human rights

two women

ExxonMobil is committed to playing a critical role in promoting respect for human rights and complying with all applicable laws and regulations. We also recognize that host governments have the responsibility for maintaining law and order, ensuring security, and protecting human rights.

To ensure that the energy industry can continue to operate safely while supplying global energy needs, government security forces may be required in certain locations to take defensive measures to protect personnel, facilities, and operations. However, any human rights violations that may occur during such operations are unacceptable and should be condemned.

ExxonMobil’s Standards of Business Conduct express the Corporation’s expectations and define the basis for its worldwide business conduct and that of its majority-owned subsidiaries. Our Standards are consistent with the spirit and intent of the United Nations’ (U.N.) Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it applies to private companies and with the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the 1998 International Labor Organization (ILO) Declaration. These policies support our commitment to human rights, freedom of association, elimination of forced or compulsory labor, abolition of child labor, and equal employment opportunity.

In 2005, we formally documented our support of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights in the ExxonMobil Statement of Principles on Security and Human Rights. Our accompanying Framework on Security and Human Rights provides a detailed set of expectations to our worldwide majority-owned operating affiliates on how to manage security relationships with host governments and private security providers. To facilitate implementation, we developed supporting documentation, including model guidelines for dealing with host government security, model memorandum of understanding language for relationships with host country government security, standard language for contracts with private security providers, and reporting and record-keeping templates.