November 21, 2020 - UNICEF recognizes Arena Hospitality Group as a Croatian company with responsible business practices for children.
HRTurizam reports that to mark World Children's Day, the UNICEF Advisory Board for Children's Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility presented examples of Croatian companies that show good business practices for children at an online conference.
The project aims to find out how individual companies in Croatia respect children's rights in practice, strengthen the visibility of business practices of Croatian companies that respect the child's rights and welfare, and thus motivate other companies to more actively engage in children's rights.
The project was implemented through practices and policies in various areas - from a workplace tailored to children and families through products and services that support children's rights, contribute to the community, and preserve the environment in which children grow and develop.
One of the positive examples comes from the Croatian tourism sector.
Namely, Arena Hospitality Group has been recognized by UNICEF as a Croatian company with responsible business practices for children.
Arena Hospitality Group is one of the first companies in Croatia to adopt a policy to protect children in its business processes and activities.
"We are proud that Arena Hospitality Group was selected among 14 companies as the only hotel and tourism company that demonstrated good and positive practices towards children," said Arena Arena Hospitality Group (AHG), adding that AHG's child protection policy defines in great detail the circumstances, responsibilities, legal basis, processes of action and all other information necessary for an adequate response.
"Although called a policy, the document goes beyond policy because it defines operational processes and contains elements of the Code of Conduct, Rules of Procedure for Children - especially in the field of employment of minors," said the Arena Hospitality Group.
To gain knowledge about the socially responsible business that respects and promotes children's rights, AHG representatives attended UNICEF's CSR Academy, "Children are our most important job" in 2019. Following the training, the AHG Group, in cooperation with UNICEF, began assessing the impact of its business on children's rights (Children's Rights Impact Assessment).
AHG implements and will implement policies and practices that contribute to children's rights, monitor their implementation and report on results, and act correctively to benefit children. As part of its annual financial and non-financial reports, AHG also provides an overview of the entire corporate social responsibility and includes activities carried out concerning children and the protection of their rights.
"We want to be the initiators of positive changes and good practices in our environment, and we hope that more and more companies will follow the same path. We believe that the greatest value for the future is the creation of a long-term sustainable and responsible business model, which includes, among other things, a child protection policy based on the principles of protecting children and their health, safety and well-being, and development. We met and started working with UNICEF a few years ago on another project, but since then, we have seen them as a new friend and a “strong” partner with the best international experience in guiding a company like ours. We believe that our joint journey has just begun… because, let's not forget, children are our most important job," said Manuela Kraljević, Member of the Management Board and Director of Marketing and Sales of AHG.
Approximately 800,000 children under 18 live in Croatia, which is about 20% of the total population. There are almost no companies that do not directly or indirectly affect their lives.
In her review of Croatia's current situation regarding business practices responsible for children, the head of the UNICEF Office for Croatia, Regina M. Castillo, pointed out that every company - whether small or large - directly or indirectly affects the lives of children.
"That is why it is imperative that the business sector, through its daily business and in developing strategic plans, has in mind the best interests of the child. We are proud of this initiative, which through cooperation with young people has shown for the first time how some Croatian companies implement responsible initiatives for children and their families. We believe that the isolated business practices will serve as an inspiration for other companies to implement similar initiatives in Croatia and maximize results for children."
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