The brief on Equiception

Equiception Business and Human Rights is a mission-driven consulting group specialising in the interface of business and human rights. Our goal is to contribute to the development of value chains that meet economic, social and environmental objectives through the just and judicious management of natural and human resources, materials and waste. We’ve learnt that every human rights issue has implications for the environment, and every environmental issue impacts the enjoyment of human rights, so we take an integrated and holistic approach to the pursuit of social and environmental sustainability.

Where we work: Equiception is active in value chains in all industrial sectors and regions of the world, assessing situations and advising public and private sector clients on the social, environmental and governance risks they face.

How we Work: Equiception has two main areas of work – bespoke human and labour rights evaluations, and online due diligence assessments. The bespoke human and labour rights evaluations are conducted through our worldwide network of experts, practitioners, entrepreneurs and civil society leaders built-up over 40+ years of activity. This allows us to rapidly respond to client needs with trusted teams that have the skills and expertise required for each assignment. Our trademark style is to analyse the social context and value chain before zooming in to examine the specific case in hand. We like to see situations for ourselves and personally interact with all the stakeholders since there is no substitute for understanding and empathising with the situation of every value chain actor. This is hands-on, interview-based work. On the other hand, our online due diligence platform enables clients to conduct value chain due diligence at scale, backed by Equiception consulting and training services. This is a high tech, high touch model that allows you to affordably conduct large numbers of risk assessments with accompaniment in the form of capacity building and remediation.

Auret van Heerden

Our CEO and Founder

Auret van Heerden founded the Swiss consulting company Equiception Business and Human Rights in 2014. It provides consulting, research and training services on all aspects of business and human rights and sustainable value chains, including human resource management, labour relations and social and environmental standards. Equiception has also developed a new digital platform for online human rights and environmental due diligence.

Auret has public and private sector clients in the apparel and footwear, tech, FMCG and food and agriculture sectors. Before that Auret was the President and CEO of the Fair Labor Association in Washington DC from 2001 to 2013. From 1996 to 2001 he was responsible for the Special Action Programme on Social and Labour Issues in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) at the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva. His 40 years of experience in value chains in different sectors and countries equips him to advise clients and engage with all stakeholders to build partnerships and resolve conflicts.

Listen to Auret's TED talk on making global value chains fair and arguing the business case for fair labour.