Since the first earthquakes hit south-eastern Türkiye and north-western Syria on 7 February, we have been working to support ETI members to respond to the crisis. 

The regions affected are home to farms, factories, steelworks, mines, and ports supplying international brands and large groups of seasonal agricultural migrant workers who harvest a range of different commodities. The aftermath is likely to prompt mass disruption and migration which will undoubtedly affect all of Türkiye for some time. Business has a role to play in recovery and providing support to affected workers and communities. 

Our expectations for responsible business

We expect ETI members and other responsible businesses sourcing from affected areas to:

Adhere to the ETI Base Code and apply the UNGPs.

The ETI Base Code still applies during humanitarian crises; we expect members to adhere to the ETI Base Code to the greatest extent possible across their supply chains. Equally, the responsibility of business to respect international human rights, undertake due diligence and mitigate risks as set out in the UNGPs, remains. ETI’s HRDD Framework also remains applicable; we expect ETI company members and responsible businesses to use the framework to prevent, manage and mitigate human rights abuses in their own operations and supply chains.

Our response involves supporting our member companies to adopt the following procedures:

1. Assess actual and potential human rights risks
2. Identify leverage, responsibility, and actions to be taken
3. Mitigate risk and remediate workers
4. Monitor, review, report and improve

Explore our new ETI briefing below which sets expectations for ETI members and responsible businesses mapped against our human rights due diligence framework and features a table of key risks to consider in your response.