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Article

15 Jan 2016

Author:
Lisa Manley & Judy Sandford, Cone Communications, on CSRWire

Commentary: "From Expectation to Business Imperative: A New Age of Corporate Communications on Human Rights"

So why should companies focus on communicating about human rights? A driving force in corporate transparency has been increased coverage of human rights abuses in the media...It’s clear that human rights shouldn’t be viewed as purely an issue in developing nations—resolution of issues such as those pertaining to fair wages is critical to the ability of all people having the opportunities they deserve...Also gaining traction is the framing of “digital privacy” as a human and civil rights issue...Another trending human rights issue is conflict minerals, with manufacturers being put under the microscope due to conflict minerals’ ties to militias wreaking human rights havoc in places like the Congo, Rwanda and Sudan...The recent climate talks in Paris highlighted the links between climate change and human rights. Recent world events have made it clear that diminishing water supplies, more extreme weather events and rights to health, life, food, sanitation, housing and even nationality, are threatened by climate change...It’s important for companies to identify their salient human rights issues, develop policies and protocols to respect them, and report on progress in a credible way by providing context, acknowledging challenges and actively engaging stakeholders in continuous improvement.  This level of engagement and communication has moved beyond a business expectation, it’s now a business imperative. By taking human rights seriously and talking about them transparently, companies will contribute to a better future for their business and society...