Photo: Isaque Junior
Vale’s Social Performance
Vale’s social performance model guides the company’s relationship with communities neighboring its operations and other stakeholders. The strategy focuses on managing socio-environmental risks and impacts, as well as promoting the sustainable development of the territories where the company operates.
This model is grounded in respect for human rights throughout the entire lifecycle of its operations and seeks to strengthen local autonomy and build long-lasting relationships.
Photo: Isaque Juinor
Photo: Isaque Junior
Community Relations
Community and stakeholder relations is a process that supports all of Vale’s actions carried out across its territories. In this context, Community Relations Plans (PRCs) are built through structured spaces for dialogue, guided by the principles of social mobilization and participation in co-creating initiatives.
Through this approach, Vale supports initiatives focused on income generation, education, culture, sports, and citizenship, contributing to the creation of a positive, long-lasting social legacy in the regions where it operates.
Photo: Alexandre Rezende
Vale’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities
For Vale, it is essential that mining activities are carried out with total respect for the rights of communities, including Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who live in or use these territories to maintain their ways of life and cultural practices.
The relationship with these communities prioritizes building and maintaining trust, supporting autonomy and resilience, and promoting ethnodevelopment, contributing to the generation of mutual benefits.
Vale’s Social Investments
Vale believes that mining must contribute to social development. For this reason, it allocates resources and develops projects to strengthen education (including literacy programs), health (primary care and access to services), and income generation (professional training, support for local entrepreneurship, and strengthening regional productive chains) in the territories where it operates.
Through these efforts, Vale seeks to support the development of resilient communities with access to fundamental rights and the ability to thrive sustainably, independently of the company's operations.
Photo: Breno Pompeu
Together Against Poverty
Driven by the social ambition to partner in the development of self-reliant communities and to engage with issues of global importance, Vale spearheads the Together Against Poverty initiative.
This initiative brings together civil society organizations, academia, and government bodies to work collectively toward tackling extreme poverty in Brazil—one of today’s most urgent and complex social challenges.
Adopting an approach that recognizes poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon, the program operates across five key areas: education, income, health, nutrition, and infrastructure. To help families overcome identified deprivations, it employs a Multidimensional Family Support methodology, utilizing personalized action plans developed collaboratively.
Vale’s Commitment to Human Rights
Vale is aligned with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Global Compact Principles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principles and guidelines of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), and the performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as other applicable international frameworks and standards that guide the promotion of and respect for human rights across its operations.
Vale adopts responsible conduct and a structured approach to managing social risks, applied throughout the entire lifecycle of its operations.
Photo: Isaque Junior
People Management at Vale
Vale relies on approximately 180,000 people, including direct employees and contractors, working directly across its operations worldwide. The company prioritizes safety, professional appreciation, and an environment open to dialogue, focusing on eliminating accidents, offering compensation aligned with job complexity, and supporting career development.
Photo: Gustavo Andrade
Relationship with communities
Our operating model is based on the management of risks and impacts on communities, promoting a positive social legacy and territorial development, through the empowerment of the communities in which we operate.
Learn more about our relationship with communities
Photographer: Ricardo Teles
Frequently Asked Questions
Vale adopts a model of active listening and a constant local presence through professionals dedicated to community relations. The company engages directly with more than a thousand local communities across the countries where it operates. To ensure a structured dialogue, Vale implements specific Community Relations Plans (PRCs) that cover 100% of priority communities in Brazil. Additionally, seeking a systemic view of the territory, the company relies on Territorial Action Plans (PATs) to integrate risk and impact management with community development under a single local governance strategy.
Yes. Vale’s actions are guided by respect for self-determination and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes. The company’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities is guided by normative policies, such as Vale’s Global Human Rights Policy, which aligns with major international standards on the subject. Furthermore, Vale has multidisciplinary teams dedicated to engaging with these communities, operating with respect for the unique aspects of each community, its social and political structure, and promoting participatory processes that respect gender and generational equity whenever possible.
"Life First" is a non-negotiable value that guides Vale’s people management. The company focuses on eliminating critical risks and promoting an inclusive environment. Since 2019, Vale has reduced its Total Recordable Incident Frequency Rate (TRIFR) by 55%. Beyond physical safety, the company prioritizes diversity: achieving 28% female representation in its workforce and increasing Black representation in leadership roles to 39.8%.
Vale has zero tolerance for and actively combats child labor and conditions analogous to slavery. The company rigorously monitors 100% of its supply chain, from onboarding to contract termination, and conducts Human Rights due diligence on suppliers, which may include document reviews and on-site inspections. When risks are identified in the supply chain, Vale applies corrective action plans, impact mitigation measures, or even contract termination. The company actively participates in InPACTO and conducts the "Decent Work Caravans" to engage and raise awareness among partners, contractors, and other stakeholders regarding decent working conditions and the fight against child labor and modern slavery
With the goal of helping 500,000 people escape extreme poverty, Vale leads Together Against Poverty: a network of public and private organizations working alongside local communities to find effective solutions for each territory. The initiative addresses poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon across five dimensions: education, income, health, nutrition, and infrastructure. The program identifies rights deprivations and supports each family in accessing public policies and local social initiatives.
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