2021-08-09
To our stakeholders:

I am pleased to confirm that Business and Technology University reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment, and Anti-Corruption.
In this annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to sharing this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

Sincerely yours,
Prof. Nino Enukidze
Rector

- Written company policy on respecting Human Rights and preventing potential abuses (e.g. in code of conduct)
- Assessment of Human Rights related risks and impact in educational sector and Georgia (see Risk Assessment Report at The Human Rights and Business Project)
- Specific goals are already identified in the area of Human Rights for the upcoming year

INTERNAL
- Human resource policies and procedures are developed and implemented supporting Human Rights
- Consultations have been carried out with 10+ stakeholders and affected parties
- Grievance mechanism has been implemented along with anti-discrimination mechanism and its council
- Responsibilities are ensured to be allocated for the protection of Human Rights within the company
- 5+ awareness raising trainings have been organized on Human Rights for the employees

EXTERNAL
• Trained 3000+ youth nationwide in entrepreneurship and coding - among the trainees more than 50% were girls and up to 60% from regions of Georgia other than Tbilisi (including ethnic minorities). Through this strategy we supported the equal rights based on gender, social status, religion, and ethnicity
• Promoted women in technology via “Coding School for Women” program and employment forum in which potential employers were both local and international companies, also via active social campaigns and success stories of our beneficiaries to increase leadership and confidence in girls

- Zero human rights violation detected during the year
- Zero investigation, legal cases, rulings, fines and other relevant events related to Human Rights
- Results are reviewed quarterly by senior management
- In the past reporting period, anti-discrimination and grievance mechanism has been developed and implemented

- Written policies are in action to uphold the freedom of association and collective bargaining and the elimination of forced labour, child labour and employment discrimination
- Written policies are in action that clearly state employee rights and responsibilities and their compensation and benefits
- Labour-related risks are assessed quarterly in the industry sector and country of operation
- Specific goals in the area of Labour Rights are already identified for the upcoming year

- Health and safety of all employees is ensured by the internal safety mechanism as well as the external supplementary mechanism in the form of health insurance opportunity
- Consultations are held with employees and other stakeholders several times per year to learn about their concerns, opinions, and advice
- Responsibilities have been clearly allocated for the protection of labour rights within the organization
- Suggestion box and grievance mechanisms have been implemented and continuously operate at the organization
- Human resource policies and procedures supporting the Labour principles operate at the organization and are followed by the entire administrative/academic team
- Awareness raising and training for employees on labour rights and policies are held 3-4 times per year

- To monitor and evaluate performance the company uses online surveys which automatically provides basic statistics such as gender, ethnicity, age group, social status, etc.
- In terms of incidents of violations of the Global Compact Labour Principles, grievance mechanism operates at the organization along with the grievance council deciding on the type of punishment and following steps
- Senior management reviews the results quarterly
- Grievance and Anti-discrimination mechanisms along with their councils have been fully implemented

- Assessment of the environmental footprint and impact of the company
- Written company policy on environmental issues, including prevention and management of environmental risks

- Awareness raising of employees on environmental protection is carried out several times per year
- Organization handles the waste materials (more specifically is engaged in recycling of used papers) and harshly controls the minimization of unnecessary usage of electricity to reduce the environmental pollution and consumption of resources

- Senior management periodically reviews the progress made in terms of increasing number of recycled materials and decreasing or at least non-increasing usage of electricity.

- Assessment of risk of corruption and bribery in the company’s industry and country of operation
- Written company policy of zero-tolerance for corruption, bribery and extortion at the organization
- Protocol to guide staff in situations where they are confronted with extortion or bribery

- Responsibilities have been allocated for anti-corruption within the company
- Grievance mechanism has been implemented in order to report any vague or incidental cases referring to corruption

- Internal audits are conducted quarterly to ensure consistency with anti-corruption commitment, including periodic review by senior management
- There are no legal cases, fines, or other relevant events detected related to corruption and bribery
- Information about the anti-corruption mechanism is disseminated among all (100%) administrative and academic employees