Crafting an action plan for Nestlé on the human right to water and sanitation

Overview

Nestlé sought twentyfifty’s support in developing their Salient Issue Action Plan on the Right to Water and Sanitation, as part of the elaboration and roll-out of their Human Rights Framework. Nestlé recognised the value of twentyfifty’s expertise in understanding and implementing Human Rights Due Diligence as a highly relevant lens through which to explore their responsibilities and ambitions in relation to water, sanitation and hygiene.

The challenge

The assignment demanded a sharp focus on one very specific technical topic that was integrated across the entirety of Nestlé’s business operations and supply-chains, requiring us to build an understanding of a highly complex global business structure, and carefully interrogate all relevant internal stakeholders. We also needed to track the concurrent development of action plans for nine other salient issues to ensure coherence and strategic interlinkage between them.

Our approach

We used twentyfifty’s Human Rights Capacity Diagnostic tool to examine how risks related to WASH were being identified and addressed in Nestlé’s own operations, in the communities surrounding their sites and in their upstream supply-chain (including via their supplier network). Any gaps identified were fed into recommended actions for strategic advancement.

We also supported Nestlé’s consultation on the emerging plan with technical experts and stakeholders at World Water Week, and we dedicated specific attention to the development of KPIs and metrics to track the action plan’s implementation and impact.

Results

Nestlé’s resultant Right to Water and Sanitation Salient Issue Action Plan was published in 2023, alongside nine other salient issue action plans that together constitute a holistic roadmap for putting Human Rights Due Diligence into practice.