Transitional justice and peacebuilding on the ground

Policy brief drawing on the research conducted as part of a grant from the US Institute of Peace (USIP 002-09F) on victim-centred approaches to justice and DDR processes

Human rights in global supply chains: Corporate social responsibility and public procurement in the European Union

The global supply chains of multinational enterprises are complex and multi-tiered, often involving many stages of production and spanning several jurisdictions. Important questions remain about how to ensure that human rights are respected in these supply chains, including how multinational enterprises are to exercise the responsibility to respect human rights in their supply chains and the role that can be played by states in protecting human rights outside of their borders. This article focuses specifically on the potential for states to use public procurement as a tool to promote human rights protection beyond their borders by purchasing goods from companies that ensure that human rights are respected throughout the whole supply chain of the procured product. The article considers the responsibilities of states and business enterprises with respect to global supply chains, including the recognised relevance of public procurement in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as part of the ‘state-business nexus’. The remaining sections analyse how the historical role of public procurement in pursuing social aims has developed to encompass matters of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and of human rights specifically; the development of the EU’s CSR strategy and the approach of the EU to linking this with developments in the EU procurement regime; and, finally, the extent to which the recently revised EU procurement regime supports the use of procurement as a tool to promote human rights in global supply chains

Monitoring Human Rights in Global Supply Chains. Insights and policy recommendations for Civil Society, Global Brands and Academics

Global production systems are organised across contractually and geographically distributed supply chains. As a consequence of this model there exists a ‘governance gap’ in global supply chains which results in limited regulatory and contractual oversight of human rights and labour standards in the factories in the lower tiers of production. Despite a surge in instruments and initiatives designed to address supply chain failures the problems persist. Supply chain monitoring provides the means by which a failure to meet agreed or desired standards or processes can be identified and appropriate action taken. Traditional monitoring models include in-house monitoring of codes of conduct undertaken by corporate brands, third party auditing and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Numerous problems with traditional monitoring models have been discussed by academics and civil society including inherent conflicts of interest, the partial, ‘snap-shot’ nature of auditing processes, the structural problems inherent in distributed supply chains which place downward pressure on factories who are producing goods and components for global brands, the lack of appropriate monitoring methodologies to protect workers from repercussions if they speak out about poor conditions and the lack of effective mechanisms through which workers can raise grievances and seek remedies. Our interviews with a small sample of representatives from labour rights and monitoring organisations build upon existing work on the limitations of supply chain monitoring and give indications of ways forward for the development of more effective monitoring models

Promoting responsible electronics supply chains through public procurement

• The electronics industry supply chain is particularly complex, with many companies involved in the manufacturing process and most of them far removed from the end user. Events involving well known electronics brands have highlighted the exploitative and unsafe conditions under which many workers in the supply chain operate. • Public procurement contracts worldwide are estimated to be worth one-thousand-billion euros annually and account for 16 per cent of GDP in the European Union. Because of their considerable buying power, public authorities, through their public procurement contracts, hold the potential for significant leverage in social and sustainability issues. • Within the European Union, public procurement contracts are subject to EU rules which aim to ensure non-discrimination and transparency in the procurement process. These rules also determine the extent to which social considerations are permitted within the procurement process. • The best opportunity to introduce social considerations is within the contract performance stage of the process, which allows the buyer to specify the conditions to be performed once the contract has been granted. • Developing contract performance conditions which apply throughout the supply chain is challenging for several reasons. Two approaches to using such conditions are available: the use of cascading contract conditions and a contractor-led due diligence approach. • The due diligence approach is suggested as a preferable option since it is less onerous in overall terms, is a responsive model and therefore may be better suited to addressing supply chain problems. It is also more practicable from a contractual perspective. • The necessary features of an effective contract performance condition include requirements for the disclosure of factory locations, determination of labour conditions and standards to be required, provision for access to factories and monitoring and for remediation and the imposition of penalties

Advancing respect for labour rights globally through public procurement

Governments are mega-consumers of many manufactured products and services. As such they should in principle be able to influence workers’ rights abroad via the terms of purchase contracts. Yet to date little attention has been paid to the potential of public procurement to promote respect for labour rights globally besides the international trade law framework. Building on a limited emerging scholarship and policy developments, this article addresses this gap. Section 2 considers legal definitions of public procurement and distinguishes primary and secondary aims of procurement under key international and regional procurement regimes. This highlights that, although historically used to advance labour rights domestically, these regimes have restricted public buyers’ scope to advance labour rights beyond national borders. Section 3 explores new international policy frameworks on responsible global value chains and supply chains which by contrast appear to augur the greater use of public procurement to promote labour rights globally in future. Section 4 argues, supported by analysis of the limited examples available, that public buying has the potential to positively influence enjoyment of labour rights in practice. Concluding, Section 5 reflects on what the more specific impacts of public procurement in this context may be, and how public buying should complement other mechanisms for improving labour conditions across supply chains, such as social clauses in trade agreements. Finally, we outline issues for further research and the future policy agenda

Buying power and human rights in the supply chain: legal options for socially responsible public procurement of electronic goods

Several scandals involving well-known electronics brands have highlighted the exploitative and unsafe conditions under which many workers operate in the industry’s long and complex supply chains. As large-scale consumers of electronic goods, public buyers potentially hold significant leverage over the behaviour of their suppliers through their buying power. Consequently, public procurement has the potential to be a significant influence on these supply chains and ultimately the human rights of those working in them. This article critically assesses legal options for the promotion of social considerations in the supply chain, considering in particular the potential of the European Union legal regime for public procurement as a tool for improving working conditions and human rights in the electronics industry supply chain

Franco’s victims in Spain: the long road towards justice and recognition

In today’s Spain there is a lack of public discourse recognizing the unbalanced treatment suffered by the victims of Franco, both during the civil war and the repression that followed, during the dictatorship, transition and four decades of democracy. There has also been limited discussion regarding their legal rights as victims. This chapter argues that in Spain official narratives and amnesty have not only resulted in the denial of the legal status of victims and their social definition as such, but largely in the refusal to self-define as a victim by those who suffered violations and repression by Franco’s troops and government

BUSINESS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND CHILDREN: THE DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL AGENDA

The consideration of the role of the private business sector with regards to the fulfilment of children’s rights is relatively recent. International attention on the effects of business activities have on children has been fragmented until now, focussing on specific sectors, mainly child labour and economic exploitation. Recent international developments, addressed both to states and business enterprises, propose a more comprehensive approach. This article focuses on two of them: the UNICEF-Global Compact and Save the Children Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRB Principles), launched in May 2012, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 16 on state obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights, published in April 2013.  Both documents represent an important step in the consolidation of an international agenda for the protection of the rights of the child that takes into account the different challenges faced by children in the current economic system

Combating trafficking in human beings and labour exploitation in supply chains - Guidance for OSCE procurement

This procurement guidance is a key step in rolling out the implementation of anti-trafficking measures in OSCE’s own procurement across its executive structures and aligning the OSCE’s mandates with its own processes. The guidance’s aim is to support procurement and anti-trafficking staff in the OSCE with the background knowledge to implement anti-trafficking measures in procurement activities; alongside training workshops, procurement risk analyses and local action plans. Preventing trafficking and labour exploitation in supply chains is no easy task. By taking these first steps, the OSCE is developing further expertise, and is supporting OSCE participating States and the international community in their ongoing efforts to prevent trafficking for forced labour in their supply chains