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Summary: In June 2010, a process was launched to develop a set of Principles for businesses to respect and support children's rights. A series of consultations are currently taking place with representatives from civil society, businesses and beyond. The Principles will be launched in November 2011.
The Initiative
On 24 June 2010, UNICEF, the United Nations Global Compact and Save the Children launched a process to develop a set of principles that would seek to outline the full range of actions that business can take to respect and support children's rights.
An extensive consultation process is currently being carried out to develop the Principles, with a final set of Principles due to be launched around 20 November this year.
Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN Global Compact Principles and the UN Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework, the Initiative's objective is to provide practical guidance for businesses to effectively incorporate children's rights into their strategies and operations.
Children's rights and business
Although the business and human rights agenda has evolved significantly in recent years, a child rights perspective has rarely played a part in the discussions, and, to date, no comprehensive set of principles exist as far as the relationship between business and children's rights is concerned.
- Read about the links between business and children's rights.
Furthermore, with children's rights largely excluded in the Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the United Nations 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework', due to be presented to the Human Rights Council in June by Professor John Ruggie, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises, the need exists for a set of Principles exclusively for children.
- Read CRIN's response to the Guiding Principles
The Draft Principles
Seven thematic areas were identified during the research process, categorising the key points where business interacts with children. These seven areas then formed the basis for the development of the draft principles below:
1. Make a commitment to children and their families as key stakeholders of business
2. Respect and support children's rights in the workplace and value chain
3. Make sure products and services are safe and make a positive contribution to children's lives
4. Use marketing and advertising that advances children's rights
5. Take care of the environment where children live and grow
6. Help protect children affected by emergencies
7. Reinforce community and government efforts to fulfill children's rights
- Read the draft principles in full
Consultation Process
The development of the Principles is being informed by Advisory groups, desk research, interviews and surveys. A child participation strategy has also been developed to ensure that children's views are included in the process.
Consultation with European Civil Society
On 4 May, a consultation took place with European civil society as part of a series of regional workshops.
NGOs, academia, trade unions and other organizations were invited to participate in an afternoon of discussions on the draft principles. The meeting was held at UNICEF UK's head offices.
The key objectives of the consultation were to receive input from civil society on:
- The drafting of the Principles
- The context in which the Principles should be used
- The role civil society can play in the Children's Rights and Business Principles Initiative.
The discussions:
The meeting took the form of a general discussion on the draft Principles and the key objectives of the Initiative.
Key areas discussed included:
1) How to frame the Principles – A key issue in the discussions centred on the tension between corporate social responsibility and human rights, and whether the draft Principles focused enough on the latter and the resulting obligations of business to respect and support children's rights.
2) Core versus aspirational commitments – The extent to which the Principles should contain core and also aspirational commitments by business featured prominently in the discussions. Suggestions were made to insert a set of minimum commitments which businesses must abide by, followed by aspirational commitments for other longer term issues.
3) Language – Suggestions were made to change the language of the text so that the non-human rights community, notably business professionals, could understand and follow the Principles. As it stands, the text assumes a knowledge and understanding of human rights and children's rights issues in particular.
4) Commentary – In addition to a clearer explanation of the Principles, recommendations were made for an additional document providing commentary on each individual Principle and an explanation of what it means, how to implement the action and clear definitions of individual children's rights issues.
5) Measuring commitments / monitoring implementation – A number of suggestions were made on ways to measure the progress made by businesses in implementing the set of Principles, and furthermore whether businesses should be encouraged to sign on to the Principles. Key performance indicators and rating systems were discussed, along with other ways to track the progress of businesses, such as including a section for business in the CRC reporting process.
6) Other areas of discussion - Many other areas were discussed during the course of the afternoon, including the role of civil society in the Initiative, child participation in the development of the Principles, and access to justice and enforcement mechanisms.
Concluding Comments
The Steering Committee thanked the participants and highlighted the importance of the timing of these Principles, in light of Mr Ruggie's report which is due to be adopted at the UN Human Rights Council in June. The Committee will be compiling a report of the consultation and CRIN will publish this as soon as it becomes available.
Geneva Consultation
A further consultation took place in Geneva on 20 June.
Among the participants, Ms. Marta Mauras Perez (Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Chile), spoke of the growing momentum to address how business can respect children's rights, and the importance of voluntary approaches that are framed and backed by the necessary regulatory frameworks so that these are not just well-meaning sentiments, but actually make a difference for children.
Michael French (Save the Children, Head of Office and UN representative) highlighted that the business and the human rights community can sometimes seem to speak different languages, and the need to bring those together in creative ways to address some of the serious child rights issues where business can have a profound impact, and where we can achieve concrete results.
Bo Viktor Nylund (UNICEF, Senior Advisor CSR - Private Fundraising and Partnership) added that the Principles provide an opportunity to move beyond child labour and look at child rights issues holistically.
How you can contribute
There are a number of ways you can contribute to the process:
- Contribute research
- Case studies / lessons-learned
- Participate in online consultations
- Assist in co-organising consultations at the country level
The Steering Committee has produced a questionnaire [DOC] to receive input on the draft principles. The deadline for the completion of questionnaires is 30 June 2011. Please send to: [email protected].
In addition, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre are hosting an online forum. You can find further details on their website.
For further information on the Initiative, contact Ms Elizabeth Abeson at: [email protected] or [email protected].
Further Information
- Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
- OHCHR – Business and Human Rights
- CRIN's Human Rights Council page
pdf: www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=24851&flag=report