CDC has internal objectives to invest responsibly in relation to our direct investees (internally managed equity and debt) and our fund managers and their underlying portfolios. During the investment process, the ESG risks and opportunities associated with each potential deal are assessed at every stage of the cycle. The ESG performance of our portfolio is monitored on an ongoing basis by our Environmental, Social and Governance Impact (ESG-I) and Business Integrity (BI) teams, on a quarterly basis at operational and board-level meetings, such as the development impact committee (DevCo), and on a quarterly basis to our shareholder. CDC also keeps its own policies and standard operating procedures under review to remain at the forefront of good industry practice and in line with our peers.
Each year, CDC sets team objectives to produce good practice guidance on topical ESG-related issues, which are then incorporated into our processes. For example, in 2019 CDC worked with IFC and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the joint Good Practice Note "Managing Risks Associated with Modern Slavery". This guidance forms part of our public commitment made in 2019 through our Modern Slavery Act Statement to identify and mitigate modern slavery in investments, operations and supply chain. The same partners are working together to provide private sector guidance on gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the workplace, to be published in 2020. This is in line with CDC’s commitment at the Safeguarding Summit, held in London in 2018, where CDC re-affirmed our commitment to advance standards, share best practices and develop guidance on preventing GBVH within our organisation and through our operations.
As pragmatic investors in challenging markets, we tailor our approach to the nuances of each asset class. One example of this is CDC's recent Good Practice Note, "Responsible venture capital: Integrating environmental and social approaches into early-stage investing", produced with FMO in 2019. The report provides practical advice about managing ESG risks and identifying opportunities, while supporting the growth of innovative companies. CDC also continually seeks to increase its understanding of contextual risk to improve its responsible investment activities. In 2019, the ESG-I team published a country profile on Ethiopia to provide guidance for businesses and investors on addressing social and human rights risks within the country. This guidance will be complemented by additional country and regional profiles in 2020 and beyond.
The above guidance notes and reports help inform our internal objectives and approaches. In addition, we have responsible investment objectives that are externally-facing, which are updated on a regular basis to meet the needs of the market. In 2019, CDC provided additional and updated guidance via its ESG Toolkit on resource efficiency and the circular economy, cumulative impacts, stakeholder engagement and several industry sector guides, among other areas. CDC is also very active in providing training for fund managers and portfolio companies, and launched a new ESG training programme in 2019 that will be implemented over the next three years. This new programme now includes dedicated sessions on gender, impact management, climate, and job quality. Other workshops on e-waste, sustainable trade finance, accident investigation and renewable energy development were also hosted for CDC responsible investment staff as well as other DFIs and partner organisations. CDC also commits to contributing or speaking at external workshops, conferences and events such as World Water Week, the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) e-waste festival and the UN Forum for Business and Human Rights, amongst others.
CDC continues to prioritise training, site visits and monitoring trips to its investments based on ESG risk and the quality of ESG management systems, and the commitments we make to deliver ESG value beyond compliance.