Date: 10 January 2022

To all RAMI KABALAN Company personnel.

Dear members of the RAMI KABALAN Company, we proudly joined the UN Global Compact in April 2021, committing to its mission. Indeed, we officially and firmly support the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption. Our action in this regard is based on the principle that, following the Ten Principles, business can grow together with social development, and positively influence Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.

As everyone knows at RAMI KABALAN, our country suffers the impact of 11 years of war and sanctions that have increased the rate of poverty up to near 90%. Besides, the Covid-19 pandemic has further impacted on our lives.

In this exceptionally difficult context, we have been deeply committed to reach economic outcomes able to stimulate a long term Sustainable Development, promoting the relevant Goals.

We are submitting our first yearly Communication On Progress (COP) to the UN Global Compact. Our COP contains the description of our initiatives for a continuous improvement of the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into all our activities, from business strategy, to culture and work procedures.

Our COP will be translated in Arabic, saved in our company website, and put on the bulletin boards.

Rami Kabalan
CEO

Human Rights.
Syrian citizens are a mix of different religions and cultures. In our company we have Muslims and Christians, man and women, with different political views. However, religion, gender and personal belief do not influence our opinion about our employees.
In fact, we respect the fundamental human rights and comply with the labour law.
• Within this framework, we provide suitable work facilities both in the company offices and our warehouses. Our employees work in a clean and safe environment, with the availability of sufficient restrooms, kitchenettes and privacy space for praying and resting.
• Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, we provide each worker with protective masks to be used during working hours.
• Regarding the possibility of harassment of workers (either sexual, or verbal, or other), beside the local cultural attitude, which includes a well established respect for the others, we are attentively committed to make sure that our own Code of Conduct rules are thoroughly followed. We invite our employees to report to our HR Manager any abuses, or misbehavior within the company premises, or outside, if applicable. Dismissal of the rule breakers is the immediate consequence in such cases.
• Regarding the human health safeguard, we apply our HSE Policy and relevant regulations. We are mainly traders, so our production is currently limited to textile products, while we procure many items from the local and international markets. Although there are no special hazards for our workers during production, we make sure that all necessary measures to minimize risks for life and health are taken. In particular, our Engineering Section always appoint Security Officers for contracts related to civil works (one of our activities in the after-war reconstruction field), who enforce our safety regulations through their presence on the worksites.
• We have arranged the vaccination for all our workers that accepted the Covid 19 vaccine (Astra-Zeneca).

See above

• Our company members are distributed by groups as follows:
 Management gender: 5 males, 4 females (55% M, 45% F).
 Total personnel gender: 29 males, 13 females (69% M, 31% F)
 Age: 17% below 40, 83% over 40.
 Religion: 19% Christian, 81% Muslim.
 Ethnicity: 98% Arab, 2% European.
 Culture: 62% with degree, 38% with high school diploma.

Labour
• We do not use any kind of involuntary labour, such as bonded or forced labour.
• We also comply strictly with the laws about minimal legal age for workers.
• We recognize the right of association for our workers, in accordance with the relevant laws and security rules.
• All our decisions regarding employment are taken through a procedure that involves the High Management, the HR Officer and the concerned employees, either as individuals, or as a representation of the labour force. A procedure that assures sufficient evaluation of the decision impact on the workforce.
• We accept flexible work, as well as smart work online, whenever feasible, in order to promote the employee’s wellbeing as much as possible.
• All our employees are insured in accordance with the local labor laws.
• In continuous growth during the last 5 years, our company rewards the deserving employees with yearly bonuses (2 to 3 times the monthly salary) and other bonuses on the occasion of particular circumstances, like religious festivities or professional achievements.
• We strive to develop a digital mind-set in our employees together with other professional skills, in order to offer the opportunity for a career progression.

See above

• Occupational diseases, injuries, absenteeism:
 No occupational diseases affect our personnel.
 No injuries have been reported by our personnel.
 Absenteeism: less than 0.6% of the available working days, usually for short periods (1 or 2 working days).

Environment
• As mentioned in our CEO’s letter, the war and sanctions are deeply influencing our lives and activities: Syria has insufficient resources, especially oil and derivatives, which are subject to rationing. Also electricity (which is produced and distributed by the relevant governmental agency only) is rather insufficient. In this context, emission of CO2 is automatically minimized in the whole country.
• Referring specifically to our company, beside the fact that our production does not require much energy consumption, we have our own Environmental Policy and relevant internal rules, which we follow with great attention.
• Our Environment Protection Regulations include measures and plans to minimize the risks of accidental fires, floods, and other possible events that are threats to the environment and human health.
• We have neither gas emissions, nor liquid waste during our production processes. Our waste is mainly made of textiles and packing material, and scraps are almost completely sold to recycling industries.
• Our only equipment working with fossil fuel consists of a few forklifts that operate in our logistics compound, subject to normal maintenance based on manufacturer’s operating instructions.
• We aim at zero emissions for both our company and suppliers, and are ready to invest in the sector of renewable electricity sources. We have a project in that regard, which will lead to 100% renewable in the short-medium term.
• We shall also trade power generators operating with green technology, starting later this year: a project that we believe pivotal for the progress of the country in the field of clean energy and its applications.
• With our engineering services, we cooperate with UN Agencies and other governmental bodies to rehabilitate water wells and drinking water networks.
• We do not produce or store chemicals, because our business does not require large amounts of them. However, in case of need, we shall prepare specific instructions in accordance with the material Safety Data Sheet issued by the manufacturer.

See above

• Percentage of the recycled material: about 90% (mostly consisting of used cardboard packing material and textile scraps).

Anti-Corruption
Our own Code of Conduct bans any activities that might be related, directly or indirectly, to the possibility of corruption or fraud. The said document is signed by the concerned person at the moment he/she becomes a company member, and includes the obligation to report any information about possible attempts of corruption.
• Risk of corruption: since we work by almost 100% with UN Agencies and NGOs, we do not see a high risk of corruption. All purchase contracts with those humanitarian organizations include ethical behavior clauses, and the bidding procedures are strict and safe. Besides, we do not meet personally our client organization members, and all our communications are in writing on our company’s official email accounts. So the risk of corruption is low.
• In any case, we monitor all written communications on our email accounts to see whether there is any suspicion of unethical behavior.
• From the side of taxes, we pay regularly in accordance with our country rules on profit, transferring the due yearly amount to the Central Bank of Syria. The revision of accounts is done by the Ministry of Finance, which contacts the tax payer to notify the approval, or to request clarifications. So we have direct contacts neither with Central Bank tax managers, nor with ministerial personnel, unless they look for us. In any case, our tax declarations are correct, and it could not be different, because our invoices to UN agencies and NGOs must meet the contract requirements. All this prevents any possibility of corruption or fraud.
• Regarding our suppliers, we insert in our purchase contracts a clause aiming at the prevention of corruption and money laundering.

See above

See above