Human Rights and Modern Slavery
Addressing modern slavery challenges
Modern Slavery doesn’t always get as much airtime as the net zero agenda, however it’s equally as important. The thought of workers in our supply chains becoming ill in order for us to consume their products or services is an uncomfortable thought.
Modern Slavery is an umbrella term covering practices such as:
- forced labour
- debt bondage
- forced marriage
- human trafficking
- child labour
There is a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal (8.7) to End Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Child Labour.
Currently, across the globe:
- 1 in 10 children are subject to child labour – amounts to 160m children globally
- 1 in 5 workers do not earn enough to lift themselves out of extreme poverty
- 74% of countries exclude workers from the right to establish or join a trade union
- every day 7.5k people die from unsafe and unhealthy working conditions
There are some categories where there is higher awareness of Modern Slavery in the supply chain. Often we think of Modern Slavery only happening further down our supply chains, in other countries. However often it’s happening on our doorstep. The Textiles & Instruments categories are most prevalent for child labour. In food processing, construction and services, often migrant workers are working under poor labour standards actually in the country where services are being delivered. The electronics sector is high risk for child labour, mining and poor labour standards at lower tiers of the supply chain.
There is no country where Modern Slavery isn’t prevalent.
Today the estimated number of people in the UK living in Modern Slavery is 122,000 - this places the UK as one of the least vulnerable to Modern Slavery, globally (145 out of 160).
Climate change is significantly linked to the prevalence of modern slavery – this is due to increasing numbers of refugees seeking asylum, growing inequality, poverty, lack of access to decent paid work, cost of living crisis and higher numbers children who are in care. The holistic approach that NHS Commercial Solutions are taking, to ensure the transition to net zero is fair to all, means we are dedicated to not trading off this important issue.
Collaborating to address Modern Slavery in our supply chains
Modern Slavery often happens far down our supply chain tiers, making it difficult for time poor professionals to adequately identify, monitor and take remedial actions. Partnership with specialists through collaborative arrangements leverage public sector power for great impact. We’ve been collaborating on a number of initiatives to help raise awareness as well as to start tackling this challenging area.
We’re excited to partner with Electronics Watch who use a collaborative approach to assess and manage modern slavery with a particular focus on digital device supply chains (as the highest risk category for modern slavery). This partnership aims to improve supply chain transparency, get better insights into risks linked to the ICT products procured, and pursue remedies for workers whose rights have been violated.
Raising awareness of Modern Slavery and making it easier to understand
The more Procurement professionals and stakeholders have a good depth of knowledge and understanding in this area, the more it will help accelerate change and innovation. It’s not a quick win. Modern Slavery has to be viewed in the context of the whole Sustainability and Social Value system to ensure net zero wins don’t inadvertently create a trade off with Modern Slavery risks. Making Modern Slavery and related initiatives easier to understand is a key theme for us.
We’ve partnered with University of Newcastle and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School to create a short info video to explain what Modern Slavery is in relationrelation to supply chains, signposting public Procurement professionals and suppliers to the latest toolkits and resources to help them take action. (Link to film to follow shortly)