January-February
2002 Issue:
Cover by Greg Berger Design, Inc
The following websites provide information that may be useful to companies seeking more information on corporate social responsibility in China and related issues:
The US-based Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) provides advisory and training services for companies interested in socially responsible business practices. BSR covers a wide range of topics, including business ethics, community investment, governance and accountability, and the environment. The public version of BSR's website includes topic reviews, conference news, and case studies. Visitors can also buy books and reports online.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is an investment coalition of 275 Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish institutional investors that range from religious groups to healthcare corporations. ICCR researches the social responsibility of its portfolio companies and works as a group of shareholders to press for change. ICCR is divided into issue groups that cover labor conditions, community economic development, and military resolution, among other topics. The public website also offers links to outside publications and websites, ICCR press releases, and order forms for published reports and the monthly ICCR newsletter, Corporate Examiner.
The UN Global Compact is a set of nine principles addressing human rights, labor, and environmental issues that participating companies implement on a voluntary basis. The website contains background information and UN studies on the policies addressed under the compact--which includes a pledge of noncomplicity in human rights abuses and the right to collective bargaining. Companies can also find links to organizations that support the charter and news on ongoing pilot projects and upcoming meetings.
This website contains free information about the International Organization for Standardization, a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 140 countries. The mission of ISO, a Greek word meaning "equal", is to promote international standardization of everything from toy safety to air quality. The organization certifies companies for quality standards management (ISO 9000), environmental management (ISO 14000), and more than 13,000 other business, government, and social standards. Visitors can read up on current ISO issues and the standards development process, find a schedule of upcoming events, and purchase ISO standards and other publications. Although the site contains little China-specific information, foreign and Chinese companies rely heavily on ISO certification for their PRC operations.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) helps formulate human and labor rights laws and practices. The free website features two trilingual (English, Spanish, and French) databases. One database, ILOLEX, includes more than 75,000 documents related to international labor standards, covering topics such as ratification information, interpretations, complaints, general surveys, and ILO conventions and recommendations. The other database, NATLEX, features the full text of laws on labor, social security, and other related matters from over 175 countries.
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is a nonprofit organization that brings together apparel and footwear companies, consumer and labor rights groups, and universities with the purpose of applying an industry-wide code of conduct. FLA hires independent inspectors to monitor member-company factory conditions worldwide and helps member companies implement a range of labor codes and self-monitoring procedures. The website posts the FLA charter and workplace code of conduct and outlines monitoring procedures.
The Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) promotes the enforcement of labor rights internationally through public education and mobilization, research, litigation, legislation, and collaboration with labor, government, and business groups. ILRF's current projects page includes a section on labor rights in China, where visitors can find the US Business Principles for Rights of Workers in China (a document that lays out basic human rights and labor requirements that companies that have adopted the principles agree to meet in their China operations), news articles about labor rights in China, and reports and papers on labor problems in China.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights promotes and supports international cooperation for human rights and responds to violations. The website posts international human rights legal instruments and agreements, provides background information on particular human rights issues, and outlines the functions of the organization's various subgroups. Visitors can use four databases on the site--covering treaty bodies, charter-based bodies, news, and human rights education--free of charge.
Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit organization that investigates human rights abuses worldwide. The HRW website posts the organization's vast collection of background briefs, commentary, and press releases, organized by issue and country. Visitors can also read up on HRW campaigns. The corporations and human rights page posts commentary and background pieces on corporate abuses and other issues, including the UN Global Compact (see above), as well as more extensive reports.
Human Rights in China (HRIC) was founded by Chinese scientists and scholars to track human rights developments in China. The HRIC website, which has English and Chinese versions, posts press releases as well as biographies and interviews with Chinese political prisoners and dissidents. Visitors can also browse links, articles, and reports from different sources, organized into categories such as women's rights, workers' rights, media and censorship, and Tibet.
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/
The US State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices can be found on this website. The reports are released every year on February 25.
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