TOGETHER FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Meet our 400th Network Participant Arbo Unie
We are excited to announce our 400th network participant: Arbo Unie. Welcome to the UN Global Compact NL! We spoke with Joy Diekmeijer, CSR Manager at Arbo Unie, about their decision to join our network, how sustainability is imbedded into their daily work, and their future ambitions.
What motivated Arbo Unie to join the UN Global Compact NL?
At Arbo Unie, our mission is to strengthen the vitality and health of working people, thereby making organizations more successful. By joining the UN Global Compact NL, we take a further step in deepening our commitment to social responsibility.
The UN Global Compact provides an internationally recognized framework and a variety of practical tools that help us translate our mission into concrete actions across labor, human rights, sustainability, environment, and integrity. This enables us to expand our impact and make it more transparent.
At the same time, we see value in learning from both the Dutch and other local UN Global Compact Networks, to benchmark and accelerate our ambitions, and to share what we already stand for. This step also reflects our broader CSR ambition: setting the standard for sustainable occupational health services and reporting more consistently on our progress and impact.
“Joining the UN Global Compact is not just a milestone, it’s a commitment to continuous improvement. By learning from others and sharing our own best practices, we aim to accelerate positive impact for people, planet and society."
Joy Diekmeijer, CSR Manager, Arbo Unie
How does Arbo Unie’s mission align with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact?
Our mission - keeping people healthy and happy at work - aligns very well with all four pillars of the Ten Principles:
> Human Rights: Privacy and data protection are central to our work, and we ensure social safety. We advise organizations on healthy, safe work environments where people can thrive.
> Labor Standards: We invest in good employment practices, career development, and social dialogue. We promote diversity & inclusion and equal opportunities both within Arbo Unie and externally with our partners.
> Environment: We reduce our footprint through fewer travel movements, smart digitalization, biodiversity in our company forest, an electric fleet, and energy-efficient housing. In this way, we connect care for people with care for the climate.
> Anti-Corruption: We act based on business ethics and a culture of honest advice, building trust. Our new company code is a great example of this.
What do you hope to learn or achieve through your participation?
Through our participation, we aim to accelerate three things:
1. Learning & Professionalization:Through the UN Global Compact’s broad range of programmes - such as accelerators, the online academy, and webinars - we empower teams across our entire organisation to learn from peers and experts, strengthening our approach to due diligence, inclusion, and climate.
2. Achieving Measurable Progress:We focus on concrete contributions to Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Good Health & Wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education), 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), and on further embedding social themes such as Diversity & Inclusion and Social Safety.
3. Transparent Reporting & Up-Scaling:We continue to build on our CSR ambitions and increase maturity, aiming to grow to CSR Performance Ladder level 5, and report more transparently in line with new reporting requirements.