RAPID INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR GUIDANCE FRAMEWORK FOR THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN SUPPLY CHAINS
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded a project to develop guidance framework for investors which supports the elimination of child labour in supply chains.
The UN Global Compact Network UK explored and developed guidance which will help investors to support the private sector to provide better decision-critical child labour data, clarify investor requirements, and share what best practice looks like across entire supply chains. The guidance also explores how the flagging of controversies can be reframed to support the elimination of child labour while maintaining critical vulnerability reducing investment and meeting investor material objectives.
The resulting RAPID Framework supports institutional investors to exert appropriate pressure on companies to end child labour in supply chains. Complete the form to download.
For further information, please reach out to Benafsha Delgado, Head of Social Sustainability.
“RAPID equips investors and companies with clear and actionable metrics for which data can be sourced, verified, and assured in the battle against child labour around the world. This is a welcomed framework to support the changes needed within supply chain ecosystems.”
Jaume Morapedros, Economist and Data Strategist Lead, iEARTHS.org
“It is great see a practical toolkit being developed to support investors. I particularly liked the emphasis on metrics, evidence, and transparency. But most important of all was the focus on real world change – investors can be influential in protecting the most vulnerable workers across the globe.”
Dame Sara Thornton, ex-UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery.
“We’re seeking to help enable investors to optimise and assume their pivotal role in exerting influence on companies to end child labour in global supply chains. Unlike environmental data, which is better understood, and increasingly available, human rights supply chain data is proving more problematic. Supporting investors with the tools to navigate investments operating in high-risk contexts is crucial as a means of strengthening efforts to eliminate child labour without divesting. This approach also seeks to reduce the likelihood of reducing job and livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable. We’re mindful of an approach which advances all parts of SDG8 in synergy.”
Benafsha Delgado, Head of Social Sustainability
Further Resources:
RAPID Press Release 2023 ExpandCHILD LABOUR GUIDANCE FRAMEWORK FOR INVESTORS
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FDCO) is funding a project to develop a guidance framework for investors which supports the elimination of child labour in supply chains.
The UN Global Compact Network UK will explore and develop guidance which will help investors to support the private sector to provide better decision-critical child labour data, clarify investor requirements, and share what best practice looks like across entire supply chains. The guidance will also explore how the flagging of controversies could be reframed to support the elimination of child labour while maintaining critical vulnerability reducing investment and meeting investor material objectives.
Benafsha Delgado, Head of Social Sustainability of the UN Global Compact Network UK says:
“We’re seeking to help enable investors to optimise and assume their pivotal role in exerting influence on companies to end child labour in global supply chains. Unlike environmental data, which is better understood, and increasingly available, human rights supply chain data is proving more problematic. Supporting investors with the tools to navigate investments operating in high-risk contexts is crucial as a means of strengthening efforts to eliminate child labour without divesting. This approach also seeks to reduce the likelihood of reducing job and livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable. We’re mindful of an approach which advances all parts of SDG8 in synergy.”
This project is the latest in a series of projects that the UN Global Compact Network UK has been involved in – building upon valuable lessons learned from the Partnership Against Child Exploitation (PACE), which implemented a range of innovative approaches to effectively reduce the worst forms of child labour and, ongoing work in the Consortium Against Modern Slavery (CCEM), a collaboration to support the strengthening of social norms and to create more meaningful and measurable data to provide greater transparency to investors.
The project will be completed end of March 2024.
END
For further information contact: Benafsha.delgado@unglobalcompact.org.uk
UN Global Compact Network UK:
The UN Global Compact Network UK is an independent not-for-profit organisation. It aims to promote charitable sustainable development, relieve poverty, preserve and protect the environment, and promote ethical standards and conduct within businesses and the private sector in the UK. The United Nations Global Compact is a global platform for business and non-business entities to proactively network and engage in areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. Participation in the UN Global Compact is a widely visible commitment to the implementation, disclosure, and promotion of its ten universal principles.
Dame Sara Thornton, ex-UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Professor of Practice in Modern Slavery.
“It is great see a practical toolkit being developed to support investors. I particularly liked the emphasis on metrics, evidence, and transparency. But most important of all was the focus on real world change – investors can be influential in protecting the most vulnerable workers across the globe.”
David Wray, President, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants
“Organizations that understand how to place human rights, particularly children, at the centre of their business decisions naturally contribute towards preventing child labour within their supply chains. RAPID is a significant step forward in this much needed mindset shift!”
Jaume Morapedros, Economist and Data Strategist Lead, iEARTHS.org
“RAPID equips investors and companies with clear and actionable metrics for which data can be sourced, verified, and assured in the battle against child labour around the world. This is a welcomed framework to support the changes needed within supply chain ecosystems.”
Dan Neale, Church Commissioners for England Responsible Investment Team
“Child labour is a horrific feature of the global economy that has no place in the 21st century. Institutional investors, through their holdings in companies with extensive global supply chains, will be exposed to child labour risks. In meeting their responsibilities to respect human rights, investors should be identifying and acting on child labour risks but can frequently struggle to know where to start. This is where tools like the RAPID Framework can really help to target investor actions which can help eliminate child labour and in turn support long term value creation.”
