Human Rights and Governance

Advancing Human Rights and Governance

Swiss to vote on holding multinationals responsible for supply chains

On 29 November, Switzerland will hold a nationwide referendum on the Responsible Business Initiative. A vote in favour of the initiative will make companies headquartered in Switzerland legally responsible for what happens in their supply chains.
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Informal women workers organize and learn to safely recycle e-waste in Manila

As the world continues to produce, buy, and discard newer and more advanced electronic devices and appliances, countries are also facing the growing problem of what do with the waste generated when these products are discarded. If not properly processed, this e-waste (also known as waste electrical and electronic equipment or WEEE), poses a serious threat to the environment and to public health, especially in developing countries where e-waste is often shipped.
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Disruptive, digital, and local: the new reality for Latin American MSMEs

So far, Latin American MSME sector recovery forecasts remain pessimistic, mostly since they have yet to face structural barriers such as informality, lack of access to markets and inclusive value chains, as well as low financial and digital inclusion rates. Consequently, some international projections remain that more than 25 million people will enter poverty levels after the crisis. Do we know what that means economically and ethically for humanity? FUNDES identifies three specific gaps that affect the development of Latin American MSMEs in the traditional economy:
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Why businesses must act now to tackle hidden labour in global supply chains

The global COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how much economies and societies rely on hidden labour: labour which is unseen, unrecognised and unpaid. This hidden labour is disproportionately borne by women and is one of the most entrenched barriers to gender equality. Businesses stand to make significant gains from recognising, assessing and addressing hidden labour, and now is the time for them to step up as a vital partner in the journey towards a more gender equitable world.
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Business calls on governments to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 and accelerate SDG progress for refugees

On 16 September, the Business Refugee Action Network (BRAN) released its Business Takes a Stand for Refugees Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Statement and called on governments to include refugees in the SDGs, support them in the wake of COVID-19 and call out the racism and xenophobia they face. Daphne Jayasinghe reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on refugees’ economic inclusion and the role of business in ensuring refugees are not left behind.
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VIDEO: How can companies integrate human rights into their business purposes and strategies

Members of the Business Fights Poverty share their insights through a series of “how-to” videos on the themes of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020. This session aims to help business professionals understand the opportunities of a human rights approach and perspective for building business resilience,
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Day 2 SUMMARY: Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020

Today at Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020 we discussed equity. 
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Making the invisible, visible: the roadmap to gender equality and women’s empowerment 

The foundation of business is solution-led. Most of the world’s most successful companies have their origin as a solution to a challenge their target market is facing. It is striking then that when a business, or in fact an entire sector, is plagued by a problem that needs an urgent answer there can be reluctance to understand the scale and nature of the issue and to find a meaningful solution. This is the case when it comes to gender equality. 
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VIDEO: How Can Companies Ensure Gender Equality Through Value Chains?

Members of the Business Fights Poverty share their insights through a series of “how-to” videos on the themes of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020. In this video Professor Stephanie Barrientos of the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester looks at how companies can ensure gender equality through value chains
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VIDEO: How do I make my company more inculsive?

Members of the Business Fights Poverty share their insights through a series of “how-to” videos on the themes of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020. Ceri Davies Managing Director at More Mascots Please CIC looks at the role of businesses in addressing inclusion, specifically in reference to disabled people,
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UNGA2020 – Day 2 Webinar 1

Our webinar explored “Creating an Equitable Future,” discussing the role of businesses in addressing inequalities, both exposed by the pandemic and longstanding. Panellists emphasized
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An eye from the sky to view impact: Case of satellite imaging

Recent advances in areas of image processing methods, cloud computing and machine learning techniques, has made it easier to access and process satellite data. This article makes the case for how this offers us a new repertoire of options for measuring impact.
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Upcoming Online Event: Driving Digital Equity for the Most Vulnerable

As part of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020, Business Fights Poverty and Visa are convening a webinar and online peer discussion to explore how multilateral partnerships can drive digital equity for the most vulnerable.  This article gives a brief insight into the importance of digital equity, and explains how a wide range of organisations can play a part in driving change at a systemic level. 
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What are the innovations that could shape and transform the next decade?

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has released an issue brief outlining the business model shifts, emerging technologies and social innovations that could shape the next decade. The report is designed to help us think about the innovations that we can leverage in service of the SDGs, and those that we need to work harder to bring about.
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Supporting Women’s Wellbeing through Flexible, Digital Earning Opportunities

The WTO has recently predicted that the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will be disproportionately felt by women, with a ‘pink collar recession’ threatening to roll back the gender equality gains of recent decades.  In the UK, there are indications that women are bearing the brunt of redundancies, mothers are more likely than fathers to have been furloughed, and women have done the greater share of domestic and caring work during lockdown.
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Ashish Gadnis

Blockchain is banded around as a silver bullet to solving transparency and traceability challenges. This podcast reveals what this means to reality. Meet award-winning serial entrepreneur Ashish Gadnis – as he demystifies blockchain, shares the trends he thinks we should all be thinking about and why his father said to him – “If you want to get out of poverty you can either programme or you can beg.”
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Going above and beyond to support women entrepreneurs

As has been observed in the Business Fights Poverty community, the coronavirus pandemic poses a specific set of threats to women. Whether in the UK or Uganda, there’s growing evidence that the pressures of lockdown and the associated economic downturn will lead to a regression in women’s rights and gender equality.
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Natalia Cano

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The data revolution must accelerate food sustainability

Mobile payment systems, artificial intelligence, blockchain—such digital innovations have exploded in the last few years, and with good reason. Their capacity to harness vast amounts of data means they can improve transparency and decision-making for all kinds of industries—not least of all, for food production.
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The Cost of Cash to Ghana’s Cocoa Sector

Ghana is among the world’s leaders in the use of mobile money, but shockingly, the cocoa sector still pays upwards of 7 billion cedis (US$1.2 billion) every year in cash and checks to purchasing clerks, who then transfer it to farmers in cash. This means over 90% of the farmer transactions are still made in cash. Our organizations have released today new analysis showing that the costs and risk of cash to the cocoa sector are valued at more than $20 million every year, or more than 20% of turnover for all LBCs.
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What do we mean by "Human Rights and Governance"?

Explore initiatives that advance human rights and promote effective governance, driving global change, enforcing equity and alleviating poverty.

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