28 October 2022

To our stakeholders:

I am pleased to confirm that Ridgeway Information 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 share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

Sincerely yours,

Joanna Kidd
CEO

Ridgeway Information is a proud supporter of human rights and produces a significant amount of research on human rights topics in partnership with international agencies and non-governmental organisations. We recognise the need to make human rights a key focus not only of the research that we produce but also of the environment in which we work, and therefore have created and maintained a number of policies and commitments related to human rights. As laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all human beings have the right to life, liberty, and security of person regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. We strive to do all we can to support the rights of individuals and to foster a culture that promotes equity for all.

We maintain and offer open access to a Modern Slavery Policy in which we state our commitment to the abolishment of human trafficking and trafficked labour.

As a company, we have made public commitments to promote gender equality and the rights of women and gender minorities through the Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy (GCNP) network and the Women's Empowerment Principles. As a signatory to the Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) Standing Together Against Racism and Discrimination Statements for the United States and United Kingdom, Ridgeway Information is part of the Organizations in Solidarity (OrgsinSolidarity) network. Through OrgsinSolidarity we have committed to combatting racist beliefs, attitudes and acts of discrimination.

In the coming year we will continue our work promoting the rights of women, gender minorities, and people of colour within our organisation as well as the communities in which we operate. We plan to continue to make the content we produce fully accessible to persons with disabilities and accessibility needs.

As part of our contracting process, we include specific prohibitions against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour and recommend that our suppliers hold their own suppliers to the same standards; we support them with information and best practices to implement these requirements.

Through our work as a member of the GCNP network, we are committed to promoting gender equality and creating and maintaining a safe and inclusive workplace that is free from harassment and discrimination. In this past year, staff have engaged with GCNP events and we have achieved our 2021-2022 GCNP SMARTIE goals, which included joining the Women’s Empowerment Principles framework and enacting a Gender Action Plan by April 2022.

In addition to this work to promote gender equality, we are actively involved in WCAPS work to advance the leadership and professional development of women of colour in the fields of international peace, security, and conflict resolution. As members of WCAPS OrgsinSolidarity, staff attend regular meetings and take part in Working Groups on 'Forming the Future' and 'Microaggressions in the Workplace'.

We have acted to improve the accessibility of our workplace for people with disabilities, and when searching for new office premises in 2022 we identified full accessibility as one of our essential requirements. Our Diversity Equity and Inclusions Officer has taken part in training sessions on how to improve the accessibility of the content we produce for people with disabilities and accessibility needs and has delivered sessions for core staff on key takeaways from these trainings.

In May 2022, we published our first Annual Transparency Report in which we publicly reported statistics on discrimination and corrective actions. No incidents were recorded in the reporting period. Data on these indicators are periodically analysed by our Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer. We will continue to report on our progress annually.

Ridgeway Information maintains an Information Disclosure Policy, a copy of which is made available to all members of staff. This Policy outlines the process through which serious concerns can be raised by staff, including in instances in which there has been a failure to comply with the company's legal obligations, for example with suspected human rights violations.

Ridgeway Information benefits significantly from the diversity and talent of our employees and partners. We are committed to promoting labour rights and eliminating discrimination in respect of employment and occupation both within our organisation and in the communities we interact with.

As noted previously, Ridgeway Information is an active participant in networks such as GCNP and OrgsinSolidarity, and actively upholds the UN's Women's Empowerment Principles. Through OrgsinSolidarity, Ridgeway Information has committed to integrating diversity within all levels of our organisation and as individuals in the peace and security, foreign policy, and national security fields.

As an Accredited Living Wage employer, we are committed to paying a fair wage to all employees. Beyond fair remuneration, we are committed to seeking opportunities through which we can support social mobility both within our organisation and beyond.

Ridgeway Information maintains a Modern Slavery Policy that emphasizes our zero-tolerance approach to slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour, and states our commitment to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place in our own business or in any of our supply chains. The Policy outlines the responsibilities of our staff members as well as our Executive Board Directors, and is publicly available on our website. Further to this, we maintain a Health and Safety Policy which states our responsibilities as an employer to maintain the safety and health of employees and other persons who are affected by our business activities.

In the upcoming year, we aim to review our labour policies and continue to promote social mobility through social mobility internships and initiatives.

As part of our contracting process, we include specific prohibitions against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour and require that our suppliers hold their own suppliers to the same standards.

Ridgeway Information is accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as champions of fair pay and living wages, and we regularly adjust our pay to maintain compliance with our Living Wage commitment. When working internationally we remunerate all local partners in line with the UN's Daily Subsistence Allowance wherever appropriate.

