Malaria Consortium supports the Modern Slavery Act 2015 as we recognise the threat modern slavery poses to fundamental human rights. This statement outlines our commitment to ensure that our activities and our decisions do not contribute to modern slavery in any of its forms.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires Malaria Consortium to set out the steps taken in the financial year to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking is not occurring in the supply chain or in the organisation.
Modern Slavery is a term used to encapsulate both offences in the Modern Slavery Act: slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour; and human trafficking. The offences are set out in section 1 and section 2 of the Act, which can be found on the links below:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/section/1/enacted
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/section/2/enacted
Malaria Consortium’s mission is to improve lives in Africa and Asia through sustainable, evidence-based programmes that combat targeted diseases and promote child and maternal health.
The majority of Malaria Consortium’s work involves conducting research and providing evidence based technical assistance and capacity building support to relevant departments within Ministries of Health, as well as supporting community volunteers to increase health care access.
In support of these activities we enable, and on occasion manage, the delivery of supplies to local partners or communities. We can either receive supplies (e.g. drugs) from key partners including UN agencies, government donors and national Ministries of Health who source and deliver these supplies through their own verified supply chains; or we can procure supplies and services (office supplies and equipment, training material and services, vehicle rental, etc.) nationally or internationally and deliver them through Malaria Consortium or national Ministry of Health supply chains.
To ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking is not occurring in our supply chains we:
In support of the above, Malaria Consortium has a Code of Conduct which outlines the standards of behaviour required by staff of Malaria Consortium. This includes requiring staff to be responsible for promoting respect for fundamental human rights, social justice, human dignity, and equal rights for men, women and children. This code of conduct is further supported by policies outlining zero-tolerance to fraud, collusion, corruption, conflicts of interest and bribery. As well as this, our recently updated Safeguarding Policy, which all staff have been trained on, is aligned with general international standards including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Country Directors are responsible for interpreting safeguarding practices locally taking into consideration local legislation and common practice.
As well as HR and management processes to monitor for adherence and breaches, and an incident reporting and management process to manage identified incidents related to the above policies, Malaria Consortium has a whistleblowing policy which provides a mechanism for all staff to report any suspicious, unethical, or corrupt activities, for which all Malaria Consortium offices display signage for anonymous reporting. All incidents of whistleblowing are reported through a dedicated mailbox and are investigated; the Board of Trustees is provided with a quarterly update on incident reporting including any follow-up action based on the outcome of the investigation.
All of these policies are introduced to new staff on joining the organisation, with regular updates held. In relation to the above policies, staff includes global and national roles, full and part-time staff, interns, contractors, suppliers, consultants, volunteers, and Trustees.
Internal Audit’s work programmes are regularly updated to reflect the latest policies including those relating to modern slavery. Also, Malaria Consortium enhanced the partner assessment tools by implementing a comprehensive due diligence questionnaire and certification process which includes modern slavery and human trafficking.
Malaria Consortium is committed to an ongoing review of our policies, processes and training to reduce as far as
possible the risk that Modern Slavery and or Human Trafficking plays any role in the activities of our organisation.
James Tibenderana
Chief Executive, Malaria Consortium
10th March 2023
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Malaria Consortium’s modern slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 2021/22.