Human Rights abuse in Global Supply Chains is a persistent issue. Over the years,these supply chains seem to be related to issues like human trafficking, forced labour, and abusive child labour. The 2018 Global Slavery Index stated that across the world, 40.3 million people were subjected to modern slavery, and 24.9 million people were subjected to forced labour out of which 71% were female and 29% were male. There are currently 450 million people working in Supply Chain related jobs as per The International Labour Organisation. In the global economy, businesses across all sectors are increasingly sourcing goods and services from various countries which have significantly different legal, regulatory, and human rights practices. Despite the fact that global supply chains can offer work opportunities that lead to social and economic development, they also present serious risks to human rights, and many companies continue to fail when mitigating and responding to these risks effectively. A large number of workers, suppliers, and subcontractors working in global supply chains are a part of the informal sector. The most affected by human rights abuse in companies are often people who have no say and hence do not call attention to these problems themselves. These include women workers, migrant workers, child labourers, or people residing in poor or urban areas. In regards to human rights, it is evident that many businesses lack awareness and aren’t too clear on what it means to their core activities. Therefore, the Economist Intelligence Unit undertook a study that surveyed senior executives from a diverse range of industries and also conducted indepth interviews with corporate leaders and other independent industry experts. The three key insights from this survey were:
- Companies find it difficult to understand what human rights mean to them
- The companies that do understand the human rights issues lack access to the appropriate resources to address these issues
- Insufficient education on the top of Human Rights Due Diligence is a major challenge
According to the survey, companies are looking at Human Rights Due Diligence as a stakeholder and ethical issue. However, they are still coming to terms with what their responsibilities mean in practice, and a complete understanding of this with implementation is a process that will take time. Corporate attitudes today are evolving at a faster pace; however, vital steps to reform company policies and communicate the same is happening at a slower pace. Higher-level leadership in corporates today are embedding respect for human rights within their organisations; though they acknowledge that they still have a lot to learn. Even though governments have a core responsibility to protect human rights, including people working in global supply chains, they have failed to regulate the human rights practices of companies domiciled on their soil. There is an absence of legal repercussions when it comes to human rights abuse in global supply chains, which is causing companies to take their human rights due diligence lightly. Voluntary standards are valuable; however, in this situation, they are not enough.
Companies can consider different ways to incorporate human rights within their culture. Here are some considerations.
- Monitor and mitigate potential human rights risk by establishing regular stakeholder engagement.
- Make a catalyst for creating more ethical business practices by identifying business opportunities that help address human rights abuse.
- Keep policies, procedures, and governance up to date by embedding human rights into the company culture, preferably by upper management setting the right example.
- Integrate human rights into sustainability practices, which will eventually lead to more business opportunities and investment approaches.
- Think in a long-term perspective of how new policies and ways of working might positively or negatively affect human rights.
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights establish that companies need to take Human Rights Due Diligence measures, ensuring their operations do not contribute to human rights abuses. However, companies are not fully transparent about the efforts put into the measures mitigating human rights risks and abuse. The United Nations guiding principles are not legally binding, which sometimes causes companies to ignore them or not take them up as seriously as they should. Many companies have absolutely no Human Rights Due Diligence measures in place, and their actions have contributed to human rights abuse for more than two decades.
An excellent starting point for companies would be first to understand what Human Rights mean to them. Human Rights being such a wide topic, companies across different sectors need to understand how Human Rights Due Diligence is relevant to them specifically and what changes they can implement in their corporate activities. In the endeavour to support German and Indian SMEs and MNC’s in India, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is implementing a 8-week training on the topic of Business and Human Rights, including the German and Indian National Action Plans (NAP).
The training will provide companies with workable knowledge and the means to create a sound monitoring system geared toward business continuity. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce is hopeful that this training will provide participating companies with adequate knowledge on the topic of Human Rights Due Diligence, thereby leading them to a more ethical and sustainable future.
