MIAMI, Jan. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest leisure travel company, today announced it is among the
first companies to join the United Nations' Standards of Conduct
for Business, a global campaign seeking to tackle discrimination
against lesbian, gay, bi, trans & intersex (LGBTI) people in
the workplace and in society. Carnival Corporation joins 272 major
corporations as early supporters of the LGBTI diversity and
inclusion initiative.
The United Nations Human Rights Office collaborated with the
Institute for Human Rights and Business to develop the five pillars
comprising the Standards of Conduct, reflecting the input of
hundreds of companies from diverse business sectors. These
principles align closely with Carnival Corporation's 2020
sustainability goals, including an ongoing commitment to building a
diverse global workforce that currently represents over 150,000
employees from nearly 150 countries.
"As part of our ongoing efforts to build a sustainable, positive
work environment and create opportunities for building a career
with our company, we are committed to supporting diversity,
inclusion and equality across our nine cruise line brands," said
Roger Frizzell, chief communications
officer for Carnival Corporation. "We salute the U.N. for its
leadership and we hope many others will join the initiative. It is
not only the right way to operate, but we also believe diversity of
thinking plays a key role in driving innovation and providing a
competitive advantage, so there are plenty of good reasons to be
part of this important effort."
The five standards outlined by the U.N. include a global call
for companies to respect human rights of LGBTI workers, customers
and members of the public; eliminate workplace discrimination
against LGBTI employees; support LGBTI employees at work; prevent
discrimination and related abuses against LGBTI customers,
suppliers and distributors, and insist that suppliers do the same;
and stand up for the human rights of LGBTI people in the
communities where companies do business.
As additional global organizations sign on in support of the
Standards of Conduct for Business, the United Nations Human Rights
Office continues to build momentum for public awareness in support
of LGBTI inclusion, promoting a culture of respect, diversity and
equality in the workplace. The U.N.'s global campaign to promote
greater equality for LGBTI workers is the largest of its kind to
date.
"The U.N. is grateful to see Carnival Corporation, the leading
international cruise provider, join more than 272 of the world's
largest companies in expressing support for the United Nations
Global LGBTI Standards for Business," said Fabrice Houdart, United Nations Human Rights
Officer and co-author of the Standards. "Businesses play a key role
in keeping the momentum for LGBTI equality globally and Carnival
Corporation's support is a strong signal to the tourism industry
and beyond."
As part of Carnival Corporation's commitment to equal rights,
the company has been actively engaged in significant efforts on
issues such as marriage equality. This includes supporting efforts
by OUTBermuda and other LGBTQ community organizations to advocate
for the legal recognition of same-sex marriages in Bermuda. The company has also shown support
through LGBTQ cruises, onboard activities and special events,
including the company's Holland America Line brand sponsoring the
2020 Seattle Men's and Women's Chorus Annual Dinner and Auction,
and annual Pride events to raise awareness and funds for LGBTQ
organizations, including the Los Angeles Pride Parade, Seattle
Pride Parade and Southampton
(England) Pride.
Additionally, the company has partnered with equal opportunity
champions such as the Human Rights Campaign, Executive Leadership
Council, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Catalyst
and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics.
Carnival Corporation is regularly recognized by the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of America's largest
civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. This includes
achieving a perfect score for four consecutive years in the
organization's Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which rates U.S.
companies on their treatment of LGBTQ consumers, investors and
employees.
In January 2020, Carnival
Corporation was also named one of the top companies in America on
Forbes' annual list of Best Employers for Diversity for its
outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The company was
recognized as the highest rated company in the cruise industry, the
No. 3 employer in the travel and leisure sector and No. 77 overall
among the 500 top employers.
Additional information on the Standards of Conduct for Business
can be found at https://www.unfe.org/standards/, and more
information on Carnival Corporation's commitment to diversity and
inclusion is available here:
https://www.carnivalcorp.com/corporate-information/diversity-inclusion.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival
Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel
company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the
cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of nine of the
world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North
America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise
Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn,
P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises,
P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.
Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 105 ships with
254,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with
16 new ships scheduled to be delivered through 2025. Carnival
Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess
Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the
Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London
Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the
only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and
the FTSE 100 indices.
With a long history of innovation and providing guests with
extraordinary vacation experiences, Carnival Corporation has
received thousands of industry awards – including recognition by
the Consumer Technology Association™ as a CES® 2019 Innovation
Awards Honoree for OceanMedallionâ„¢. A revolutionary wearable device
that contains a proprietary blend of communication technologies,
OceanMedallion enables the world's first interactive guest
experience platform transforming vacation travel on a large scale
into a highly personalized level of customized service. The
prestigious CES Innovation Awards honor outstanding design and
engineering in consumer technology products.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com,
www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com,
www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de,
www.pocruises.com and www.cunard.com.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc