dōTERRA has long prioritized the dignity and rights of the people of Somaliland—well before Partners for Dignity & Rights (PDR) published its inaccurate and outdated story about a former supplier of dōTERRA. When allegations against that supplier arose, dōTERRA retained the renowned law firm Sidley Austin to conduct an independent investigation. After the investigation concluded in 2023, dōTERRA ended its relationship with the supplier.

By contrast, PDR’s story demonstrates that it did little, if anything, to inform itself of the facts. Remarkably, PDR never sought comment from dōTERRA nor Sidley Austin before publishing its article, nor did it do anything to educate itself on dōTERRA’s ongoing efforts.

PDR’s primary claim is that dōTERRA has not remediated the actions of its vendor. To be clear, dōTERRA is not legally obligated to do so. dōTERRA fulfilled and continues to fulfill its contractual obligations within Somaliland, including payment to every person with whom it contracted or purchased resins. But despite PDR’s primary assertion, dōTERRA continues its engagement in benefiting the Somaliland people including the remediation of underpaid workers. As an example, since Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) claimed to represent some aggrieved parties, dōTERRA has engaged in continual good faith negotiations with CAL.

In failing to conduct even a cursory inquiry, PDR reveals its bias and lack of credibility. More importantly, it ignores the millions of dollars dōTERRA has invested in healthcare and other charitable initiatives for the Somaliland people. dōTERRA continues to support local communities through humanitarian programs focused on health and education, including the legacy transfer of the Sanaag Specialty Hospital to the Somaliland Ministry of Health.

dōTERRA maintains a meaningful connection with Somaliland and continues to deliver tangible benefits to its people. By contrast, PDR appears to have no presence in Somaliland, has not contributed millions of dollars (if any) to Somaliland communities, has never operated a business there, or offered meaningful assistance to underserved persons in Somaliland. PDR’s story amounts to little more than empty and uninformed rhetoric.

It is therefore unsurprising that PDR relies on the Horn of Africa Charity Organisation (HOACO)—an organization that appears to confuse its mission with advancing the interests of its Chair’s preferred vendor. While HOACO’s stated goals, such as “integration of refugees/migrants via exercise, cooking, cycling, etc.” may be worthy, they hardly establish the organization as a credible authority on the Somaliland frankincense trade or dōTERRA’s operations.

More troubling is that HOACO is chaired by Amina Souleiman, who has longstanding personal grievances against dōTERRA. These grievances arose after dōTERRA declined to purchase frankincense from her preferred vendor due to the poor quality of resins in its region. Sidley Austin’s independent investigation confirmed that dōTERRA had ceased sourcing resin from that area long before the allegations arose and long before doTERRA rejected Souleiman’s preferred vendor. Nevertheless, without legitimate grounds for compensation, HOACO continues to press for remediation on behalf of sorters who never supplied resin to dōTERRA—a fact well known to Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL).

From discussions with CAL, it is clear that its reliance on HOACO’s compromised “facts” was misplaced, particularly the organization’s wildly exaggerated claims of underpaid workers. To date, HOACO has yet to produce reliable evidence that the individuals it purports to represent ever worked in dōTERRA’s supply chain.

Conclusion

PDR either failed to verify the facts, or if known, intentionally mislead its readers about dōTERRA ’s good faith in benefiting the Somaliland people. dōTERRA expects PDR to take corrective action to rehabilitate dōTERRA ’s reputation resulting from its failures.

dōTERRA urges CAL to demonstrate its good faith by publicly affirming that it did not encourage, participate in, or condone the publication of PDR’s outdated and uninformed article. Further, CAL should affirm that dōTERRA has continually acted in good faith in negotiations with CAL, even within the days and weeks leading up to the publication of the PDR article.

Good faith negotiations require reliance upon facts. dōTERRA expects CAL to cease its reliance on HOACO and base its positions on verifiable evidence rather than unsubstantiated allegations from a biased individual operating under the guise of a charitable organization. CAL should also update its publications, including its WRO documentation, to reflect HOACO’s lack of credibility and acknowledge Souleiman’s clear conflict of interest.

dōTERRA remains committed to transforming accountability into healing—and to ensuring transparency, dignity, and empowerment in this impacted community. But facts matter—a point that appears to be lost on both PDR and HOACO.