Jenny Fredy, Senior Analyst at Global Child Forum, argues that for business to take on the global goals will require that businesses act responsibly, by incorporating the UN Global Compact Principles, as well as by identifying the opportunities that the new agenda provides. However, perhaps more than anything, what's needed is a new mind-set to drive new sustainable solutions and business models.
Global Child Forum recently took part in the UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit in New York. Together with more than 600 business leaders and delegates from 75 countries, we discussed the role of responsible business in realising the Sustainable Development Goals. From the inspiring opening of the Summit in the General Assembly Hall, including a visionary remark by the UN Secretary General, to the very concrete “opportunity break-out sessions”, zeroing in on the business models, products, services and partnerships of tomorrow, the Summit focused on the opportunities that the new agenda offers for business. Central to this discussion was the question, how can today’s risks be transformed into opportunities?
One of the opening speakers was the inspiring businesswoman, Ms Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Founder and Executive Director of the company soleRebels. She started her own business in Ethiopia in 2005 and the company is now one of Africa’s fastest growing footwear brands. Key to being a successful business, she stressed, is her responsibility as an employer in terms of paying fair salaries in order to enable women to join the workforce and making sure the conditions are attractive to female workers juggling home and work. It was great to hear her highlighting the opportunity for companies to contribute to children’s rights, wellbeing and development by establishing child care facilities at their premises.
There was indeed a lot of enthusiasm in the room during the two-day Summit. The UN Global Compact is dedicated to supporting the business community and its members on this journey, on the road ahead to 2030. They launched a new campaign Making Global Goals Local Business, which will run over the next five years. At the Summit, the ED of Global Compact, Ms Lise Kingo, inaugurated the first class of SDG Pioneers- 10 Local SDG Pioneers with the goal of inspiring more individuals and companies around the world to follow their lead.
At the Summit, in addition to the SDG Pioneers, the findings from the UN Global Compact and Accenture Strategy CEO Study, were presented. The study interviewed more than 1000 CEOs from over 100 countries. This year’s study focused on the Agenda 2030 and the opportunities it provides for business. Some of the positive findings – 87% of CEOs believe that the SDGs provide an opportunity to rethink approaches to sustainable value creation. An illustrative infographic of the findings can be found here.
To answer the initial question of what does it take – it was clear from the Summit that it takes business that act responsibly, by incorporating the UN Global Compact Principles, as well as business identifying the opportunities that the new agenda provides. However, what is also evident is that a new mind-set is required to drive new sustainable solutions and business models. For example, one of the largest risks we face today is of global food shortage – however, this also can provide opportunities for companies that can develop sustainable and smart farming and food production. At Global Child Forum, we stand ready to partner with business that are ready to take steps to address children’s rights as part of their sustainability work, in their business practices, through their partnerships and reporting.
Photo Credit: Zef Nikolla/ UN Global Compact
As Senior Analyst, Jenny leads our strategic intelligence work, including the analysis of developments within our field, children’s rights and business. She has an extensive background in international development work, working within government agencies, international organisations and research centres, such as WaterAid, the Nordic Africa Institute, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Centre for Environment and Development Studies. Jenny holds a Licentiate Degree from Stockholm University. She joined Global Child Forum in October 2015.
The UN Global Compact is a call to companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions that advance societal goals. Read more about how companies can take action for a more sustainable future.
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The gathering of the Global Child Forum on Southern Africa was the start of a critical chain reaction that is necessary to see us step up our protection of children’s rights in Africa. . With 53 speakers from 28 countries and 250 delegates from the public and private sector, civil society, non-governmental organizations and academia, the Global Child Forum in Southern Africa presented us with a unique occasion to come together to plan action around children’s rights and address imbalances which can no longer be ignored.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in South Africa, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products ‘The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark’. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2015, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 271 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Southeast Asia region, this report makes use of two essential Global Child Forum research products: The Children Rights and Business Atlas and The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. Throughout this report, data from the Atlas highlights contextual factors that shape how companies can and should respond to children’s rights. This information is contrasted with the results of the Benchmark scoring for the 20 largest companies in Southeast Asia. A gap analysis provides recommendations for company actions that address risks and create positive impact on children’s rights in the region.
On Wednesday, April 11, the 10th Global Child Forum 2018 was held at the Stockholm Royal Palace. Over 300 participants from around the world gathered to discuss child rights issues. Participants represented global companies, financial institutions, civil society, the UN, academia and government.
