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	Modern slavery may be hidden in supply chains, but it can be rooted out by Urmila Bhoola UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery   The United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Urmila Bhoola, has called on States, businesses and civil society across the world to step up actions to eradicate modern slavery and other human rights violations from business supply chains.   Speaking ahead of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Ms. Bhoola urged the international community to utilize social dialogue and create multi-stakeholder platforms as part of increased efforts to end these human rights violations.   “Slavery is often hidden, but we do know that contemporary forms of slavery such as forced labour and debt bondage are present in supply chains in numerous industries and sectors, including agriculture, garments and textiles manufacture, food processing and packaging. Modern slavery is particularly difficult to detect beyond the first tier of complicated supply chains of transnational businesses.   However, these forms of slavery can be rooted out through a multi-stakeholder and multi-faceted approach ensuring that all business operations and relationships are based on human rights, that those responsible for supply chain-related human rights violations are held accountable and that the victims are guaranteed the right to effective judicial and non-judicial remedy and appropriate and timely assistance aimed at empowering them.   My latest report to the UN Human Rights Council focuses on the duty of States, the responsibility of businesses and the role of other stakeholders in preventing, mitigating and redressing contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains. To mark the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, I would like to recall some of the main findings.   States   States have the obligation to set out clearly the expectation that businesses domiciled in their territory and/or in their jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations and business relationships, including beyond the first tier of their supply chains.   I call on more States to adopt adequate legislative, regulatory and institutional frameworks for eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains, including in terms of prohibiting fraudulent and abusive recruitment practices. This needs to be followed up by effective law enforcement aimed at ensuring that those responsible are held to account.   States have an obligation under international law to guarantee to victims of business-related human rights violations (such as slavery and slavery-like practices), the right to an effective remedy, including compensation.   Unfortunately, this right remains elusive, and access to justice for victims in the context of supply chains is often constrained by legal rules that limit corporate liability, the cost and duration of legal processes, and the difficulties inherent in holding businesses accountable for human rights violations outside their area of domicile.   Governments should also put more emphasis on adequate preventive measures through tackling the root causes, including poverty, displacement, discrimination, inequality, and lack of decent work, which create vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains.   They should also ensure that goods are not procured from suppliers that condone or use slavery in their supply chains.   Businesses   Global business should leverage the extensive capacity and resources at its disposal to address, jointly with relevant stakeholders, these root causes. Businesses can also play a key role in encouraging governments to create legal and regulatory frameworks that support transparency in supply chains.   I call on more businesses to adopt comprehensive and robust measures to comply with the responsibility to respect human rights. This can be done through undertaking human rights due diligence throughout supply chains, binding suppliers to codes of conduct and building their capacities, and ensuring that effective grievance mechanisms exist to address allegations concerning human rights violations.   As per the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, businesses should have processes in place to enable identification of any forms of modern slavery at any level in their supply chains, and to remove these as soon as they are identified.   Independent monitoring and auditing by third parties also enables contemporary forms of slavery to be detected. Businesses should ensure that trade unions are involved as partners in these efforts.   Civil society   Stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, the donor community, investors, consumers, trade unions, faith leaders, academia and the media, are key to holding businesses and States accountable for human rights violations in supply chains and can make a key contribution by raising awareness, building-capacity, conducting research and exposing human rights violations in supply chains.   Multi-stakeholder partnerships and public-private platforms are emerging as good practice to ensure that contemporary forms of slavery in supply chains are addressed in a holistic manner. Such initiatives have proven to be successful for instance in the tobacco and fishing industries.   It is commendable that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals in target 8.7 call for immediate and effective measures to end modern slavery. This provides the impetus that government and other stakeholders need to intensify efforts and set indicators to ensure that progress made is measureable.   It is also a reminder that slavery is bad for workers, bad for business and bad for development. Its complete eradication and replacement with decent, full and productive employment for all in the context of the free exercise of their human rights, is critical if we are to preserve our humanity and our planet.”   * Access the Special Rapporteur’s report on the elimination of contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains via the link below. Visit the related web page
	More decisive action needed on access to justice by ECCJ, CIDSE and ActionAid   The European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ), CIDSE and ActionAid, welcome the Foreign Affairs Council''s Conclusions on business and human rights, adopted on 20 June 2016, and call for their rapid translation into practice.   The Dutch presidency had identified business and human rights as one of the key priorities for its mandate. The Conclusions reflect the Dutch presidency and EU Members States’ acknowledgement that the measures taken so far to ensure that companies respect human rights and are accountable for violations, remain insufficient.   We appreciate the particular commitments made on transparency, corporate responsibility to protect human rights, and access to remedies. Attention is also given to the adoption of Action Plans at national and European level, peer review learning, and the necessity to ensure better policy coherence, including with regard to the EU''s external activities.   The reference in the Conclusions to the need for better access to justice for victims of corporate abuse should be the starting point for a much more ambitious roadmap for the EU and Member States to address the legal and practical barriers faced by victims.   The urgency of action in this area was recently outlined in the outcome of the EU Roadmap Business and Human Rights Conference, jointly organised by the Dutch Government and civil society organisations, on 11 May 2016. While both the Council of Europe’s recent Recommendation on Human Rights and Business and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights have also acknowledged this salient issue.   “Voluntary codes alone will not make companies accountable; government interventions are essential in an area as important as access to justice”, comments Filip Gregor, ECCJ Steering Group Member. “The Conclusions are asking the European Commission to address the issue of access to remedies at legislative level. This is not only vital, but also urgent, if we want to bring justice to victims of abuse around the world.”   In addition to ensuring effective access to remedies, the EU and Member States should also adopt legislation to require and monitor that companies respect human rights throughout their global operations and carry out human rights due diligence to discharge this obligation.   In this context, the political agreement reached last week on the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation is a first limited step in the right direction, but it unfortunately exempts the vast majority of EU companies trading in minerals from the requirement to exercise due diligence when importing minerals from high-risks and conflict areas. The two-year review clause will thus be essential to assess its real benefits for populations suffering abuses near mining areas, and to strengthen its scope.   A stronger link between the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UNGPs, as suggested in the Council Conclusions, is welcome – but not sufficient in isolation. Voluntary and non-binding initiatives must be backed by robust accountability mechanisms and binding rules for all.   The Conclusions also reference the need to further develop the international legal framework. The EU should translate this into action through constructive participation in the UN process to develop a legally binding instrument on business and human rights, to improve global human rights protection and corporate responsibility.   “Beyond any declaration of good intentions and promises to seek improvement, what we need are ambitious actions leading to effective results,” concludes Filip Gregor. “In the 21st century, corporations must be responsible and accountable. Member States and the EU have obligation to create conditions that make this a reality and counterbalance the forces that drive a race to the bottom.”   http://bit.ly/2bYFSLu http://concordeurope.org/tag/sustainable-development-goals/ http://www.eurodad.org Visit the related web page
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