- Children’s Rights and Business Principles celebrates 10 years
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Children are among the most vulnerable in any situation, especially economic crises and climate change. The situation in Sri Lanka has put children in a precarious state, with topics like nutrition, education, safety, and health being discussed widely.
It is in such a backdrop that the Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) is celebrating 10 years, having been introduced in 2012. To mark this occasion, the UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka, The Centre for Child Rights and Business, Save the Children, and UNICEF came together to share the importance of the CRBP, why businesses should implement them, and the vulnerabilities faced by children in Sri Lanka today.
According to UNICEF Sri Lanka Representative Christian Skoog, the CRBP is the first comprehensive set of principles to guide companies. “What I’d like to mention particularly is that they were developed by the private sector under the umbrella UN Global Compound,” he said, adding that it took two years of extensive consultations to finalise the principles.
The results of the CRBP that we see today include breastfeeding and extraction policies and child daycare facilities within companies, steps to prevent sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry, and protection of children from harassment and abuse online.
The Centre for Child Rights and Business CEO Ines Kaempfer spoke about why businesses should consider CRBP,
dividing it into three segments. Firstly, she said, it’s because businesses have to – due to their impact on children through their products, impact on the environment, and labour practices; and because national and international legislation puts increased scrutiny on business conduct.
Kaempfer went on to say that the second reason is because businesses can. She shared that 115,004 workers and children have directly benefited from their programmes and that 179 companies reported positive business benefits in 2021. The third reason is because it is good for businesses, with positive ROI and improved retention being among the many benefits.
UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka Executive Director Rathika de Silva spoke about the changing expectations of businesses, highlighting the link between business and human rights, with a focus on children.
“As we are aware, children are among the most marginalised and vulnerable members of society and this is clear from their lack of public voice. However, when children are allowed to participate, children have demonstrated that they can provide important or alternative viewpoints and make valuable contributions,” de Silva said.
Focusing on the local situation, Ranjan Wettasinghe of Save the Children said children are most impacted because they rely heavily on parents and guardians, the Government, and other stakeholders, to ensure their care, protection, wellbeing, and developmental needs.
This is exactly what’s happening in Sri Lanka, he said, explaining that right now, assessments show that children are starting to leave schools, in addition to there being a higher risk of children being subjected to violence and abuse.
What followed was a panel discussion, where Horana Plantations Director/CEO Johann Rodrigo spoke about measures taken to safeguard children in the estate sector during the Covid-19 pandemic and now the economic crisis.
“There is a lot for us to do and there is a lot for us to learn. I think that is something that we have to impart to the plantation sector,” he said, adding that we must first acknowledge the gap there is in this regard.
Looking at IT and communication infrastructure in the country, Dialog Group Sustainability Head J. Charitha Ratwatte, Jr. said that it is perhaps a failing of the industry and the regulatory bodies that people are not aware of how straightforward it is to take action if they have a complaint about identity theft or harassment.
He stressed the need for awareness, saying that mobile devices, for instance, have profiles specifically for kids, which limit a child user’s access, but most parents are not aware of these settings.
Meanwhile Gavesha Labs CEO and Lead Explorer Ushan Chaminda spoke about the Gavesha app, saying that since it launched seven months ago, the app has expanded its user base to 10,000 children. However, he noted that not all of them were from urban areas, which pointed to how accessible and affordable education was being ensured through the app.
“You see a lot of tech companies. They develop content but sometimes they misunderstand business and education,” he said, explaining that the app is currently only available in Sinhala, but will soon be available in Tamil as well.
Drawing focus to the tourism industry, Aitken Spence Head of Sustainability Operations Rishard Preena said some may argue that talking about the negative effects on children in tourism might be detrimental to business, but that he disagrees with this. He explained that the repercussions of not raising awareness about such issues are far greater.
“The horror stories that you have if you don’t have the right mechanisms in place – and Sri Lanka, mind you, does have the mechanisms in place; we just have to make sure it is implemented and monitored – are crazy. You don’t want to wrap your mind around the stories that can come out,” Preena added.
The final panellist to speak at the event was MAS Holdings Head of Social Sustainability Amanthi Perera, who spoke about the importance of data and taking action based on what the data says or shows.
“For participation, or whatever you are trying to achieve – data and monitoring and making the numbers speak is your first step,” she said.
