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Join Global Child Forum and leading CSR business executives, policy makers, investors and thinkers at the CSR Asia Summit on September 26 – 27 in Bangkok where we will be discussing pressing challenges, emerging trends and opportunities to ‘future proof’ sustainable business.
In the 1980s ballad, The Greatest Love of All, US pop diva Whitney Houston sang, “I believe the children are our future; teach them well and let them lead the way…” While she sang convincingly, this is not a new sentiment – children have always been the future. But how and whom is responsible for ‘teaching them well and letting them lead the way’, well, that’s changing.
Increasingly the corporate sector is acknowledging that children, and their rights, are part of their business. They are understanding that profits and purpose are not mutually exclusive and that their growth depends not just on short-term returns but also on long-term societal gains. There is also a realisation that children’s issues are not just about charity, but about a real commitment to tackling some of the most pressing issues facing young people today; issues such as access to education, combatting sexual exploitation, online bullying, forced migration, access to clean and safe environments, and, of course, child labour.
Understanding the role that children’s rights play in your business starts by recognising that children are your stakeholders – they are your consumers, family members of your employees, your future workers and leaders. Supporting and advancing their development, and integrating their rights into your operations and communities, is paramount to the success of not only society – but your business. The perils of ignoring children’s rights in your operations and along your supply chain, have also been well-documented as tales of warning.
Business is a key economic driver of change
The launch of the Sustainable Development Goals last year has highlighted that business is – and must be – a driver of change if the goals are to be reached by 2030. Business is a key economic driver in the communities in which they operate, they are employers, and they are consumers of the resources – whether they be human resources or environmental. Governments can’t do everything alone and civil society continues to be hampered – but business has the know-how, the resources and, increasingly, the will to make the difference. However, this awareness must translate into real action.
Measuring Asia’s progress & promise
The Global Child Forum’s benchmark report, The Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights in Southeast Asia, provides a starting point for measuring the region’s progress – and promise — in this area. Launched last year with the Boston Consulting Group, the report evaluates nearly 300 of the region’s top companies to see how they address and report on children’s rights.
The results indicate that while many companies contribute to programmes and community investment initiatives involving children’s rights, these issues have not yet made it into the board room or into strategic business analysis.
“One thing that we noted is that those companies who successfully integrate children’s rights into their operations – and put them on the forefront of their sustainability agenda – have done so with the leadership and support at the board level. It must start at the highest levels of corporate governance,” says Fiona Rotberg, Global Child Forum’s Research Director.
A global perspective through a local lens
So, what can business do? The Children’s Rights and Business Principles, developed by UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children in 2012, offer a road map for how business can approach children’s rights in the workplace, the marketplace and the community. The ten principles set out concrete actions for business to respect and support children’s rights.
At the Global Child Forum on Southeast Asia, held in May 2016, Simon Lord, Group Chief Sustainability Officer for Sime Darby, one of Asia’s largest multinational conglomerates, highlighted the need to turn these principles into practice. “As a multinational,” said Lord, “Sime Darby must have a global perspective viewed through a local lens. Our anchor is the SDGs; our framework is the Children’s Rights and Business Principles executed down at the community level. It’s about creating a child-safe and friendly working environment for all our employees.”
Rick Ramli, Partner and Managing Director from the Boston Consulting Group Malaysia offers a perspective on how to move forward, based on the findings from benchmark report: “Companies in Southeast Asia are contributing to children’s issues through strategic programmes and donating to charities. Many of us have CSR programmes that fund causes in education, health or nutrition.” While these efforts are commendable, he notes that these CSR activities are too detached from companies’ day-to-day and core operations. Here there is an opportunity for development, for example by putting in place mechanisms to ensure product safety and safe marketing as well as prevent child labour and sexual exploitation.
What core actions can a company take?
But what are the core actions that a company can take? A few real-life examples illustrate what’s possible: A construction company is integrating a child perspective into their worksites, taking into consideration the presence of migrant workers’ children. A leading telecommunications company goes beyond sustainability and includes education and training for both children and teachers – providing access to online learning channels. A shoe manufacturer believes in paying living wages to ensure that the children of their employees can go to school, and not enter the workforce too early. A hotel chain works with a local NGO to keep children safe and reduce the risks of child abuse and trafficking. The examples are numerous and during the month of May many of these company examples were highlighted on social media during Global Child Forum’s #30ways30days campaign.
The good news is that children’s rights are becoming more relevant for Asian companies and the corporate sector is on its way to realising that championing children’s rights will unlock more markets and create both shareholder and stakeholder value. And that’s certainly something worth singing about.
Global Child Forum will explore the business case for child’s rights and showcase ground-breaking research, good company examples and a range of free on-line risk assessment and planning tools at the CSR Asia Summit, 26 & 27 September in Bangkok. More details on this session will be available shortly. To register for the event go to the CSR Asia Summit website.
