abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

27 Jun 2016

Author:
Bennett Freeman is Former Senior VP, Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments and former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, in Responsible Investor

Bennett Freeman: Investors should pay attention to how ICT firms manage forced labour in supply chains

Technology has brought great advances to humanity, and drawn the world closer together. Not least it allows you to read this article on a laptop at work, on a mobile phone on the road, or on a tablet at home. Yet many of the same products that enable you to access just about any information within seconds have—unknown to many users, companies and especially investors—been produced by forced labour. For example, a 2014 Verité study found that nearly a third of workers employed in the production of electronic goods in Malaysia can be considered to be working as forced labour.

The first sector-specific KnowTheChain benchmark provides an unprecedented view of how companies in the ICT sector are addressing the scourge of forced labour. It assesses the publically disclosed efforts of 20 global ICT companies to address those risks in their supply chains. The findings send an important and urgent message: with an average score of 39 out of 100, these companies must do more to address forced labour.

Timeline

Privacy information

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies. You can set your privacy choices below. Changes will take effect immediately.

For more information on our use of web storage, please refer to our Data Usage and Cookies Policy

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Your privacy choices for this site

This site uses cookies and other web storage technologies to enhance your experience beyond necessary core functionality.