Compliance issues around supply chains and the impact a company has in developing countries are at the top of many companies’ compliance agendas currently with developments like the poor treatment of garment workers in Asia and the passing in the UK of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. There’s a video introduction to the Legislation here and a full briefing paper here.
One of the challenges for organisations however is measuring those countries where there is the most risk. In particular how can a company assess whether any particular jurisdiction respects children’s rights?
One useful tool might be the Realization of Children’s Rights Index 2015 (RCRI) published by the Geneva based NGO Humanium (http://www.humanium.org/en/presentation/). Humanium have created their index rating a country’s progress in implementing children’s rights on a scale from 1 to 10. They’ve measured each country against eight fundamental children’s rights. They also produce a quick reference map where each country is graded into one of five grades from good situation to very serious situation. It is also possible to access detailed information on countries around the globe from Humanium’s country analysis pages here.
The RCRI might be a useful tool for many organisations in assessing their risk just as they will use indices like the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index to assess corruption risk. Whilst desk-based research, however well informed, will not be the only answer to reducing risk the Humanium RCRI is to be welcomed as a useful resource to help people understand some of the issues.
Read our report “UK government response to Modern Slavery Act compliance consultation: threshold figure set but guidance content detail still to come” here.
For more information contact Jonathan Armstrong who is a lawyer with Cordery in London where his focus is on compliance issues.
Jonathan Armstrong, Cordery, Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4HH
Office: +44 (0)207 075 1784
jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com