Hydro's production sites in Norway – Karmøy, Sunndal, Høyanger, Årdal, Holmestrand, Raufoss and Magnor – will each deliver a check for NOK 100,000 to the campaign centers in the local communities where they are located. Power production sites in Energy in Sogn, Telemark and Røldal-Suldal will contribute in a similar way.

In line with Hydro's values

"To help protect human rights is in line with Hydro's values of courage, respect and foresight, but also helps create peace and predictability in some of the countries where we operate," says President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg, who has been an Amnesty member since his student days 30 years ago.

For more than 50 years, Amnesty has documented abuses of human rights and worked to protect victims of such abuses. Hydro's support of Amnesty reaches back to 2002.

Brandtzæg is encouraging all employees in Norway to support the fundraising campaign, which includes TV shows on Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) and volunteers who collect money for the organization. The campaign is on Sunday, October 21.

Openness and trust

He says that Amnesty is an important partner in helping Hydro formulate guidelines for employee behavior in countries with large social challenges.

"Hydro isn't an expert in human right, but we often meet situations where we must proceed with care and make sure we do the right thing. Therefore, it is important for us to have good rules and regulations, and Amnesty has been a good dialog partner when we have been creating our guidelines," says Brandtzæg.

Beate Ekeløve-Slydal of Amnesty International Norway says the cooperation with Hydro has produced good results.

"Hydro is a company with a great willingness to take up the right discussions. Amnesty and Hydro have relationship based on openness and trust. Hydro has invited us into processes when developing steering documents, and we find that they are open to our contributions," says Ekeløve-Slydal.