This webinar offers an introduction for companies to the benefits of child participation in business decision-making and how to develop meaningful impact for children with their input and involvement. Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) and Tara Collins (Ryerson University) give an introduction to child participation from a theoretical and practical point of view covering the rationale for child participation in business as well as key concepts and principles for businesses to consider. They are followed by Julia Olofsson (Ingka Group) and Magnus Thuvesson (IKEA) who give us a corporate perspective and cover practical implementation of child inclusive activities at IKEA.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products: The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2014, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 350 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in South America, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products ‘The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark’. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2017, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 300 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Nordic Region, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products: The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2016, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 299 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In this video Alinde Melin, Global Children's Rights Leader at Inter IKEA Group, shares how children's ideas and perspective influence IKEA. This video is part of a series of interviews with leading experts in the field. They were asked about the importance of child participation and business.
In this video Alinde Melin, Global Children's Rights Leader at Inter IKEA Group, shares what her recommendations are for companies that would like to start involving young people in their business. This video is part of a series of interviews with leading experts in the field. They were asked about the importance of child participation and business.
In this video we asked Alinde Melin, Global Children's Rights Leader at Inter IKEA Group, why IKEA has chosen to include children's voices in their work and what's in it for them. This video is part of a series of interviews with leading experts in the field. They were asked about the importance of child participation and business.
In this video Tara Collins from Ryerson University and Kay Tisdall from University of Edinburgh share how business can work to include a children's rights perspective. This video is part of a series of interviews with leading experts in the field. They were asked about the importance of child participation and business.
What makes for a good child labour policy? Despite the fact that businesses are more aware of and increasingly proficient in developing responses to child labour risks, our findings raise concerns around the actual impact of the policies in place and their implementation throughout operations and supply chains. To provide guidance on these issues, this study presents a set of 10 business approaches to combat child labour together with examples of business practices that show promise. These approaches aim to provide innovative pathways for companies that want to begin their journey of responding to child labour risks, ensuring they comply with their responsibilities, and then continue on, achieving increasingly sustainable methods to support accountability for eradicating child labour.
How can businesses work effectively with communities, NGOs and governments to mitigate their negative impacts on local communities while increasing their social contribution? This question was discussed by the following panellists at the Global Child Forum at the Royal Palace earlier this year: Brian Ganson, Head at the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement, University of Stellenbosch Business School; Nina Schefte, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Norsk Hydro and Simon Lord, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sime Darby Plantation Berhad. Additionally, Professor John Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, shared some of his recent findings.
Norsk Hydro entered Brazil in 2011 with a long history of fostering healthy communities that grew up around its operations in Norway. The company therefore had no small sense of the responsibilities of being an actor with an enormous impact on the lives of its workers and neighbours. The difficult history and operating environment of the Amazon region, however, challenge Hydro’s commitment to go “beyond compliance” to make a positive difference – particularly with regard to vulnerable populations, including children. This case study is no. 3 in a series of company reflections for Global Child Forum on how companies address children’s rights and child-related issues. All our reports and case studies can be found in our Knowledge Center.
Global Child Forum and the Boston Consulting Group initiated the Corporate Sector and Children’ Rights Benchmark study series in 2013 to fill a gap in research. The purpose of the series has been to develop a children’s rights benchmark for the corporate sector and to enable tracking of progress over time on how children’s rights are addressed by business. The data referred to in this reporting has been compiled from one global and five regional studies conducted between 2013-2016; the Nordic region, the Middle East and Northern Africa; Southern Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. In total, the reporting covers 2500 companies across nine different industries.
The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas helps businesses identify potential impacts on the lives of children, especially where it is most needed, and guides the integration of children’s rights into company due diligence practices and procedures.
Businesses, investors and organisations alike need to understand how their actions impact children’s rights across the globe. The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, developed with UNICEF, is the first comprehensive resource to guide companies in assessing risks to children within industry sectors and regions of operation.
The Workplace Index measures child labour and decent work for young workers, parents and caregivers. Businesses, investors and organisations alike need to understand how their actions impact children’s rights across the globe. The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, developed together with UNICEF, is the first comprehensive resource to guide companies in assessing risks to children within industry sectors and regions of operation.
ISS is one of the world’s leading facility services providers, employing approximately 500,000 people across 5 continents. This Deep Dive explores the policies the corporate group has put in place to safeguard children’s rights. From the supply chain to their direct business operation in for example schools and kindergartens, the company is taking measures to address risks posed to children.
“It’s not about the adults setting restrictions on their interactions with children: it’s the children who set their own boundaries and the adults have to understand how to act in respect of that.” Lo Hjorth, Director People & Culture, ISS Facility Services AB, Sweden
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