The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has committed to producing a General Comment on Child Rights and Business that will aim to provide states with a framework for implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a whole with regard to the business sector. It will include guidance on the measures of implementation that are required to prevent and remedy violations of child rights by business actors, and ensure business enterprises carry out their responsibilities in the realisation of the rights of the child and encourage business to positively contribute to the realisation of these rights. The Committee states that the General Comment will be guided by the principles of the CRC throughout: the best interests of the child, the right to non-discrimination, the right to be heard and the right to life, survival and development.
In April 2012, the Committee opened for comment an annotated outline [word doc] of their planned General Comment on business and child rights. IHRB made a submission to the Committee offering feedback and recommendations to the outline.
In July 2012, the Committee opened for consultation the first draft of the General Comment. This IHRB submission builds on our earlier comments, and seeks to offer additional suggestions for further strengthening the draft General Comment.
How should businesses respond to an age of conflict and uncertainty?
As 2024 began, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen aptly summed up our deeply worrying collective moment. As she put it, speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland, we are moving through “an era of conflict and...
26 March 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Scott Jerbi, Senior Advisor, Policy & Outreach, IHRB