately, we want to ensure that workers are protected from harm, that businesses uphold their reputations, that they comply with human rights governance and carry out due diligence.”

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Photo credit: Joakim Birkeland