Comment by Stephanie Slack for October/November CCB 120
November 29, 2011
Human Rights
November 29 2011
by CCB Team
Comment by Stephanie Slack for October/November CCB 120
Consumers demand Hershey stop buying child labour
Raise the Bar Hershey! Is leading a campaign on Change.org calling for an end to ongoing labour abuses in the cocoa industry in child, forced or trafficked labour. The campaign is targeting Hershey following its continued failure to make reasonable efforts to keep labour abuses out of its supply chain. More than 30,000 consumers have joined this campaign as a result of Raise the bar’s efforts. Elizabeth O’Connell, fair Trade Campaigns Director at Green America and member of Raise the Bar, has said “Hershey has done far less than other chocolate companies to address these abuses despite promising to fight child slavery and other abuses in the cocoa industry a decade ago through the Harkin-Engel Protocol.
Shell fuelled human rights abuses in the Niger Delta
According to anew report published by Platform and a coalition of NGOs, Shell fuelled human rights abuses in Nigeria by paying contracts to armed militants. The report, Counting the Cost, finds that Shell has routinely made payments to armed militants driving violence since 2000. As a result, in the town of Rumeukpe 60 people were killed. Key findings of the report include: Shell admits funding armed militants knowing this money was used to sustain conflict since 2006. The NGOs involved in the report are demanding that Shell break ties with government forces and armed groups responsible for violence in this region
The annual Forced or Involuntary Labour Index, released by Maplecroft, which assess the risk to business from complicity in the violation of human rights has revealed a continuing global trend in the use of forced labour, particularly across economically important emerging markets. Maplecroft calculates this index by assessing the use of forced labour in international operations or across supply chain partners and analysing the frequency, duration, coverage and severity of reported forced labour violations in 196 countries. For the fifth consecutive year, countries vital to the supply chains of multinationals, including China, Mexico and India, are featuring in the ‘extreme risk’ category of the index.
According to new research from the Australian council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), little progress has been made at large Australian companies to adopt anti-corruption policies. The report, Anti-corruption and Bribery Practices in Corporate Australia, suggests there has been an increase from 65% in 2006 to 75% in 2011 in the number of ASX100 companies operating in a sector or country considered high-risk for corruption. IN addition, 40% of the ASX200 companies operating internationally were found to have no public policy forbidding bribery or facilitation payments. Comparison as also made with the top 100 companies in the UK, US and Europe and it was found Australia falls behind these countries in terms of prohibiting the giving and receiving of bribes.
Contact: Australian Council of superannuation Investors www.acsi.org.au
Companies in China and Russia most likely to bribe abroad
Transparency International has released its Bribe Payers Index 2011, ranking 28 leading international and regional exporting countries by the likelihood of their firms to bribe abroad. The report finds that companies from Russia and china are most likely to pay bribes abroad whilst those from the Netherlands and Switzerland are least likely to bribe. The report finds that companies pay bribes to officials in order to win public tenders, avoid regulation, speed up government policy or influence policy, but also that companies are almost as likely to bribe other businesses. The oil and gas sector was found to be the sector most prone to bribery with the public works and construction sectors scoring lowest on their likelihood of engaging in bribery.
Comment by Stephanie Slack for October/November CCB 120
China and Russia are ‘most likely to bribe’ abroad. This is the finding of Transparency International’s 2011 Bribe payers Index. The findings seem somewhat ironic given the launch of the G20’s anti-corruption plan in 2010 and the decision of both Russia and China to pass anti-bribery laws this year. In February, China introduced foreign bribery as an offence and Russia’s legislation sought to improve public governance in tackling corruption and criminalised foreign bribery. Despite this, the report finds that on average there has been no improvement in the perceptions of foreign bribery since the last index in 2008. This goes to show just how little effort and attention is being paid to anti-corruption efforts.
The G20 anti-corruption monitoring report states that progress has been made: The working group has met four times and members have agreed to adopt a set of principles. Seventeen members have implemented UNCAC and fifteen have implemented the Anti-Bribery Convention. However, these commitments have not transformed into practice. It is a case of all talk and no action. We only have to look at the global recession and particularly the woeful state of businesses in developing economies to see the devastating impact corruption can have when left unaddressed.
The recent monitoring report suggests that governments should lead by example with regards to implementing anti-corruption legislation and regulations. However, given that corruption adds up to 10% of the cost of doing business, according to the UN Global Compact, I think it is time for business to start playing the leading role and becoming resistant to corruption. It is clear we cannot rely on our governments to enforce these regulations. This is the chance for businesses worldwide to step up and start paving the way for clean business practices.
Stephanie Slack has a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and Contemporary European Studies and recently undertook an internship at Corproate Citizenship.
Report finds labour abuse in Chinese run copper mining companies
A new report by Human Rights Watch, ‘You’ll Be Fired If You Refuse’: Labour Abuses in Zambia’s Chinese State-owned Copper Mines has found that Chinese-run copper mining companies in Zambia are regularly flouting labour laws and regulation designed to protect workers safety. The abuses reported include poor health and safety conditions, regular 12 and 18 hour shifts involving arduous labour and anti-union activities, which are all in violation of the Zambia’s national laws. The companies responsible for the abuses are all subsidiaries of China Non-Ferrus Metal Mining Corporation, a state owned enterprise. The research was based on three field missions undertaken over the last year and involving interviews with more than 170 mine workers involved in the companies operations.
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