We see evidence that companies care about making children’s lives better. Many companies have programmes in place, donate to charity and adopt policies to safeguard children’s rights, especially around child labour. However, there are challenges to overcome, as evidenced by the following key finding: there is a gap between policies and reporting on the impacts and outcomes of those policies.
While many companies have policies in place to safeguard children’s rights, most are behind in demonstrating their implementation. Among the companies that explicitly prohibit child labor, less than half (43 percent) report any kind of supplier assessment and only 33 percent maintain board oversight over children’s issues.
The improved methodology used this year allows for a more detailed picture of the level of integration within company operations across a range of children’s rights issues, beyond child labour. The results clearly show that companies are better at having policies in
place (though these are still primarily focused on child labour) than they are at demonstrating how such policies are put into practice through implementation and integration into company operations.
On the impact side, companies on the whole are stronger at reporting on the various actions and initiatives they are running to improve children’s lives than they are about being transparent on the outcomes and impact of policies put in place to protect children from harm.
For overall benchmark report results and key findings, download the report. Read industry analysis, case studies and how we can use these results to build a better future for children.
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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.
To mark our 10-year anniversary, and to acknowledge the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we asked young people and adult stakeholders what they see as the most critical issues for business to consider in the coming decade. To answer this question, we commissioned a global survey – scanning opinions from Stockholm to Sao Paolo – to listen and learn so that we can better guide companies along their journey to create a better world for children. So what are the top 10 children’s rights and business issues? Read on to find out!
Johan Öberg, a core member of The Boston Consulting Group’s Principal Investors & Private Equity practice and a board member of Global Child Forum, comments on the results of the global benchmark study The State of Children’s Rights and Business: From Promise to Practice.
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.
The State of Children’s Rights and Business 2019, is a bold undertaking and showcases the results of nearly year-long review and analysis of just under 700 of the world’s leading companies, in nine sectors and along 20 children’s rights indicators. While the resulting data can be statistically complex, the underlying ambition was relatively straightforward. We wanted to learn more about how the corporate sector is doing with regard to integrating children’s rights into both their operations and their relationships with the communities in which they operate.
Ethical Toy Program partners with Save the Children and the Centre for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR) in this webinar to introduce the child rights and business principles in detail, child rights issues and responsible resourcing, best practices from the toy supply chain.
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Save the Children Sweden ...
The world has taken on a tremendous task: to eliminate child labour. Global Goal for Sustainable Development no 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth states that by 2025 child labour in all its forms shall be eliminated. This is ambitious as the target is supposed to be reached five years earlier than 2030, the end date for the Global Goals as a whole. At the same time, the latest report on child labour from the International Labour Organization (ILO), shows that even though child labour is on the decline, it’s not declining fast enough, and in recent years, the pace has slowed considerably. At the current rate, the ILO estimates that by 2025, 121 million children will still be in child labour. So, what are we doing wrong? And more importantly, how can we improve, so that child labour can finally be a thing of the past?
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.
