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Article

22 Oct 2013

Author:
Michael Posner & Sarah Labowitz, NYU Stern School of Business

[DOC] [NYU Stern School of Business comments on Reporting and Assurance Framework Initiative discussion paper]

We are writing to follow up on our conversation over the summer and in anticipation of tomorrow’s meeting in New York. Our earlier meeting and your recent written update helped clarify for us many aspects of your initiative. As we discussed, we share your broad perspective that public reporting against common standards is a necessary element in the effort to enhance the human rights performance of multinational companies. But as we also discussed with you, we have concerns about the way the initiative is taking shape...In our view, the development of substantive standards in particular industries is a critical next step in the evolution of the business and human rights debate...We question the value of this kind of reporting and fear that it will have the unfortunate and unintended effect of allowing companies to advertise that they have met human rights requirements by having an outside entity validate a report on whatever aspect of their own efforts on which they have chosen to report.