Human Rights and Bribery
Globalisation may be offering new opportunities to business, but with these come new responsibilities. Consumer goods industries are finding that competitiveness increasingly means sourcing from suppliers in countries where the risks of being caught up in situations of conflict and human rights violations are growing. These sorts of situations are threatening to the investment climate, to the business infrastructure on the ground, to employees and also to corporate reputation if badly handled. Although companies cannot and should not attempt to be moral arbiters, or usurp the role of the state, they clearly have a fundamental role to play in the protection of human rights.
Increasingly too, new external pressures are being placed on companies to improve human rights performance in their own operations and those of their suppliers. For example, FTSE4Good has already raised the human rights hurdle for entry since its launch, and requires companies with a significant presence in countries with documented human rights abuses to show how their human rights policy is implemented.
However, those attempting to operate to high human rights standards of often find that they are in uncharted and problematic waters. There are a number of different codes of conduct and standards to sign up to which spring from the UN Declaration of Human Rights, but doing so does not necessarily bring compliance on the ground. Stringent systems of implementation, monitoring and audit are needed to ensure that universal values of human rights are achieved in the workplace.
What we do
Sancroft advises companies on the human rights problems and campaigns they may confront in their day to day operations, and assists in the development of human rights codes and policies. We advise on audit procedures and how to ensure that these policies are effectively implemented in the supply chain to minimise violations, and ensure they are doing as they say to the best of their ability. We also assist in the corporate communication of human rights achievements, problems and strategies.
For further information on our key policy areas, please click on the following links:
- Supply chain management and sourcing
- Human rights and bribery
- Health and safety
- Waste management
- Health and nutrition
- Transport
- Planning