Group items tagged

Human Rights Watch report, Aug 2011. Workers in Western Cape province who help produce South Africa's renowned wines and fruit are denied adequate housing, proper safety equipment, and basic labor rights, HRW said in a report released today. The government of South Africa, along with the industries that employ these laborers, should take immediate steps to improve their working and housing conditions, HRW said. The 96-page report documents conditions that include on-site housing that is unfit for living, exposure to pesticides without proper safety equipment, lack of access to toilets or drinking water while working, and efforts to block workers from forming unions. While the Western Cape's fruit and wine industries contribute billions of rand to the country's economy, support tourism, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world, their farmworkers earn among the lowest wages in South Africa. The report also describes insecure tenure rights and threats of eviction for longtime residents on farms.

"In contrast to the results reported in the 2010 Global Report... the newest estimates show that real advances have been made in the fight against child labour, particularly over the last four years. This means governments, workers and employers organisations, and civil society are on the right track and moving in the right direction. The investment, experience and attention paid to the elimination of child labour, with priority given to its worst forms, are clearly paying off. However good this news is, it has to be accompanied with an immediate reminder that success in this field can only be relative. As the assessment of the previous Global Report underlined, the progress is still too slow and its pace needs to pick up if the world community is going to come anywhere near to meeting the 2016 goal which it aims to achieve"

"The World Development Report 2013: Jobs stresses the role of strong private sector led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can spur a virtuous cycle. The report finds that poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empower women to invest more in their children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and as less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs foster diversity and provide alternatives to conflict."

This report examines the role of commodity buyers, food processors and retailers inthe realization of the right to food. These actors play a key role, as they connect producersto consumers, and as they transform raw commodities into edible food. But the vastmajority of those who are hungry in the world today are part of the food system; smallindependent food producers or waged agricultural workers working on farms in the formalor informal sector represent over half of the billion who go hungry today. The reporttherefore asks how the sourcing, pricing, and wages policies of commodity buyers, foodprocessors and retailers impact the right to food. The report seeks to contribute to a betterunderstanding, by agribusiness corporations and States alike, of their respectiveresponsibilities and obligations under international law. It ends with 10 recommendationsto States and the agribusiness sector to ensure that the current transformation of the foodchain will contribute to the realization of the right to food. The recommendations relate to arange of areas, including codes of conduct and international framework agreements,cooperatives, marketing boards, public procurement, and competition law.

ILO's report on Global Employment Trends 2013.

Update report on dissemination of the UN Principles and proposed work to promote it over the next year, including projects and case studies

Report on Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar. in wake of Amnesty International report on working conditions

Annual report from BSCI highlights improvements in audit results (28% audited factories and farms were rated "good" in the initial audit, followed by 51% in the re-audit) as well as capacity-building programmes. a focus on the agricultural sector is particularly highlighted.

Kirsten Newitt surveys the scope and impact of private sector labour standards initiatives, in a background paper commissioned by the World Bank for its 2012 World Development Report on Jobs

"This report digs underneath the façade of social auditing and certification schemes to reveal a deeply disturbing abdication of responsibilities on the part of both governments to protect human rights at the workplace and of companies to respect these rights by exercising due diligence regarding the impact of their business activities and their business relationships."

The study focuses on practical lessons, and seeks to find out what types of activities are most likely to have the greatest impact on job creation, and how these activities affect different societal groups. It complements the World Bank's recent World Development Report on Jobs by offering practical lessons and recommendations to help the private sector create more high-quality jobs.

Stuart Bell considers how ethical trade has changed as reflected in ETI member annual reports

New report published by the Africa Progress Panel

New WB report on promoting export growth in BGD.

Major new research report that provides an assessment of the Chinese economy and recommendations for its medium term development strategy.

"World Report 2014 is Human Rights Watch's 24th annual review of human rights practices around the globe"

Excellent and thorough report on Bangladesh garment industry - with historical and value chain analysis - arguing that endemic sub-contracting is unaddressed by current initiatives