The partnershipA joint initiative between UNICEF, the United Nations Global Compact and Save the Children

has resulted in a landmark set of 10 Children’s Rights and Business Principles to guide

companies on the full range of actions they can take to respect and support children’s

rights in the workplace, the marketplace and the community. The Principles call on

businesses everywhere to uphold children’s rights in all aspects of their operations – from

instituting child-friendly workplace practices, marketing and advertising practices to playing

a role in aiding children affected by emergencies.

The challengeDuring the past few decades, business enterprises have been recognized more and more

as key actors in society, with responsibilities towards those around them and accountable

for their actions. The release of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

in 20111 was a major advance in creating consensus and clarifying the responsibility of

business to uphold human rights.

While the business and human rights agenda has evolved significantly, a child rights

perspective on this issue had not been explicitly addressed. In fact, recognition of the

responsibility of business towards children has too often been limited to the prevention

of child labour. While this is important, and much work remains to be done in this area,

there has also been a need to better understand and address the myriad other ways

in which business affects children’s rights and well-being.

Because children under the age of 18 account for almost a third of the world’s population,

it is inevitable that businesses, whether small or large, will have an effect on the lives of

children, both directly and indirectly. Children are affected by business in a variety of ways

– as consumers, as members of employees’ families, as future employees themselves and

as eventual business leaders. They also live in the communities and share the environments

in which businesses operate, and are sometimes affected more severely than adults by the

hazards of industry, such as pollutants.

1 United Nations, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, Human Rights Council, 21 March 2011.

UNICEF’s engagement in the Children’s Rights and Business Principles Initiative

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However, children employed or affected by a business are often invisible. Typical examples

include children working illicitly for the suppliers of a company that is otherwise in compliance

with all labour laws, children employed as domestic workers in employee housing, or children

left behind when their parents must migrate to find work.

The private sector has enormous potential to impact children’s lives, both positively and

negatively, through its operations, products, marketing practices and other activities,

and, for better or for worse, that impact can be long-lasting and even irreversible.

BackgroundUNICEF, Save the Children and the UN Global Compact joined forces in June 2010 to

identify clear, comprehensive guidelines for actions companies can take to prevent their

activities and relationships from having an adverse effect on children’s lives and to maximize

the positive impact.

Each organization brought a specific comparative advantage to the partnership:

• TheUNGlobalCompact,withmorethan10,000signatoriesinover135countries,2

is a voluntary corporate responsibility initiative that seeks to align business operations

with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment

and anti-corruption.3 Its participation provided a critical global business perspective,

experience of UN-business engagement and knowledge of corporate sustainability and

human rights.

• SavetheChildren,4 the world’s largest independent organization working for the benefit

of children, brought a critical civil society perspective. Moreover, Save the Children’s

expertise on child participation ensured that the voices of children were heard in the

development of the Principles.

• UNICEFprovidedsupportinfacilitatingandcoordinatingtheinitiativeandpolicyexpertise

on child rights. UNICEF’s relationship with governments was harnessed to bring their

perspectives into the process, as well as to support a parallel initiative of the Committee

on the Rights of the Child to develop guidance for governments on children’s rights

and business.

An inter-agency Steering Committee made up of representatives from each of the partner

organizations governed the initiative and was responsible for leading the conception,

development and launch of the Principles.

2 UN Global Compact, Local Network Report 2011, May 2012, p. 2.3 UN Global Compact, Corporate Sustainability in the World Economy, February 2011, p. 6. 4 Save the Children Sweden represented Save the Children International within the partnership.

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ActivitiesThe Principles are based on the results of an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation

process involving four main elements: desk research, formal advisory groups and broad

in-person and online consultations, including a specific strategy for child participation.

Research strategy: Extensive research was conducted during the first six months to

ascertain the many ways that business affects children’s rights, how children’s issues are

addressed in selected companies’ human rights policies and practices, and the role of

governments and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in engaging with business

on children’s rights.

Advisory groups: UNICEF and Save the Children set up Internal Reference Groups of

relevant staff members around the world to inform the development of the Principles.

An external Expert Reference Group consisting of individuals from the global north and the

global south with extensive experience in human rights, child rights, corporate responsibility,

international business, international development, finance and policy led the thought process

and contributed independent, objective feedback. The views of Global Compact local networks

were also sought throughout the process.

Global consultation process: From April through July 2011, more than 600 business leaders,

civil society and government representatives, and key experts participated in meetings

and consultations held in 10 cities5 around the world and also online.6 Additionally, several

thousand people were reached by efforts to build awareness of the Principles ahead of their

official release, including through the Global Compact’s monthly bulletin and website.

Child participation: A strategy was developed to ensure the participation of children and

young people as equal stakeholders in the initiative and to build their capacity to engage

with business and understand the responsibility of business to respect and support their

rights. From June through August 2011, Save the Children, UNICEF and other partners,

notably Plan International, supported consultations with more than 400 7- to 17-year-olds

in nine countries7 to allow them to review the draft Principles and share their perspectives

on how business affects their lives, families and communities.

ResultsThe Principles were released in March 2012 in London at an event that brought together

200 corporate leaders and representatives of civil society and academia to discuss and

showcase ways in which businesses can best implement the Principles and uphold children’s

rights in all areas of their operations.

5 Beijing, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Dubai, Geneva, Istanbul, London, Nairobi, New York and Shanghai.6 An online feedback channel was launched by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. 7 Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Senegal and Zambia.

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The first comprehensive, non-binding, voluntary standards for business in their relationship

to children based on recognized human rights standards and best business practices,

the Principles are meant to complement existing laws and regulations. They seek to guide

and inspire businesses to respect and support children’s rights in their core activities,

their social investment and philanthropy, advocacy and public policy engagement.

The Principles have been acclaimed for being simple, practical and easy to use. A number of

businesses have already begun to assess their activities using this framework, and in March

2012, the Kuoni Group, an international travel company, became the first to integrate

a reference to the Principles in its corporate Statement of Commitment on Human Rights.

Since the global release, more than 40 national and regional events, including a presentation

at the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum in June 2012, have been organized to convey

the child rights and business message within various local contexts.

Lessons learned and way forwardThe Children’s Rights and Business Principles initiative is an example of a successful

collaboration between like-minded UN entities and civil society partners to advance a new

area of children’s rights, namely the child rights and

business agenda. The joint leadership of these

three organizations was a critical factor in building

credibility for the initiative among business,

civil society and government stakeholders.

It was, however, not without challenges.

The UN Global Compact and Save the Children

proved to be more agile than UNICEF, and a key

lesson learned is that UNICEF needs to speed

up its internal decision-making and endorsement

processes.

The three organizations or their affiliates also

had very different perspectives on key issues

of content – for example, on child labour and

breast milk substitutes. Overcoming these

differences to find common ground was critical

to ensure that the Principles appropriately

reflect international norms and standards for

children as they relate to business.

Although the Principles have now been released,

the three sponsoring organizations will continue

to coordinate their actions informally as they

raise awareness and support the implementation

of the Principles through their individual areas of

expertise, activities and networks.

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All businesses should: Contribute to the elimination of child labour, including

in all business activities and business relationships

Provide decent work for young workers, parents and caregivers

Ensure the protection and safety of children in all business activities and facilities

Ensure that products and services are safe,and seek to support children’s rights through them

Use marketing and advertising that respect and support children’s rights

Respect and support children’s rights in relation to the environment and to land acquisition and use

Respect and support children’s rights in security arrangements

Help protect children affected by emergencies

Reinforce community and government efforts to protect and fulfil children’s rights

Meet their responsibility to respect children’s rights and commit to supporting the human rights of children

UNICEF developed a workbook, Children Are Everyone’s Business, to help the corporate sector translate the Principles into practice.