HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation has been honored with the Human Rights Merit Award by Japan’s Ministry of Justice and the National Federation of Consultative Assemblies of Civil Liberties Commissioners. The award was established in fiscal year (FY) 2006 to recognize significant achievements in the field of human rights protection by an individual or an organization. The award was handed out for the first time in FY2007 (April 2007-March 2008) and Mazda is the first corporation in Japan to receive it.

The Human Rights Merit Award recognizes Mazda’s initiatives to promote its human rights philosophy both within and outside the company under the Mazda Human Rights Declaration. It also acknowledges Mazda’s work in encouraging employees to respect human rights through the establishment of internal human rights promotion groups. These groups perform various human rights educational activities, counseling services and training programs. Furthermore, the award highlights the high regard for Mazda’s human rights seminars and enlightenment initiatives that are conducted in collaboration with local government bodies and organizations.

Based on a firm belief that all human rights are sacrosanct, Mazda is proactively and sincerely committed to human rights protection activities, and has established a system for promoting respect for human rights. In 2000, the Human Rights Committee was set up with the company’s president as its chairperson. The committee’s role is to formulate policies regarding human rights issues for the entire Mazda Group, and incorporate them in all Mazda’s business activities.

Mazda undertakes a wide range of measures to raise awareness of human rights issues within the company. These include conducting human rights training programs for new employees and current staff when they are promoted or assume new responsibilities, and adorning the employee buses that circulate throughout the Mazda complex in Hiroshima with human rights promotional slogans. Outside the company, Mazda demonstrates its respect for human rights by organizing festivals in partnership with local government bodies and by participating in human rights symposiums.

Mazda employee bus displaying human rights promotional slogans

The Mazda Human Rights Declaration states that Mazda should strive to become the leading company in Japan for respecting human rights and for the ethical treatment of its employees. Looking to the future, Mazda will continue to position this philosophy as the foundation of its business activities, with further efforts devoted to the protection of human rights within and outside the company, as part of its social responsibility.