We recognise the importance that paying a fair wage for internships and early career roles has for social mobility. We are committed to supporting social mobility both within and beyond our organisation, and this year we have taken part in initiatives such as the Social Mobility Commission Employer Consultation. We have hosted social mobility-focused programmes that provide internships to individuals who may otherwise struggle to access such opportunities, including two such internship programmes over the past 12 months. Our hiring process is designed to further promote social mobility and, to prevent unconscious bias, the gender as well as the educational institutions of applicants are removed from applications before they are reviewed by the hiring team. Volunteering opportunities are available to staff, including through an Educational Partnership programme, in which we support a local non-selective educational trust. Staff members are also involved in mentorship programmes for young people from communities who are historically underrepresented in our field.

After joining the Women’s Empowerment Principles Framework in June 2021, we published our first Gender Action Plan in December 2021. Under this Plan we set goals towards the 7 Principles. To ensure that all staff were treated fairly at work without discrimination on the basis of gender (Principle 2), we committed to enforcing equitable policies for parents and carers and offering flexible working arrangement, leave, and re-entry opportunities to positions of equal pay and status by March 2022. To ensure employee’s health, well-being, and safety (Principle 3) we committed to establishing and enforcing a secondary trauma research policy by December 2021. Both of these goals have been achieved.

Ridgeway Information uses the Women’s Empowerment Principles Gap Analysis Tool to assess the company’s approach to gender equality and identify gaps and opportunities for continuous improvement. We first used this tool in November 2021 and were categorized as an ‘Improver’. Following this initial assessment, we made improvements to the transparency of our reporting, and in March 2022 our categorization was upgraded to ‘Achiever’.

The first Annual Transparency Report was published in May 2022. In this Report, we included gender-disaggregated data on employees including data on roles, employment contract type, new hires, turnover rate, and promotions. Gender-disaggregated employment data are periodically analysed by our Diversity Equity and Inclusions Officer.

The primary activity of our company is desk-based research, and as such the main environmental impacts of our business activities originate from electricity consumption of IT devices, heating and lighting of our office, manufacture and disposal of IT devices, and travel emissions for staff travelling to work and travelling for business purposes.

Under the company’s Environmental Policy, we strive to undertake all business travel by low-carbon emitting transport or on shared public transportation as far as practical.

We have committed to regularly review our Environmental Policy in order to continuously improve our environmental performance and ensure that we are making business operations choices that will benefit the environment. As such, in the upcoming year we will review our Environmental Policy and develop a rigorous process for measuring and evaluating environmental performance both within the business and throughout our supply chains.

This year, the company introduced the role of Sustainability Officer, and the inaugural Sustainability Officer has taken on the responsibility of environmental protection within the company. Over the company’s first year as a member of the UN Global Compact we have increasingly introduced the consideration of environmental issues as a key aspect of day-to-day business decisions. In addition to considerations on significant issues such as travel and IT manufacture and disposal, we strive to reduce the carbon footprint of less frequent activities such as the catering of events.

Ridgeway Information participates in the Cycle2Work initiative through which employees save tax and National Insurance when purchasing cycle equipment by paying via a salary sacrifice. Many of our office-based staff choose to cycle to work, with others opting to travel by public transport.

When purchasing IT devices, the carbon footprint of delivery, the longevity of a device's lifespan, and the safe disposal of the device are all considered. Whilst keeping in mind our need for good cyber hygiene and for compliance with our Cyber Essentials certification, wherever possible devices are updated and refurbished rather than replaced.

Environmental protection indicators will be periodically reviewed by the Sustainability Officer.

Concerns over damage to the environment are explicitly mentioned in our Information Disclosure Policy, and such concerns are considered to be a matter under which protected disclosures may be made. The process for making such a disclosure is contained within the Information Disclosure Policy which is available to all staff.

Ridgeway Information upholds a zero-tolerance position on bribery and corruption and is committed to conducting business in an ethical and honest manner. We maintain an Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy which outlines the responsibilities of all employees, board members, and persons associated with the company including contractors and third-parties.

In the coming year we will continue to maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy on bribery and corruption and to hold all our suppliers and partner organisations to the same high standards in this area.

Under our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy, any arrangement made with a third party is subject to clear contractual terms which include specific provisions that require the third party to comply with minimum standards and procedures relating to anti-bribery and corruption.

Under the Information Disclosure Policy, concerns relating to financial malpractice, criminal activity, and failure to comply with legal obligations are matters which may be considered as protected disclosures. The process for making such a disclosure is outlined within the Information Disclosure Policy, which is available to all staff.