Child Rights and Business
Working to ensure that children are everyone’s business
Over the past decade the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increasingly given way to an understanding of sustainability and purpose, explicitly linking business action or inaction to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the notion of contribution to social progress remains a starting point within the business world, responsible business conduct is gaining sharper focus and attention. Shareholders and policymakers are increasingly moving towards greater business accountability.
UNICEF in East Asia and the Pacific is working with a broad range of stakeholders including policymakers, standard-setters and civil society to ensure that children’s rights form a central part of the expanding conversation and agenda on responsible business conduct.
Business impact on the full spectrum of rights as defined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as other relevant international standards - it links to product formulation, sales and marketing, environmental impact, data governance, employment practices, employee behaviour, data mining, investments and so forth. However, these impacts are often a blind spot for business.
Addressing these impacts offers enormous potential to improve the rights of children and to protect them from harm through the ways in which business treats employees, operates facilities, develops and markets products, provides services, and exerts influence on economic and social development. UNICEF is working to make the link between the wide range of business impacts on children and young people and the role of companies, multi-stakeholder initiatives and government policy in creating lasting change for children.
UNICEF in action in East Asia and the Pacific:
- Across the region, we gather evidence on the state of child rights and business to strengthen business awareness and drive action to address their impacts on children’s rights.
- In order to implement the United Nations guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Children’s Rights Business Principles, we work closely with both the public and private sectors.
- We promote the use of guidance for business to conduct due diligence that considers child rights.
- To build systems that safeguard children’s rights across business operations and supply chains, we work with business, industry platforms and governments.
- And we engage business champions to become advocates for children’s rights.
