Global initiative releases draft HIV/AIDS reporting guidelines

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) this week released a working draft of guidelines that companies can use to report on HIV/AIDS.

The GRI is a long-term, international undertaking with a mission to develop and disseminate globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said there were 24,5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, 1700 people were infected daily.

According to the Actuarial Society of SA, the 22,6 percent prevalence is among the most economically productive people between 20 and 65 years old.

In a paper presented at the society?’s convention earlier this month, BW Deloitte actuary Emile Stipp said that while the debate on the report was developing, it was clear there was a need for measurement, compliance and disclosure on the issue of HIV/AIDS.

?“The HIV/AIDS epidemic poses one of the gravest risks that many companies have to face, and boards of directors should give serious thought to the way in which HIV/AIDS risks are managed in their organisations?”, Stipp wrote.

?“A company with good risk management would be better placed to take risks. A company that takes informed risks has the opportunity to earn better returns?”.

He told how giving a Rand value or prevalence statistic could be a competitive disadvantage. If, for example, a company with a staff of 200 disclosed that its prevalence was 10 percent, it would raise questions as to which 20 people had HIV/AIDS.

For instance, were all of them in mission-critical positions or were they scattered throughout the organisation? How did their infection affect operations?

With this came the risk of giving a company?’s competitors an advantage by letting them know where the rival was most vulnerable, he said.

?“Disclosure is not the be-all and end-all of reporting. I think it is more meaningful to know that a company has an effective management strategy in place. However, there are a lot more small businesses than there are large companies. And this kind of reporting, if done, is expensive?”.

The GRI guidelines are for voluntary use by organisations reporting on the triple bottom line, which covers the economic, environmental and social dimensions of their activities, products and services.

The GRI?’s mandate its to elevate sustainability reporting to a level that is both equivalent and complementary to financial reporting. Its HIV/AIDS project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

?“South Africa is playing a critical role in advancing the global accountability agenda,?” said Allen White, the GRI?’s Acting Chief Executive. ?“We see South African institutions as international leaders in the arenas of disclosure, multistakeholder processes, and corporate governance?”.

The JSE Securities Exchange is proposed to include this type of reporting as part of its listing requirements for companies.

Sandi Baker, an independent consultant for governance and transformation contracted to the GRI, said it was important to remember that the GRI was pursuing an incremental principle with reporting.

?“We want companies to start reporting on what they can?”, she said. ?“A lot of this starts with big business, and we?’re wanting it to start cascading down to the smaller companies?”.

In the annexures of the draft there is a list of basic indicators. The questions range from the most basic: ?“Does your organisation have an HIV/AIDS Policy??” to ?“Does your organisation have programmes to assist workforce members, HIV/AIDS-positive and HIV/AIDS-sick [members]??”