As the Head of Communications, Linda is responsible for bringing our work, and our message, to our stakeholders. She has long career in communications both in the private and public sector working for UN-affiliated organisations such as The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. Her public sector work is augmented by assignments in advertising, internet consulting and brand development. She holds an undergraduate degree from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York University. Linda joined Global Child Forum in 2015.
Download the Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights in Southeast Asia benchmark report.
For more information on how Sime Darby integrates children’s rights into their work, read Global Child Forum’s Sime Darby Deep Dive.
The Children’s Rights and Business Principles were developed by UNICEF, Save the Children and the UN Global Compact in order to offer business a set of comprehensive principles to guide them on the full range of actions they can take in the workplace, marketplace and community to respect and support children’s rights.
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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 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 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.
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.
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
This year’s Global Child Forum welcomed heads of state and heads of companies, leaders from civil society and learners from across South America and beyond. All came together with the goal of providing the region’s children with the best possible path to productive adulthood. All came together with the belief that the business sector is key to achieving that goal. Nearly 400 delegates gathered in the FIESP building on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, its soaring modernist architecture a fitting backdrop for tackling a far-reaching children’s rights agenda. Read the Forum report — full of inspiration, ideas for action and case stories.
How are South American companies doing on children’s rights?
The Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights in South America is the latest in a series of regional and global benchmarks, done in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which scans companies from all compass points and identifies if they report on children’s rights indicators.
Do South American companies integrate children’s rights into core operations? Address and report on children’s rights issues? Engage with programs that benefit children?
The South American benchmark study scored 282 top companies headquartered in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador and Uruguay on these, and other, indicators. The benchmark then assigns both an aggregate regional score as well as individual company scores. All companies included in the study also receive a scorecard with their result and are given an opportunity to respond or give feedback.
Regional Industry Results (Average score per industry)
The benchmark report was launched at the Global Child Forum on South America on April 4th 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil.
For more information on the report contact:
Nina Vollmer, Research Manager
nina.vollmer@globalchildforum.org
For all media inquiries, contact:
Linda Lodding, Head of Communications
linda.lodding@globalchildforum.org
Stay updated in social media by following @GCForum on twitter.
Millicom is an international telecommunications and media company and offers a wide range of digital services primarily under the “Tigo” brand. Through their due-diligence and community initiatives, the company is committed to mitigating potential risks to children posed by their operations. Millicom also engages with the communities in which they operate in an effort to promote the opportunities technology can offer children and build awareness of children’s rights. This Deep Dive is part of our series that looks at how companies find solutions and harness opportunities that create meaningful change.
Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina – CELESC, provides large areas of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina with electricity. As a partially state-owned service provider, the company has strong ties to the local communities that they serve, and has identified a number of ways to make a direct contribution to children’s rights. This Deep Dive is part of our series that looks at how companies find solutions and harness opportunities that create meaningful change.
“As a big company with operations in a large geographical area, we have the opportunity to reach many people and make a difference in society.” Regina Schlickmann Luciano, Socio-Environmental Responsibility Advisor, CELESC(Image/photo credit: CELESC)
As one of the leading providers of telecommunications services in Argentina, Grupo Telecom is conscious of their impact on the everyday lives of their customers. Understanding that children and adolescents are important users of their services, the company has identified protection online as a management priority. This Deep Dive is part of our series that looks at how companies find solutions and harness opportunities that create meaningful change.
“In the era of mobile connectivity, where children have access to multiple devices, it’s vital to equip them with a critical judgement that provides them with the necessary resources for their protection. It is also important that parents and adults can guide children in the responsible use of technology, so that they can learn in a safe and constructive environment.” Pedro Lopez Matheu, Director of Government Relations(Image/photo credit: Grupo Telecom)
Communication and Media, Grupo Telecom
In the report The Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights in the Nordic Region, Global Child Forum and the Boston Consulting Group published the results from a benchmarking of how the 299 largest1 listed Nordic companies address children’s rights in their public reporting. To compare the findings from the screening of publicly listed companies, we assessed 30 non-listed Nordic companies; the 15 largest privately owned and the 15 largest state-owned. A summary of those results are presented below2.
Of a total possible score of 9, the privately owned companies scored on average 2.1 points, while state-owned companies scored 3.7 on average. In contrast, the 15 largest listed companies scored 5.1 on average.
One explanation for the difference could be due to the region’s stringent regulations on sustainability, reporting, and board accountability that affect primarily listed and state-owned companies. Due to the small sample size, not all industries are fully represented; approximately half of the private companies are in the Consumer Goods industry, with the remainder spread across Oil, Gas and Utilities, Food and Beverage and Industrials. The state-owned companies assessed are in all of the industries except ICT.
RESULTS PER INDICATOR (%)
When looking at the results for each of the indicators, it is notable that:
Selected as a UN Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, Colombia’s Carolina Medina is, no doubt, goal-oriented. She wants to ensure that urban households have access to healthy and affordable food. A well-fed child, after all, has the opportunity to become well-educated child. Through her start-up, Agruppa, Medina is making this goal a reality – one “Mom and Pop” shop at a time.
