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Our concerns about the Global Compact grew in 2011 when Save the Children and UNICEF joined forces with the UN Global Compact Office on a new Children’s Rights and Business Principles Initiative (CRBPI). The CRBPI aimed to a framework for business actions wherever they affect children’s rights in the workplace, marketplace, community and environment.

While welcoming these aims, we feared that the fundamental flaws in the draft CRBPI proposals would actually do more harm than good - providing businesses with yet another opportunity to simply look good while continuing practices that threaten child survival and health. Along with other NGOs, we called on Save the Children and UNICEF to:

• disengage from the UNGC; 
• integrate strong accountability measures (including independent monitoring of marketing and other business practices), and 
• focus on business’s obligation to repect child rights and governments’ obligations to regulate them.

We also feared that the CRBPI focus on partnerships and self-monitored legally non-binding commitments as the “unifying framework for existing and future initiatives” pre-empted the forthcoming General Comment on Business and Children’s Rights by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is in consultation now. The final comment is due in 2013 and will focus on State Parties’ obligations - as the duty bearers of children’s rights - to protect, respect and fulfill children’s rights and to regulate the impact of business on children. The primary obligation of private actors is to respect these rights - not to co-opt governments’ responsibilities.

We attended the launch of the final Business Principles in March 2012 and were relieved that although not all our concerns were addressed, the Principles were much improved. Business’s were called on to: ‘Not undermine government efforts to protect and fulfill children’s rights’ including using taxation to generate the revenues needed.

The weak draft wording to: “Use marketing and advertising that advances children’s rights” was changed and now calls on business to ensure “that communications  and marketing do not have an adverse impact on children’s rights"  and to “comply[ing] with the standards of business conduct in World Health Assembly instruments related to marketing and health in all countries” (specifically mentioning the International Code and subsequent relevant WHA Resolutions and the WHO Recommendations on the Marketing of Foods and Non-alcoholic Beverages to Children).

See:
http://info.babymilkaction.org/CHILDRENandBusiness

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