AIM-Progress and Diginex partner on innovative supply chain due diligence platform to improve working conditions in Thailand and Malaysia.

6 October 2022

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Diginex, the disruptive impact technology company working to solve the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges, has partnered with AIM-Progress and its members to utilise diginexLUMEN – a proprietary SaaS platform designed to drive a new level of transparency, trust and accountability across global supply chains. The tool was based on lessons from an initial partnership with The Coca-Cola Company focused on responsible recruitment in Middle East countries. It was then developed and scaled through financial and technical support provided by The Coca-Cola Company and Reckitt, who sought to gain a greater level of transparency into the practices of recruitment agencies and labor providers in their supply chain. 

While the platform is quickly expanding to offer users a suite of modules focused on salient social and environmental risks, the AIM-Progress Responsible Recruitment Capacity Building Project Group will use diginexLUMEN as a first phase of the project, to facilitate the identification of hidden recruitment and forced labor-related risks by mapping, collecting and triangulating data from key actors including workers, suppliers and labor intermediaries. Based on the findings, a capacity building training will be designed to support suppliers in their journey towards responsible recruitment. 

There is a critical need to address forced labour risks in global supply chains, including those related to the hiring and employment of migrant workers.  In September 2022, new global estimates on modern slavery were released by The International Organization for Migration, the International Labor Organization and the Walk Free Foundation.  The number of people in situations of modern slavery has grown to 50 million with an estimated 28 million people in forced labour in 2021. The majority (86%) of forced labour occurs in the private sector.  Migrant workers are at three times higher risk of forced labour. Further, with the adoption of new legislation on mandatory corporate due diligence, such as the proposed EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence and forced labour ban, requirements are being pushed down the supply chain. Yet few tools exist to support suppliers in monitoring their own business partners. The partnership between AIM Progress and diginex seeks to address this gap by facilitating multi-party due diligence, recognizing that supply chains are complex eco-systems, and no single actor can eliminate risk without the support and accountability of its partners. The platform also features a multi-lingual worker voice tool, diginexAPPRISE, which to date has reached nearly 60,000 workers, to verify supplier data and provide a more holistic and real-time reflection of recruitment and working conditions. 

AIM-Progress members are opting to work collaboratively and pre-competitively, to identify sustainability trends and challenges, in the hope that it will allow the group to more easily drive continuous improvement across the consumer goods sector.  Due diligence information is displayed in an actionable format on customized dashboards that helps companies narrow down where the risk factors are in the supply chain and where to focus capacity building efforts.

diginexLUMEN is the latest addition to diginex’s product suite, which includes diginexESG and diginexCLIMATE. Find out more here.

For more information please contact:

Leanne Melnyk, Head of Global Supply Chains, diginex: leanne.melnyk@diginex.com

Yael Fattal, Project Manager, AIM-Progress: Yael.fattal@aim.be

About Diginex

Diginex is a disruptive impact tech business helping organisations to address the world’s most pressing sustainability issues, utilising the latest blockchain technology to lead change and increase transparency.

Diginex’s frontier-pushing SaaS products are used by both companies and governments to tackle challenges including supply chain management, labour rights, due diligence, and corporate environmental responsibility. Its technology provides businesses who want to do better with the tools that both help them be more responsible, and to realise the commercial benefits of ESG, including greater efficiency, reduced corporate risk, and increased ability to attract and secure investment. By using its technology to understand the impact of their operations, organisations can future proof their business models and accelerate growth, while contributing to a better future.

Founded in 2017, with a global team of over 80 technology and impact experts, diginex is scaling rapidly and is a technology partner to major players around the world including Coca-Cola, Reckitt, the US government and the United Nations. Its products and platforms stand out as a new approach in the consulting-heavy world of sustainability, with a focus on using the latest innovations such as blockchain and AI to collect and validate data and, in the process, make ESG more affordable and accessible for companies of all sizes.

About AIM-Progress: 

AIM-Progress is a global initiative of leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturers and suppliers joining forces to drive positive change in their supply chains and promote responsible sourcing practices and sustainable production systems. AIM-Progress works in a pre-competitive environment with more than 45 members from diverse set of brands and suppliers linked through the commonality of their supply chains. Its mission is to positively impact people’s lives and ensure respect for human rights, while delivering value to members and their supply chains. This is done across four areas: the human rights priorities and respective working groups, the regional hubs, mutual recognition work stream to create synergies in approaches, and the capability building work stream to equip the members with knowledge and ability to execute strong responsible sourcing programmes.