Written by Hinrich Voss.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed vulnerabilities and fragilities in global value chains. The worldwide economic lockdowns to contain COVID-19 have led in some industries to unilateral cancellations and suspensions of orders from overseas suppliers by transnational corporations (TNCs). These decisions are argued to be in conflict with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the Sustainable Development Goals, and related national laws because they have contributed to the risk that the human rights of workers will be violated and that they will become victims of modern slavery. In response, international business policies that target the conduct of TNCs and global value chains need to be reconsidered to achieve global value chain integration while strengthening local bargaining, affording sustainable growth, and protecting human rights.
Garment workers, mostly women, earn some of the lowest wages in the world while making clothes for some of the biggest fashion brands. Romania has about 300,000 oficial garment workers, who usually earn a minimum wage of about 230 EUR after tax. Wor...Read More
Many valuable, but often fragmented models are currently used in the fight against human trafficking. Building from the themes raised in a five-part webinar series hosted by Freedom Collaborative last fall, this paper argues that data should be used...Read More
As indicated by revised figures providing additional details on the scope of countries’ workplace closure policies, 94 per cent of the world’s workers are living in countries with some sort of workplace closure measures in place. Although more a...Read More
From the late 1970’s, China's economy has enjoyed 30 years of explosive growth. With its 1.4 billion inhabitants, it is now the world's largest economy. This economic miracle, now on everyone's lips, has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out ...Read More
2025 © Copyright, RESPECT International. All Rights Reserved. Website Disclaimer | Privacy Policy
