Lessons learned from the automotive industry’s cross-company grievance mechanism in Mexico

Anmelden / Register

Cross-company grievance mechanisms can effectively address concerns raised by rights-holders by pooling resources and increasing accessibility and reach.This was demonstrated by the pilot of the cross-company grievance mechanism “Mecanismo de Reclamación de Derechos Humanos (MRDH)” in Mexico, developed under the Sector Dialogue Automotive Industry. Despite its short operational phase, the MRDH built trust with workers and community members, raised awareness, and handled several cases. As a result, it revealed several human rights abuses in supply chains in Mexico, and gained wide recognition as a pioneering initiative with global learning potential.

The pilot, which concluded at the end of last year, was accompanied by an independent evaluation study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). The study was conducted by a team of experts from European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). At this event, we will focus on the key success factors and lessons learned from the implementation of the MRDH and discuss how these insights can be leveraged for other grievance mechanisms.

The discussion will be complemented by an outlook on a new cross-company grievance mechanism in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire. Emerging from the German Initiative for Sustainable Cocoa, this project is also embedded in a multi-stakeholder context. It follows an innovative approach by involving traditional and existing conflict-resolution bodies and is currently close to its pilot phase - offering a timely opportunity to build on the learnings from the MRDH.