Default title

As if the writing weren’t already on the wall, the angry scenes at the WTO meeting in Seattle late last year and, to a lesser extent, at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, have made it clear: global corporations are under pressure to demonstrate social concerns and values beyond straight shareholder return. Human rights are at the centre of this picture. In the last few years, perceived corporate complicity in human rights abuses has damaged corporate reputation and, in some cases, share price.

At the 1999 Davos meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged world business leaders to a Global Compact of shared values and principles to give a human dimension to the global market. The Global Compact is a joint initiative of the International Labour Organization, the UN Environment Programme and my Office. It seeks to engage corporations in promoting and implementing international standards in labour, environment and human rights. Corporations are asked to translate the Global Compact’s principles in these three areas into concrete management practices. Leading business associations, trade unions and non-governmental organizations are actively supporting the development of this initiative.

But a survey of Fortune 500 companies released today by the Ashridge Centre for Business and Society reveals that only a handful of companies have woken up to the fact that human rights are one of the greatest challenges they face in today’s globalised economy. This group of companies appreciates that their human rights performance affects their reputation and brand image and their ability to recruit and retain the best employees, to gain acceptance with host communities and to secure their license to operate with governments. Others will inevitably follow this lead.

Companies need to make a firm commitment to translate their good intentions into mainstream business practice on the ground if real progress is to be achieved. A corporate statement of principle which commits a company to upholding international human rights standards is a good starting point. The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides the most widely accepted set of standards. Too often, however, companies stop at this point. Such a statement in itself will not prevent child labour abuses down the supply chain, nor will it guarantee workers’ freedom of association in their factories, or protect indigenous peoples’ land rights. Impressive rhetoric will be held up to scrutiny by a vigilant civil society and companies seen to be failing to translate their good intentions into progress will be taken to task.

There is help at hand for companies seeking to navigate their way through the human rights minefield. A new management primer launched today by Amnesty International and The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, Human Rights is it any of your business? it offers a guide for companies to interpret and apply human rights and to assess key risks and dilemmas. This publication makes the business case for human rights protection and illustrates practical ways in which it is being put into operation by a number of leading companies.

For human rights to be truly embedded in the corporate agenda, a greater corporate willingness for leadership -- by those transnational companies taking human rights on board -- and partnership -- between the private sector, government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) -- must emerge. Non-governmental groups are proving willing to enter into discussions with companies on the question of human rights. And vice versa – several transnationals have consulted with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among others, on how to improve their human rights performance. While an individual company may be reluctant to stick its head above the parapet on a sensitive issue such as child labour or corruption, collective dialogue by several transnational companies with a host government can prove a powerful voice for positive change.

Some NGOs have expressed the concern that closer partnerships of this nature may affect the independence of the UN and somehow undermine its integrity. While partnership will necessarily mean accommodation of the other to some appropriate extent, I do not accept that partnership means compromising on principles. Partnership is a sign of strength - not of weakness. A dividend of closer cooperation is that the United Nations will react with increased vigour to reports of corporate complicity in human rights violations.

Twenty years ago, few companies had environmental policies. Compare that with today’s picture where the environment is unquestionably a mainstream business issue. So it should be with human rights. At the end of the day, having a strong human rights policy and a sound implementation strategy is about risk management and reputation assurance. There can be no denying that human rights is a bottom-line issue. We need to see more companies adopting human rights principles and being held to account for putting them into action.

Mary Robinson is United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, headquartered in Geneva (www.unhchr.ch)

(See the Global Compact website at www.unglobalcompact.org)


*A shorter version of the preceding article appeared in the 7 April 2000 edition of The Times of London.