SCA is one of the world’s largest companies in personal care products, with presence in approximately 100 countries. This Deep Dive looks at their journey on the way to recognising children as key stakeholders to their company and ensuring that children’s rights are integrated into their daily operations. It also describes how SCA has entered several strategic collaborations and partnerships with different organizations to further children’s rights in different ways, but always integrated with their core business. This Deep Dive is part of our series that looks at how companies find solutions and harness opportunities that create meaningful change. (Photo credit: SCA – Alecsandra Raluca Dragoi)
Paul Sistare is a man on a mission. As the Founder and CEO of Atlantica Hotels International (Brasil), he not only ensures that his guests get a good night’s rest, but he makes sure that he does too. How does he do this? By knowing that he, and the whole Atlantica Hotel chain, promotes sustainable tourism with a special emphasis on protecting children’s rights.
Global Child Forum brings together thought leaders and influencers from business, civil society, academia and government in order to spur action for social change around children’s rights. In particular, we focus on the power of business to be a driver of change, and we encourage businesses to take approaches in their operations and their communities that best advance children’s rights. Our work is underpinned by the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children’s Rights and Business Principles as well as by our own research and tools. Global Child Forum was initiated by H.M. the King and H.M. the Queen of Sweden in 2009 as part of their long-standing commitment to children’s issues. Global Child Forum is a Swedish non-profit foundation with headquarters in the heart of Stockholm.
How are Nordic companies doing on children’s rights? Nordic companies have a reputation for innovation and socially responsible forward-thinking. But how do the Nordics stack up when reporting on children’s rights? Global Child Forum just launched the report focusing on the Nordic region – Children’s Rights and the Corporate Sector in the Nordic Region. This study is the latest in a series of regional and global benchmarks which scans companies from all compass points and identifies if they report on children’s rights indicators. Do Nordic companies integrate children’s rights into core operations? Address and report on children’s rights issues? Engage with programs that benefit children? The Nordic benchmark study scores 300 top companies headquartered in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland on these, and other, indicators. The benchmark then assigns both an aggregate regional score as well as individual company scores. All companies included in the study also receive a scorecard with their result and are given an opportunity to respond or give feedback. What are people saying? Read selected media coverage: Bloomberg: Nordics Lose Halo in Study Ranking Them With Emerging Markets Reuters: Nordic companies fall short on transparency over child rights Dagens Industri: Lågt engagemang för barnens rätt Sisua Radio/Sveriges Radio: Pohjoismaiset suuryritykset eivät loista lasten oikeuksien saralla Aktuell Hållbart: DEBATT Företag måste stärka kontrollen över sina leverantörsled, skriver Théo Jaekel och Jasmin Draszka-Ali, från advokatfirman Vinge.”Barnrättsfrågor – en blind fläck för nordiska storbolag”
Safaricom is one of the leading mobile operators in Kenya with over 23 million customers and almost 4500 employees. They are partnering with Save the Children to implement the Children’s Rights and Business Principles throughout their organisation. Sanda Ojiambo is Head of Corporate Responsibility at Safaricom. Children’s rights and business videos
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Save the Children Sweden ...
Following a public scandal of child labour in their supply chain, Stora Enso worked with Save the Children to review their sustainability processes and train employees on children’s rights and business principles. Stora Enso is a leading forest, paper and packaging company with over 27,000 employees. Karl-Henrik Sundström is the CEO of Stora Enso. Children’s rights and business videos
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Save the Children Sweden ...
Together with the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) in West Java, Save the Children has been integrating a child-centred corporate social responsibility project in the hospitality sector of Indonesia. The project worked to encourage members to integrate children’s rights into their member’s business operations and strategies. One result of the project was the creation of this toolkit, which included the assistance of academics, several NGOs, and input from child and youth participants. It consists of four tools for children’s rights integration and eight tools that inspire hotels and restaurants in responding to issues and problems that most frequently arise and impact children’s rights.
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Save the Children ...
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.
This benchmark study investigates the 289 largest publicly traded companies in Southeast Asia (based on revenue for 2014). Without measuring actual performance or compliance, the study aims to highlight if and how these companies address and report on children’s rights by reviewing and assessing publicly available information against nine indicators. The 289 companies selected represent nine different industry sectors that are exposed to or whose operations impact children’s rights issues. The purpose of the benchmark studies is to to analyse trends on a global and regional scale and to enable tracking of progress on how the corporate sector addresses children’s rights over time.
Sansiri is a leading private real estate company in Thailand with a revenue of $864 million for 2014. The deep dive explores some of the company’s initiatives, such as its educational programs, its corporate structure in regards to sustainability and its work alongside the government and the World Health Organisation to improve health benefits for migrant workers.
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