The 5th Annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights took place from 14 – 16 November 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. Learning Lab organizers put together two sessions focused on public procurement and human rights. Brief descriptions of each session are provided below.
Government Procurement: Emerging Practice in the Apparel and Electronics Sectors
This session was co-sponsored by the Harrison Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, ICAR, DIHR, and Electronics Watch. The session was focused on practical examples During this session, speakers discussed the following:
- Madison, Wisconsin’s contract for uniforms that required all bidders to disclose a portion of their supply chain;
- The importance of transparency as a key lever for change in the Bangladesh garment sector;
- Swedish County Councils’ integration of human rights considerations into their public purchasing, and Stockholm County Council’s experience with Dell;
- The Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition’s work on public procurement;
- Electronics Watch’s model of collaboration and worker centered monitoring; and
- The tools that would be useful for contracting officers that want to integrate human rights into their purchasing.
Resources from the session are available below.
Concept note – Government Procurement: Emerging Practice in the Apparel and Electronics Sector
Slides – Kathy Schwenn – Madison Wisconsin Transparency Contract
Slides – Leslie Johnston – Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Bangladesh Apparel Sector
Slides – Pauline Gothberg – Swedish County Councils and Dell
Slides – Rob Lederer – EICC Action on Public Procurement
Slides – Bjorn Claeson – Electronics Watch
Public Procurement, Human Rights and Sustainable Development: The Need for Policy Coherence
The second session was co-sponsored by DIHR, ICAR, and the Harrison Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. Speakers touched, among other topics, the following:
- Relevant international frameworks, including the UNGPs, and the key role that public procurement can play in driving business respect for human rights;
- Existing efforts to collaborate and integrate human rights considerations into public procurement in the Americas;
- Challenges to integrating human rights into public procurement; and
- The need to think strategically about how and at what stage in the procurement process human rights considerations are integrated.
Resources from the session are available below.