The guide, based on the joint work by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Fundación ONCE (partner and leader of DHUB respectively), provides a key tool to help organizations communicate their commitment to respect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities. It aims to help organizations understand how GRI sustainability reporting can be a basis for disclosing their impacts, positive or negative, on the rights of persons with disabilities. 

The new guide updates specific disability-related content in sustainability reports by referring to GRI´s new Universal Standards alongside reporting standards related to specific thematic areas. The updated guide will enable organizations to maximize the potential of the GRI Standards in promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of operation and among their stakeholders. 

Carla Bonino, Sustainability Lead at Fundación ONCE and DHUB Coordinator said:

“Our updated Disability in Sustainability Reporting Guide will help organizations and companies navigate the recent multiple significant advancements in sustainability reporting, most notably GRI´s recent update of its Universal Standards. The use of the guide can be an opportunity to develop more disability-inclusive organizations and have a positive impact on the rights of persons with disabilities, in a moment of increasing importance of human rights in the whole value chain”. 

Harold Pauwels, GRI Director of Standards, added:

"Access to information and essential services for people with disabilities has been further limited during the pandemic, highlighting the need to address barriers to accessibility and inclusion in all areas. Therefore, we are pleased to be able to contribute to this update guide from DHUB. The publication will help companies gain visibility and prominence in disability and non-discrimination, which in turn will foster a more inclusive and sustainable business environment. Ultimately, we want to support companies to utilise their impact reporting through the GRI Standards to promote inclusion and respect for persons with disabilities."

The new guide updates content from the previous version published in 2019, taking into consideration the important changes in the GRI Universal Standards 2021 Update. In addition, the document aligns with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and aims to ensure that no one is left behind in the process of innovation and sustainability, including measures such as considering the impact of the company's sustainability strategy on people with disabilities from the outset.

The updated “Disability in Sustainability Reporting Guide” provides companies with the necessary tools to respond to the recent advancements in sustainability reporting frameworks and will greatly improve the transparency of organisations in terms of issues related to non-discrimination and the inclusion of persons with disability in the workforce. 

GRI and Fundación ONCE intend to keep working together to further update new content as GRI advances in its process of revising GRI Topic Standards that may also impact the matter of disability.  

Access the interview with Harold Pauwels, GRI Director of Standars:

GRI 

 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing the global common language to report those impacts. The GRI Standards, which are provided as a free public good, are the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting.

Fundación ONCE

Fundación ONCE’s mission is to promote the social inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families, with a special focus on training, employment and accessibility of products, services and environments. Founded by ONCE (the Spanish organizations of the blind), Fundación ONCE works to improve the quality of life of persons with all types with disabilities, contributing to an inclusive economy that leaves no one behind.  

Disability Hub Europe

Disability Hub Europe (DHUB) is a multi-stakeholder engagement initiative aimed at building a reference space for best practice exchange, dissemination, mutual learning and raising awareness on the binomial Disability and Sustainability, with a special focus on the “S” of ESG factors and in alignment with the 2030 Agenda and the SDG.

Led by Fundación ONCE, the project is carried out within the framework of the “Spanish Operational Programme on Social Inclusion and Social Economy 2014-2020”, as a Transnational Cooperation action, co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF).