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Blog | Tuesday July 16, 2019

Blockchain through the Whole Supply Chain

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This blog is the first in a series where BSR and (en)visible will document our project to establish a blockchain-enabled traceable supply chain that delivers sustainability benefits to all the actors in the supply chain. 

The dirt road got bumpier and the jungle more beautiful, with a seemingly endless variety of trees and wildlife. The villages announced themselves with their wood and straw houses. Residents sat on porches, manning micro markets and looking after children. Others were heading out, machete in hand, to tend their parcels of farmland.  

We had arrived at the start of a global supply chain. 

That term, “global supply chain,” conjures up images of enormous ports filled with colorful arrays of ocean-bound shipping containers, or commercial freight trucks arriving at highly-organized distribution centers. But global supply chains all start before that point—and our actions to make supply chains more visible, traceable, and sustainable need to start at the beginning.  

Many of us working in sustainability know about the long paths that supply chains follow, the rural smallholders at the start of nearly every supply chain, but these are just abstract ideas until they are confronted up close. People need to see it, know it, and feel it. Executives, buyers, consumers—they need to see that behind our everyday products, behind the purchase price and margins, there are real people, real challenges, unpredictable weather, and bumpy routes to market. Yes, there is a growing collective understanding, but it’s one thing to read an article about the plight of smallholder farmers and quite another to see the connection, even if only through a scanned QR code on a package, to understand that these precise individuals brought this product to you—and to know that the individuals also understand their critical role in the global exchange of goods. 

Blockchain technology can allow all of the supply chain actors – from farmer to cooperative to buyer to brand – to participate on more equal terms, to shake hands virtually, to agree on what has happened with an immutable record, and to see where things have been and where they are going. 

BSR is committed to the creation of the visible, connected supply chain. In the project that this blog series will document, we are working with a forward-thinking global brand and with our partners at (en)nvisible, who are providing the blockchain-based traceability solution. It is blockchain that can allow all of the supply chain actors—from farmer to cooperative to buyer to brand—to participate on more equal terms, to shake hands virtually, to agree on what has happened with an immutable record, and to see where things have been and where they are going. There may be other technologies that enable traceability, but nothing quite as elegant.

Forward-thinking companies have a lot to gain from moving in this direction towards transparent, traceable, efficient, and equitable supply chains:

• Deeper insights about their supply chain partners. Just by starting the process, by design, a company gains more transparency over who is in the supply chain, what is happening, and which suppliers are aligned with their mission.
• Increased connection to the farmers in their upstream supply chain. This approach naturally leads to a connection to the source, which helps companies better understand the value of raw materials, and also can enable farmers to better understand the value of their crops and how they are being used.
• Sophisticated understanding of the payment dynamics along the whole of the supply chain. There are dynamics in upstream supply chains that contribute to increased uncertainty and risk, and understanding these dynamics can lead to better access to finance for the most vulnerable actors, reducing risk for everyone.

The corporate priority to digitalize supply chain management and procurement is absolutely right, as long as it takes into account the whole chain and the people who bring it to life. Technology should follow function, and systems should be built with the entire chain in mind.

This blog has provided an overview of the project and the start of the journey. We look forward to sharing specific details of this story as we go down the road. 

Blog | Thursday July 11, 2019

How Business Can Impact Human Rights: Four Lessons from Peacebuilding and Development

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I am thrilled to join you as BSR’s new Human Rights Director! As I step into this role, I carry with me a continued fascination with the global challenges of today, a deep desire to understand the causes of the world’s most pressing human rights issues, and the persistent belief that we can do more to proactively protect the well-being of people in communities where businesses operate.

For the past decade, I worked at Mercy Corps—a humanitarian assistance and development NGO working in the world’s toughest places—to better understand, prevent, and mitigate conflict. As the organization’s first Peace & Governance Director in Myanmar and later as the Director of the Peace & Conflict technical advisory team, I launched, built, and implemented programs that aimed to reduce violence, build the preconditions for peace and development, and address critical and emerging threats—from climate change and disruptive technology to poor governance and gender inequality. This included working closely with communities as well as public, private, and civil society sectors to better protect the public interest and meet public needs.

My experience in international assistance has taught me four things that I bring with me to BSR:

The challenges of today’s world are complex. The destructive impact of climate change, growing income inequality, rising violence and political instability, increasing forced migration: these challenges are driven by multiple causes and are themselves intertwined. The corollary to this is that the solutions, too, are complex: because there is no single cause of today’s global challenges, there is no silver bullet to solve them. I look forward to working with BSR member companies to make sense of these challenges and to establish informed plans to address them

The realization of human rights is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Solving today’s challenges will require us to work across social, political, economic, and environmental systems to address their multiple drivers in tandem. No one actor can do this alone. Collective, multistakeholder action—grounded in a common analysis and driven by a shared strategy—is required to leverage the differential strengths and roles of the public, private, and civil society sectors. Companies will need to work across all operational functions to fully harness their capabilities to not only identify and mitigate human rights risks, but move beyond this to proactively foster the conditions that enable the full realization of human rights for everyone. BSR’s portfolio of multistakeholder and multi-company collaborative initiatives offers an excellent platform for joint actions toward this.

Know your context – and know your impact on it. Regardless of intention, businesses influence the contexts where they operate from the moment they enter. This is of particular concern in fragile and conflict-affected states, where both communities and companies are exposed to heighted risks of armed violence, political instability, and climate change. Knowing how interconnected social, political, economic, and environmental dynamics in a specific location increase state fragility, drive conflict, and undermine public well-being – and knowing how business operations will influence these dynamics – is the first step toward preventing adverse human rights impacts. I look forward to bringing the analytical lens and implementation approaches from the peacebuilding and conflict prevention fields to complement those in the field of business and human rights.

Business can make a difference. Development assistance from official donors was US$153 billion in 2018. That pales in comparison with the value of private sector investment, which was more than seven times that amount during the same period. To put it bluntly, aid won’t lift the world out of poverty—private sector investment will. By the same token, in the human rights realm, the world’s top businesses have an outsize influence on both their geographical areas of operation and their value chains. I look forward to working with BSR member companies not just to respect human rights by preventing adverse human rights impacts and remediating harm, but to fulfill these rights, both by supporting an enabling policy environment and by fostering the conditions—such as inclusive economic growth, women’s empowerment, and sustainable natural resource management—that underpin their realization.

If there’s a through line in my career, it’s the belief that we can build a world in which human rights are fully realized in both law and practice—and I look forward to building it with you.

Blog | Wednesday July 10, 2019

Getting Circular Economy Right: Let’s Put People at the Center of Circular Fashion

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Circular economy is on-trend in the fashion industry right now. The Global Fashion Agenda’s 2019 CEO Agenda says that creating a circular fashion sector must be a strategic priority for the industry.

Estimated at US$20 billion today, the global fashion resale market has the potential to outsize Fast Fashion in just 10 years, whilst double-digit growth is predicted for online clothing rental for the next five years. In the marketplace, disruptors and big brands alike are vying to appeal to consumers increasingly willing to try ‘pre-loved’ and rented clothing for size. Eileen Fischer, for example, has generated impressive traction with its take-back and repair lines. Fashion giants such as Express and New York & Co. are trialing subscription rental models.

Such experiments explicitly target environmental concerns, such as waste and pollution. But as an industry that serves billions of consumers worldwide and employs an estimated 60-70 million people in its value chain, people are too often missing from the conversation. What are the impacts of such business model innovations on people? And how can these be designed to be inclusive and fair from the outset?

BSR is working with the C&A Foundation to explore the ways in which advancing circular fashion affects people and in particular, women. Our research reveals that very few companies adopting circular fashion models are considering the social aspects as they make this shift.

While some companies are interested in social issues, the focus has largely been on the environmental side where progress is usually easier to quantify and measure. Companies and enabling organizations alike are unsure of how to integrate and address social, let alone gender considerations, as they experiment with these new models, their potential impacts, and how to take them to scale.

Potential impacts of circular fashion at scale

In today’s linear fashion model, most fashion items are produced in developing and middle-income countries and are transported for consumption elsewhere. The significant economic and social impacts of a future where circular fashion has taken off at scale must be considered. In the current system, vulnerable populations often disproportionally suffer the negative impacts and without a deliberate design for inclusion, it’s easy to imagine that these new circular models may replicate the same inequalities.

• A growth in clothing reuse (e.g. rental, resale, remanufacturing) could spawn much local economic activity in consumption markets [CC7] and present new job opportunities and types of roles. On the other hand, more traditional roles, such as in-store retail, will likely decline.
• Skills profiles will change, with an overall need for increased technical skills, possibly leaving behind women, who are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM sector.
• Circular models could open opportunities for traditionally underrepresented groups as new roles and flexible working models emerge. However, this also could give rise to growing concerns over the erosion of labor protections and the quality and reliability of “gig-economy” type jobs.
• In production countries, circular models could improve public health and local environmental conditions, which are often associated with declining production and the use of more sustainable processes and materials.
• However, obvious negative impacts on workers’ incomes and job opportunities may arise if this transition is not adequately anticipated and managed by governments and other economic actors. Women workers, who make up most of the garment supply chain workforce, are likely to disproportionately suffer from production declines and from the effects of automation.
• From a consumer standpoint, new tech-enabled circular models will present new privacy concerns. Further, there is the risk that some models will perpetuate existing gendered pressures on women and continue to incentivize “fast-fashion” consumerist behavior.

A need for deliberate action

Despite these uncertainties, one thing is clear: Improvements in working conditions, in the distribution of wealth and power, and in creating better opportunities for women and minorities will not be realized without thoughtful, deliberate actions. Ensuring that the shift to circular fashion truly enables a just transition for vulnerable populations will require confronting some demanding challenges. 

• Circular fashion has great potential to enable sustainable business models but how do we encourage an intentional focus on inclusion and fairer distribution as a core part of this emerging business model? How can we use incentives to do so?
• How can we build circular fashion models that enable local communities and entrepreneurs to flourish? Could some circular models concentrate power in one part of the supply chain or, conversely, have a positive impact in terms of how wealth and power distributed?
• How do we ensure women's needs are informing the design of circular products and services? How do we leverage the role of circular fashion design in influencing positive gender norms?

To tackle these questions—and to support the transition to an inclusive and fair circular apparel industry—C&A Foundation has issued a request for proposals for initiatives to understand how to enable positive outcomes for workers, employees, entrepreneurs, customers, and the broader society. The RFP intends to establish evidence on how new circular business models operate and can, by design, drive better outcomes for people. The deadline for concept notes is 30th July 2019, with full RFP details available here.

Circular economy presents a massive opportunity for a resource-smart future, but much like the linear economy, without an inclusive and fair approach, it will fail to deliver society-wide benefits. BSR is committed to partnering with companies and stakeholders to realize circular economy models that work for people. We encourage all companies to evaluate the impacts of existing business approaches, and to design circular models which are socially inclusive and deliver fair and equitable outcomes for people.

Blog | Tuesday July 9, 2019

Mergers Are Coming: How to Manage ESG through the M&A Process

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We are living through a time of tremendous external disruption, technological innovation, and increased political, social, and climate risk. As a result of this ongoing disruption, we are seeing increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity as companies seek to buy into the latest innovation, to disrupt the competition—or to prevent being disrupted by the competition.

Already this year, we have witnessed high-profile mergers take place in multiple industries, including media (AT&T and Time Warner), pharmaceuticals (AbbVie and Allergan), and mining (Newmont Mining and Goldcorp).

These mergers can have a huge impact on the state of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) affairs for the companies involved. At a time when employees and customers are calling for companies to take stands on social issues and investors, like BlackRock’s Larry Fink, are stressing the value of “purpose,” a company’s ESG performance is more important than ever.  Companies can and should strive to integrate ESG considerations throughout the M&A process from initial due diligence through implementation after the merger.

As business leaders across industries pursue M&A activity, there will be substantial ESG opportunities and risks for the companies involved: opportunities to create more ambitious and resilient sustainability strategies, accompanied by risks that ESG objectives will be sidelined by overwhelming pressures to create short-term value.

BSR has developed a primer, Managing ESG through a Merger, to help Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs), their teams, and internal allies navigate the M&A process to leverage and enhance ESG-related programs and priorities.

A successful merger requires integration of culture, strategy, and processes—and a company with a resilient sustainability strategy will be better positioned to integrate ESG elements accordingly.

The primer serves as a guide for CSOs and sustainability teams, who may find themselves faced with a range of scenarios:

• Company A bids to acquire Company B, but it is rejected by Company B’s Board due to a lack of commitment to ESG or sustainability. How can Company A avoid this in the future?
• One company has nascent sustainability efforts while the other has a robust sustainability program—how can the merger create an opportunity to elevate the newly formed company up to the higher standards?
• A smaller, sustainability-oriented brand is bought by a larger company—how can the executives ensure that the sustainability commitments, credibility, and progress will continue?
• A larger company intentionally buys a sustainable brand to incubate more sustainable processes or products—how can they replicate those learnings across other parts of the business?
• Two companies with significant investments in ESG merge—how can they combine their efforts, teams, and data in a meaningful way?

A successful merger requires integration of culture, strategy, and processes—and a company with a resilient sustainability strategy will be better positioned to integrate ESG elements accordingly.

It’s important to note that it’s fully expected that the executive management team leading the merger process will prioritize legal and financial issues at play. This still creates an opportunity for CSOs and internal sustainability champions to step in and ensure that ESG considerations are integrated into management’s priorities, particularly during due diligence leading up to the merger. By understanding and acting on the key considerations outlined in our primer, sustainability teams can employ processes that more effectively considers ESG issues, mitigating the reputational and financial risk associated with potential ESG crises and positioning the company to build competitive advantage through better integration of its sustainability strengths.

The new climate for business is one of technological, geopolitical, and climate disruption. It is also one where ESG plays a key role in defining a company’s reputation and culture. As mergers become an increasingly popular business tactic in this climate, business leaders who value sustainability have much to consider. To learn more about how BSR can support your company during the M&A process, please connect with us.

Reports | Tuesday July 9, 2019

Key Considerations in Managing ESG through a Merger

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We are living through a time of tremendous external disruption, technological innovation, and increased political, social, and climate risk. As a result of this ongoing disruption, we are seeing increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity as companies seek to buy into the latest innovation, to disrupt the competition—or to prevent being disrupted by the competition.

Mergers and acquisitions can have a huge impact on the state of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) affairs for the companies involved. At a time when employees and customers are calling for companies to take stands on social issues and investors, like BlackRock’s Larry Fink, are stressing the value of “purpose,” a company’s ESG performance is more important than ever.  Companies can and should strive to integrate ESG considerations throughout the M&A process from initial due diligence through implementation after the merger.

BSR has developed this primer to help Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs), their teams, and internal allies navigate the M&A process to leverage and enhance ESG-related programs and priorities.

Blog | Monday July 8, 2019

Five Legal Trends Affecting Business and Human Rights

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From working conditions in their global supply chains to ethical use of their products, companies have a lot to consider when it comes to protecting human rights. And while the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) provides a framework for the private sector to assess their impacts, national laws regarding how business should address human rights vary widely from country to country.

This inconsistent nature of national government-level approaches to protect human rights is just one factor—along with the climate crisis and technological disruption—that companies, particularly multinational corporations, must contend with in today’s new climate for business.

Like many challenges, the question of how business should address human rights is one that benefits from collaboration—which is why BSR established the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) in 2012. The collaborative initiative seeks to help companies implement the UNGPs by providing operational-level guidance and bringing together a global community of business and human rights professionals. The spring meetings of HRWG, held in New York, London, and Tokyo, brought together representatives from 40 companies across sectors to connect over the field’s most pressing issues.

Over the course of the spring meetings, HRWG’s discussion covered topics ranging from children’s rights to the risks of doing business in disputed territories, as summarized in Human Rights Insights: Trends from the Human Rights Working Group’s Spring Meeting, which was published today.

One topic that highlighted the challenge of inconsistent approaches by national governments to issues of business and human rights was emerging legal trends in human rights. The Working Group delved into the following trends:

• Vedanta Lawsuit and Supply Chain Responsibility: Regardless of industry, multinational corporations with global subsidiaries should take note of the U.K. Supreme Court’s ruling in the lawsuit against British mining company Vedanta Resources, which deemed that the U.K.-based parent company could be sued for harms allegedly caused by their subsidiary.
• Modern Slavery and Human Rights Due Diligence: More and more, countries are considering or adopting laws that will require all businesses to conduct rigorous due diligence of their operations and supply chains.
• Discrimination Laws: Globally, there has been an increase in laws that prohibit discrimination. This is particularly salient for companies with global operations as countries that didn’t previously have laws relating to issues like gender discrimination are increasingly adopting and enacting them.
• Labor Protections: Protections for gig economy workers are weakening in many markets. Ride-sharing apps have been sued by their drivers to be considered employees instead of independent contractors in order to access better protections.
• Privacy:  Privacy is increasingly an issue of concern for business, particularly those who have access to, and thus must protect, sensitive data from users and customers.

As countries’ concern for human rights changes, so will the legal landscape—as will the operating environment for business. Meetings of the HRWG are a unique space in which business and human rights professionals from companies of all industries can come together to discuss such pressing and emerging issues in the field. The global community fostered by this collaboration leads not only to knowledge sharing, but it also enables individuals to bring back key learnings to their own companies and inform business strategy.

BSR members interested in joining the Human Rights Working Group should not hesitate to reach out and connect with us.

Reports | Monday July 8, 2019

Human Rights Insights: Trends from the Human Rights Working Group’s Spring Meeting

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In March and April 2019, BSR’s Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) held its first round of meetings for the year in New York, London, and Tokyo. Established in 2012, HRWG is a collaborative initiative designed to help companies implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), bringing together approximately 40 companies from across sectors. In addition to providing operational-level guidance and best practices in the business and human rights field, HRWG has established a global network of business and human rights professionals. The spring meetings covered a mix of substantive and methodological topics:  

• Human rights methodologies 
• Children’s rights 
• Legal trends
• Risks of doing business in disputed territories 

BSR member companies interested in joining the Human Rights Working Group should connect with us to learn more.  

Blog | Tuesday July 2, 2019

Scaling Impact: Tech Against Trafficking Launches Accelerator Program

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There are few facets of modern life that are untouched by technology. Innovations in the industry have changed the way we communicate, the way we work, the way we conduct commerce, and the way we address global issues like human trafficking and modern slavery.  

Modern slavery is a complex, thriving crime with a global foothold, affecting an estimated 40.3 million people. It manifests in a myriad of different forms, necessitating a wide range of increasingly creative responses and preventive approaches. Against this context, a coalition of technology companies have joined the collaborative initiative Tech Against Trafficking, for which BSR serves as the Secretariat and the RESPECT Initiative, comprised of Babson College’s Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM), and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, as Research Lead. 

To further Tech Against Trafficking’s work, the collaborative initiative recently launched an Accelerator Program, which aims to identify promising uses of technology in the anti-trafficking field and to harness the expertise and resources of member companies to advance and scale the work of the organizations deploying technology to assist victims, law enforcement, business, and civil society.  

Companies including Amazon, AT&T, BT, Microsoft, Nokia, Salesforce.org, and Vodafone aim to provide technical expertise, network access, mentorship, and training and educational components to accelerate the growth and impact of the organizations participating in the Accelerator.  

Tech Against Trafficking and its member companies have invited two organizations deploying innovative technology solutions to participate in their initial Accelerator Program, which is set to launch July 2019:  

• Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative: The Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), an initiative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is a global human trafficking data hub, publishing harmonized data from counter-trafficking organizations around the world. The goal is to reduce barriers to information-sharing and provide a mechanism for organizations to get data to public and policy audiences. In addition, CTDC helps to build a more complete picture of counter-trafficking trends based on up-to-date, reliable, and standardized data on human trafficking. CTDC hopes to further develop its partnership engagement process and continue to explore and promote best practices around data anonymization, privacy, and security. 
• Unseen UK: Unseen operates the UK Modern Slavery Helpline and Resource Centre. In 2017, Unseen worked with partners to develop the Unseen UK App to make reporting to the UK Modern Slavery Helpline easier. It was designed to help the police and modern slavery groups understand how to respond to cases or suspected cases of human trafficking, create greater awareness on the issue, inform individuals on how to identify signs of exploitation, and report situations of concern. Unseen hopes to scale the impact of the app, while continuing to expand their efforts to create a Pan-European Victim Case Management System for organizations providing services in the anti-trafficking sector. 

“We are delighted to have been chosen as one of the charity partners to benefit from the experience, tools, and skills afforded through Tech Against Trafficking,” stated Justine Currell, director at Unseen UK. “Developing our technological capabilities to better educate the public, law enforcement, and businesses—and reach more potential victims to get them the help they need through the Unseen App—is invaluable. Technology is the key to providing enhanced services to potential victims, and maximizing the data collated through the Helpline and the Victim Case Management System helps us to better support prevention activities. We are extremely excited to see the real difference we can make to those who are being abused and exploited through our collaboration with Tech Against Trafficking’s Accelerator Program.” 

Harry Cook, data management and research specialist at IOM and lead of the CTDC, added, “A lack of good evidence has long hampered counter-trafficking efforts. The prospect of what can be achieved by bringing together the capacity and expertise of the counter-trafficking community and the private sector is exciting.” 

Tech Against Trafficking plans to leverage collective resources to ensure that tech tools are deployed for preventing and combatting trafficking, keeping the most vulnerable populations safe, and ensuring human rights are protected in both the digital and analog worlds. 

The two organizations were invited to join the Accelerator following a research and assessment process that considered over 200 technology tools being used to combat human trafficking. Following an initial evaluation which considered public information on each tool’s impact, scalability, sustainability, interoperability, and effectiveness against their own self-stated goals, the two organizations above were selected to move forward with the first iteration of the Accelerator. Tech Against Trafficking is grateful to CTDC and Unseen UK for their collaboration during this pilot and their support honing in on a model that can be built upon over time. 

Tech Against Trafficking plans to leverage collective resources to ensure that tech tools are deployed for preventing and combatting trafficking, keeping the most vulnerable populations safe, and ensuring human rights are protected in both the digital and analog worlds. The intention is also to share learnings and outcomes from this pilot Accelerator with the broader anti-trafficking community.  

Blog | Monday July 1, 2019

Eliminating Violence and Harassment Just Became an Obligation for Businesses Worldwide

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On June 21, 2019, the International Labour Organization (ILO) voted overwhelmingly to adopt a Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. This represents an important step forward on strengthening protections for all workers around the world against violence and harassment.

Business should see the adoption of the Convention as a signal that:

• It’s time to recognize the stark reality that far too many people—primarily women—continue to experience violence and harassment in the world of work.
• Stakeholder expectations have changed radically for how companies should not only respond to workplace violence and harassment, but also actively work to prevent it from happening in the first place.

For the first time, there is an internationally agreed-upon standard and guidance for addressing violence and harassment in the world of work, setting a high bar for companies and governments on their responsibilities to manage this critical issue. The treaty includes many categories of workers: corporate employees, workers in factories and farms across global supply chains, informal workers, and job seekers. The Convention also looks beyond the walls of the workplace, recognizing there are risks of abuse throughout the “world of work,” e.g., when commuting to and from work.

While the specific applications to businesses will depend on the country and type of business in question, the overall message is clear: More—much more—is expected from businesses when it comes to tackling violence and harassment. Here’s how companies can take action using BSR’s “Act, Enable, Influence” framework:

ACT

Companies can act on this issue by developing programs, policies, services, and products that contribute to ending sexual harassment. A first step for companies is to assess their current efforts on gender-based violence and harassment across their value chains. BSR has developed a tool, in line with the new ILO Convention, to help companies to understand their current gaps in the following three areas:   

• Policies: The Convention identifies workplace policies addressing harassment and violence as part of an employer’s responsibilities. The Recommendations accompanying the Convention include additional guidance on what should be included, such as measures to protect whistleblowers and information on complaints procedures.
• Risk identification and assessment: The Convention requires employers to identify hazards and risks of violence and harassment. One way for businesses to approach this is to ensure that their human rights due diligence fully integrates gender considerations, as outlined in the new report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Gender Dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
• Trainings: The Convention asks employers to provide information and training for workers on violence and harassment and to take specific measures for sectors and roles where “exposure to harassment is more likely.”

BSR’s tool helps companies to conduct a thorough analysis of these and other areas and to assess opportunities to improve their practices.

Companies can enable business partners to tackle harassment and violence by collaborating with them to introduce appropriate measures.

ENABLE

Companies can enable business partners to tackle harassment and violence by collaborating with them to introduce appropriate measures. This is especially critical in supply chains for garments, agriculture, and other light manufacturing, which employ large numbers of vulnerable workers. Increasingly, evidence shows that violence and harassment is widespread in these sectors and across sourcing countries, with women workers particularly vulnerable.

• Many companies are already taking steps to address violence and harassment in supply chains with BSR’s HERrespect program, a leading initiative that connects global brands with their suppliers to implement workplace-based programs. HERrespect takes a comprehensive approach, working with female and male workers and managers to cultivate more cooperative and gender equitable relationships. HERrespect programs also strengthen the ability of workplaces to respond effectively when abuse occurs. Following pilots in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Kenya, this tried-and-tested program has confirmed its potential for impact and is ready to scale up. To learn more, please register for a HERrespect webinar on July 17 here (Asia/EMEA) or here (EMEA/U.S.).  
• Companies are also collaborating with peers through networks such as Business Action for Women and HERproject to tackle the complex issues of gender-based violence throughout their operations and to partner on designing and implementing new solutions.
• Business Fights Poverty has created a challenge on: “What role can business play in tackling gender-based violence?” Through this, Business Fights Poverty and partners have gathered resources to help build the business case for action and case studies of good practices. More information will be released on this site throughout the year.

With their brand credibility, marketing expertise, reach, and access to key influencers, companies can be uniquely positioned to shift harmful social or gender norms.

INFLUENCE

Businesses can also use their advocacy efforts and communications strategies to influence the wider community to address harassment and gender-based violence.

• With their brand credibility, marketing expertise, reach, and access to key influencers, companies can be uniquely positioned to shift the harmful social or gender norms that often contribute to the acceptance of violence and harassment against women. The recent advertisement from Gillette is a great example of this strategy: Through a commercial, the company opened an important conversation on toxic masculinity.
• Companies can also work with governments and advocate for strong protections for women workers as public officials work to put in place the various laws and policies mandated through the new ILO Convention.

BSR members looking to strengthen their policies on violence, harassment, and women’s empowerment should connect with our team. In addition, we will be hosting a webinar in the fall to explore the new ILO Convention in more depth with our partners from Business Fights Poverty and CARE—registration is open here.

Blog | Wednesday June 26, 2019

Human Rights Policy Engagement: The Role of Companies

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Companies around the world have embraced the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the Guiding Principles), which have catalyzed new efforts to ensure respect for human rights across business operations and beyond. However, in recent decades, there has been a global reversal of these human rights achievements, including governments pulling back from longstanding commitments and the closing of space for civil society to operate safely. This presents a new climate for business with new challenges in many parts of the world.

In this environment, it is increasingly important for business not only to maintain its commitments to respect human rights, but also to find new ways to support the work of governments for such efforts.   

Over the past year and a half, BSR has engaged with several companies to explore such opportunities as part of our Business Action Platform for Human Rights. At the conclusion of this effort, we are pleased to share our latest report, Human Rights Policy Engagement: The Role of Companies. In it, we highlight why now, more than ever, it is important for businesses to use their influence to stand up for human rights policies, institutions, and frameworks around the world—their loss or reversal would have negative consequences not just for businesses, but for the communities and societies in which they operate.

The reversals of human rights policies, institutions and frameworks, particularly over the last two years, can be felt around the world. From the rise of right-wing nationalist movements to threats against the United Nations’ human rights bodies, these reversals have undone many of the achievements built through bipartisan support over the last several decades, achievements that have benefited the private sector in many ways. Businesses rely on such policies, institutions, and frameworks in a variety of ways, including access to more stable markets through improved rule of law and more consistent application of international standards. Support for such measures is not only aligned with business priorities, it also helps companies align their values and actions with those of their employees, who are increasingly demanding that their employers reflect their values not just in their business operations, but in the ways in which they engage on policy issues, both domestically and internationally.

As some governments retreat from their duty to protect human rights, and in some cases actively degrade human rights protections, companies can and should fill this void where possible. 

As some governments retreat from their duty to protect human rights, and in some cases actively degrade human rights protections, companies can and should fill this void where possible. Not only is doing so in the interest of a business’s bottom line, it is in line with the human rights and sustainability commitments many companies have made.

For companies looking to engage on these important policy questions, this report lays out in detail the following five steps companies can take in order to gain buy-in internally and externally and also to improve the chances of a successful engagement.

1. Identify the business relevance of the impacted policy
2. Identify the intangible benefits, such as alignment with corporate or employee values
3. Assess a company’s ability to have an impact on the policy issue at hand and focus on identifying where a company has leverage
4. Understand the political context – is this a situation in which the government with which you are engaging is actively opposed to the policy in question?
5. Navigate tradeoffs to understand what internal and external barriers exist and what the impact of failing to engage could be

While there may be some barriers to engagement, they can and should be overcome: Engaging on these topics is essential in order to protect the human rights institutions, policies, and frameworks that have supported businesses.

Companies should recognize that these institutions, policies, and frameworks have helped them establish a foothold in developing nations by creating a more level playing field, strengthening the rule of law, and establishing more business-friendly environments. As companies engage on these topics, they will not only gain important reputational benefits with key stakeholders for defending human rights within their spheres of influence, but they will also help ensure that the institutions, policies, and frameworks that help them do business around the world are defended and maintained, as envisioned by the Guiding Principles.

In a world in which governments are withdrawing from their duty to protect human rights, it is more important than ever for business to step up. Business cannot and should not replace government’s role; neither can it play its role effectively if governments are in retreat. In this context, we hope companies will utilize Human Rights Policy Engagement: The Role of Companies as a resource and a prompt on how to stand up for fundamental human rights policies wherever they may do business.