Aditi Wanchoo is Senior Manager of Human Rights at Novartis, based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is a leading global medicines company using innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. Aditi joins host Gwen Hassan to discuss Germany’s recent Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA) and how it’s going to help with human trafficking prevention.

In order to tackle any change, whether it’s better labor and human rights protection for supply chain workers or addressing human trafficking, there needs to be an ecosystem response. Governments, businesses, and civil society must consistently work together to address and overcome these challenges. Having had the opportunity to work with three multinational companies in diverse sectors, Aditi believes companies can be and are a force for good to bring about social and environmental change.

Though human trafficking prevention, in particular, has improved in the last few decades, there is still much left to be done. Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA), which was passed in 2021 and will enter into force on January 1st, 2023, is an important step forward in this regard. The act’s core expectation is to develop a corporate risk management system to identify and address human rights and environmental risks. Companies that fail to do this will be subject to substantial administrative fines.

Resources

Aditi Wanchoo on LinkedIn