Modern slavery statement

Our Organisation, structure and supply chains

World Animal Protection is registered as a charity in the UK with branches and subsidiaries in seven countries around the world and is dedicated to improving the lives of animals. We rely primarily on the generosity of the public to fund our work through donations and by taking part in fundraising events.

We deal with many organisations and use suppliers to support the operations of our organisation. These include IT professional services, freelancers, media agencies and facilities management. Our risk assessments have found no evidence of modern slavery in our global supply chains. We do not have significant activity in the particularly vulnerable sectors of agriculture, hospitality, or manufacturing.

Our governance and policies

World Animal Protection has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implement and enforce effective systems and controls towards ensuring that no modern slavery or human trafficking takes place anywhere within World Animal Protection or in our supply chains. All employees involved in recruitment and procurement are provided with adequate training in how to identify modern slavery and their responsibilities in ensuring this risk is minimised. We take our responsibilities to our employees and the people working in our supply chains very seriously.

An Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy was approved by the Board of Trustees in March 2020, and this was communicated to employees across the group. This policy is one part of a risk management framework which includes other relevant policies on risk management, procurement, human resources, financial controls and whistleblowing.

The Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for ensuring World Animal Protection complies with our legal and ethical obligations, and for reviewing this statement on an annual basis. Management is responsible for raising awareness, implementing and monitoring adherence to the policy.

World Animal Protection has a robust governance and risk management framework in place and a number of policies and procedures which aim to minimise the risk of modern slavery in relation to our work. Of particular relevance are our policies and procedures on:

Recruitment

World Animal Protection is as an equal opportunities’ employer and has a rigorous recruitment process. Our recruitment practices include ‘right to work’ checks for all prospective employees. This ensures we maintain an assured overview of those entering our employment and prevents the occurrence of forced or involuntary labour. Our People and Culture team ensure that:

• Recruitment practices are transparent, fair and equitable and in accordance with employment law
• Our agreed-upon values, behaviours and policies are being adhered to
• Satisfactory working conditions and related safeguards are in place
• Necessary pre-employment checks are undertaken and approved prior to prospective employees starting in a position
• Appropriate training is provided

World Animal Protection has invested in a global compliance training platform and training on the Modern Slavery Act has been included as one of the mandatory modules that need to be completed by all existing employees and is part of every new employee’s induction programme.

Procurement

We continue to review our procurement processes to ensure that we take into consideration the different risks associated in our supply chains, including modern slavery and human trafficking. We carry out risk-based due diligence checks on suppliers and ensure we are satisfied that they have appropriate policies in place.

World Animal Protection’s procurement function in the UK has standard Terms and Conditions for business/supplier contracts that include a right to terminate in the event that we find, or have reasonable grounds to believe, that modern slavery or any form of forced or involuntary labour is being used.

Looking Ahead

We recognise the importance of continuous monitoring and improvement to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking has no place within any of our operations. In the coming year we will:

• Continue to deliver training on Modern Slavery to new starters and monitor completion rates of that training;
• We will continue to utilise the new ‘source to contract’ system implemented in 2023 to efficiently and effectively manage the central procurement process; and
• Further embed our risk management framework to ensure it continues to identify and mitigate key risks, including those related to modern slavery and human trafficking.