The Declaration of Human Rights: Where to from here for business and industry?
Unlike Government’s and nation states, business does not necessarily have borders – so what role can we play in protecting and promoting human rights?
Human rights is normally seen as involving an individual or something for Government’s and civil society organisations to consider, but, on this the Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, I want to pose the question of whether or not business has an increasing responsibility to also adhere to a fundamental series of principles.
At the centre of any civil and developing society sits the fundamental rights of human beings to live, to work, to raise a family (or not as the case may be), to vote for whom they want, to engage with whom they please, and to do what it is, within the law, what they want to do.
And so it is, on this, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations on December 10th 1948, that the world once again sits to reflect on whether all that can be done is being done to protect those basic tenants.
For example, Article 3 states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Then there is Article 7 “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”
More and more often the rights of Human Beings turns on the ebb and flow of how a Government treats their citizens – but, of late, there has also been recognition of how companies and corporations treat employees and people living in communities around corporate operations.
Unlike Governments, corporations and multinationals are not constrained by borders and with the increasing demand of consumable products and tacit services being supplied from developing countries the question becomes – is the corporate world just as responsible for ensuring, and enshrining human rights as a nation state?
On the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, more than one hundred of the world’s most influential Chief Executives and corporate leaders from organisations as diverse as AXA, Rio Tinto, Nestle, Fuji Xerox, Credit Suisse, and even myself, made a fundamental and telling commitment.
Published in the Financial Times, this commitment was on a scale not seen before in the business community, but was also an opportunity to highlight the growing movement of business and the alignment with corporate social responsibility.
For those familiar with the United Nations Global Compact, the largest corporate citizenship program in the world, you would know that human rights is one of the key Principles business signs up to when joining.
So why is it important for business and industry to get in behind the need for strong human rights wherever it is they operate?
Firstly, and as mentioned earlier, our appetite for consumables is growing significantly. In fact, as more and more large nations go through the development cycle, the demand for consumables, resources, commodities and food, leads to an appetite not just from developed nations, but internally, within developing countries as their own general populations increase in both size and wealth.
This does mean however, there has been a shift in where products and services are produced. For example, a large part of the global manufacturing base now sits in developing countries such as China, India and South East Asia.
Thirty years ago manufacturing was still very much an industry that remained strong in developed countries – such as wholesale car manufacturing that has declined significantly in the United States and North America, but grown in Asia. Household consumables, once a strong manufacturing base in its own right has also trended away from traditional areas and into South East Asia. The one we all tend to talk about, despise and hate – is the movement of services such as telephone answering and marketing – where once large call centres existed in developed countries, the market is now pretty much owned by India and the Philippines.
While this industry growth has started to raise the economic development of developing countries it is also as a result of the commercial reality of turning a profit. There is, of course, nothing wrong with turning a profit, but one could argue that one reason for the growth is the reduction in cost, thereby making the venture more profitable.
But think about this, what about those employees left behind who now find themselves out of a job and with no prospects? What happens to the local communities of those factories or plants, that are now impacted by its closure? For every employee made redundant from every factory that closes down – the impact is not just on that person or their immediate families, it is also on the small business community of the town or city where the business once operated.
In actual fact, where I grew up, the constant threat of the closure of a large employer and its move to produce elsewhere was always well known. People feared the impacts and certainly, were concerned about what they may do next. Amongst the workforce, you had men and women who knew no other job and had worked for the company for more than thirty years – where would they go? What could they do? Would they be retrained? Would a prospective employer take them on because they were getting on in years? Was it even possible to cross train them.
Lost in translation are the basic human and labour rights of those individuals who have their lives turned upside down because of a business decision – a business decision I might add, that makes sense from a commercial perspective.
So, how can we do things differently?
In the case of that employer, the community was constantly living under the threat of closure, so over time, they began to plan and adapt. The company also downsized gradually, which allowed people to make decisions about voluntary versus forced redundancy and – in the main, an avenue that many took was to establish into small business.
Of course, for many, this is a very different take on human rights, but nonetheless it is an important one. One, that as I said before, often gets lost in translation.
The second take, of course, is when a business does establish itself in a developing country – of ensuring that its workers are paid a fair days wage, under the law, for a fair days work. That employees and their families are not being discriminated against and are provided with opportunities to grow and develop within the business.
Recently, I have become aware of a concerning series of anecdotal stories coming in from people connecting with me on LinkedIn. These are employees of large multi-nationals who are based in places such as India. With Masters Degrees, qualifications and experience, these people are not able to grow and develop inside the business and into other geographies. When I review their resumes for them, or look at their CV’s I come back to the same question – is it a case of no roles available or is it a case that these employees are fine where they are, but not in England or the USA, Australia or New Zealand. Certainly some things to ponder.
As the world gets smaller, as business once again ramps up post the global financial crisis, we need to ask ourselves “what is the role when it comes to human rights that business should play? How do we engage business further and how we can we show that business and industry can benefit through consistently doing the right thing?”
One simple answer is turning back to the United Nations Global Compact, or your local UNGC Network, and learning from how other organisations are doing it – one in particular, AXA. You can find their response to the 60th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Human Rights HERE – it is well worth the read.
Finally, there are two quotes I want to leave with you, that enable some reflection, some pondering and hopefully some insight:
“It has long been recognized that an essential element in protecting human rights was a widespread knowledge among the population of what their rights are and how they can be defended.” Boutros Boutros Ghali, Former UN Secretary General
"Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to equip people with the tools they need to live lives of security and dignity. On this International Human Rights Day, let us continue to work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations." Kofi Anna, Former UN Secretary General
Matthew Tukaki is CEO and Executive Chairman of The Sustain Group of Companies, an organisation dedicated to identifying business solutions to climate change and corporate citizenship, social responsibility. Matthew is also the former Head of Drake Australia, the nation’s oldest, and one of the largest, employment services companies. Matthew was, also responsible for a number of other Drake operations across the Asia Pacific including Drake Medical, Solutions, HR, Services and Recruitment. A former Chairman of the WorkWise Group’s Executive Committee, Matthew is also Australia’s elected Representative to the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship programme with more than 7,700 signatories. Recently, Matthew was called the most influential person in the employment sector in Australia by Radio 2GB and appears regularly on television news and current affairs commenting on the links between employment and the economy.
patrickcallioni
December 11, 2010 at 5:40 am
Your blog
Well said, Matthew. Like the frog in the simmering pot, we are being deprived of freedom a bit a time and no one is noticing! Let’s hope it is not too late.