Dada Adefolami

By Dada Adefolami

Children’s rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. The Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 defines a child as “any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” Children’s rights include their right to association with both parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for physical protection, food and universal state

Just over one in 10 children around the world some 168 million are currently working as child labourers. This has now become a business issue – one that has the potential to damage government where government are found to have turned a blind eye to the exploitation of children in their activities. therefore, taking action to protect the rights of children isn’t just about philanthropy; We should take it as part of essential and expected government and all responsibilities

Government and Corporate Organization can have an impact on children’s rights in numerous ways. Products and advertising can have positive or negative effects, while exploitation of children through the internet is a major concern. For businesses new to this concept, the process may seem discouraging. That’s why UNICEF developed the Children’s Rights and Business Principles, which guide companies on the actions they can take to respect and support children’s rights. It has also created tools that help businesses integrate children’s rights into due diligence processes.

Workplace is of importance when considering business impacts on children’s rights, not least as a result of child labour. UNICEF defines child labour as ‘work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have changed the expectation of business. The growing demand for corporate reporting on human rights from consumers, shareholders, investors and governments increases the pressure on businesses to undertake due diligence. This process regularly identifies, prevents, mitigates and accounts for how impacts on human rights, including those of children, are being addressed. It firmly moves businesses away from a reactive approach to human rights and towards one whereby it is their responsibility to seek out and address any actual or potential negative impact their activities may have on individuals and community’s mental development’.

More Countries are beginning to recognize that protecting children’s rights is good for business as it leads to better risk management, enhanced reputation and the social economic of development, a motivated workforce and a stable and sustainable business environment while also delivering long-term Stakeholder value. Employing children under the legal minimum working age – or requiring anyone under the age of 18 to perform hazardous work – is child labour. Childrenhave the right to an adequate standard of living, health care, education and services, and to play and recreation.

These include a balanced diet, a warm bed to sleep in, and access to schooling. Protection: Children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination.

The problem is particularly widespread in sub-Saharan Africa Regions, where 21.4% of the region’s children (59 million) are estimated to be involved. In Asia and the Pacific, 9.3% of the region’s children (78 million) are child labourers. Given the increasingly long supply chains involved in global business today, many Western-based groups could be unknowingly exposed to the risk of child labour. Many industries can be affected, including agriculture and food production, retail, mining, travel and tourism.

Welfares

The workplace can have an impact in other ways. If parents are paid wages below the level that they need to support their families, then their children may be forced to earn an income. Every company board should therefore be asking and addressing many questions around children’s rights and the workplace, encompassing child labour, working conditions, migrant workers and discrimination.

When boards ask such questions, and take steps to protect children’s rights, the benefits can extend beyond enhanced risk management. Corporate reputations can be strengthened when businesses are perceived to behave responsibly, and the social authorization to operate is secured.

Businesses that take their responsibility towards children seriously may also become more attractive to prospective employees, and benefit from greater staff retention and motivation. Many employees are parents, and appreciate employers who pay a fair wage and offer good working conditions.

In general, government that play their part in supporting the communities in which they operate – including protecting the interests of children by minimizing pollution or supporting educational opportunities – help to create a stable and sustainable economic environment. these are potential business benefits of protecting children’s rights, so there are risks that arise from ignoring them.

These increased risk exposure, potential legal action, reputational and brand damage, human resource challenges and an unstable social and business environment. In effect, if government and leaderships fail to take account of children’s rights, they run ethical, reputational and legal risks that will affect the bottom line, If businesses need any more persuasion to act, then shareholders and governments may provide it.

Nigeria shareholdergroups should be interested in the issue of children’s rights – for example, by questioning whether companies’ advertising and privacy policies adequately safeguard children. Some investors are beginning to develop procedures for integrating children’s rights into their investment decision-making processes.

Governments, have been paying attention to the way that companies impact on human rights, including children’s rights. Greater transparency is also being expected, with UK quoted companies now required to disclose information on human rights that could affect the business.  

Time to performance

Once businesses acknowledge their responsibilities in relation to children and their rights, the next challenge is to act on those responsibilities across all their operations. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles, developed by Save the Children, UNICEF and the UN Global Compact, provide an invaluable launch pad. The principles build on previous international conventions, and set out actions that businesses can take to fulfil their corporate responsibility to respect and support children’s rights in the widest sense: in the workplace, marketplace and for Nigeria in general.

Organizations such as UNICEF have also developed many business toolkits. These are designed to help businesses develop policies and codes of conduct in relation to children’s rights, assess their risks associated with children’s rights, take action to address and mitigate those risks, and report on their actions, such efforts by business are essential. ‘It is becoming increasingly clear that respecting children’s rights is not only required but necessary if businesses are to have a strong foundation. ‘To fully recognize children’s rights, companies must embark on thorough investigations of their sales activities, supply chains and core business.

Childhood is a time of physical, mental and emotional development which can all be affected by the actions of business. Yet children often lack a public voice: they cannot vote or form trade unions; they cannot influence government and Organizationthrough assembly,buying stocks and shares, and attending shareholder meetings, businesses therefore have an inescapable responsibility to consider their impacts on children’s rights carefully.

Childres Right
‘Children’s rights are an issue for government, because children are important. And this is an issue for a wider range of government. Government should ask itself how it might affect children’s rights, and what those impacts on children are.

The Government can have an impact in a range of ways – particularly in terms of levels of pay. One of the causes of child labour is the low rate of wages paid to their parents. When parents are paid a poverty rate, they have no choice but to get their children to work. So, the default position for all government should be that they probably do have a significant impact on children. It is an issue they need to be address.

This might not be an issue that comes across the desks of Ministers every day. But what is the responsibility of the Ministers? It’s not only to look after the Projects and money, but also to look after the public interest. Ministries have a mandate to look at their business more broadly and consider children’s rights.

‘When children’s rights are not respected, that could create a risk for the Countries. Considering the business impact on children’s rights should to be part of any due diligence analysis of risk – which is a familiar activity to Ministers and Commissioners.

Finally
Expect number of regulatory requirements around non-financial reporting, and these include the reporting of issues related to human rights. So this is an issue that is only going to figure more strongly in the survives of Ministries and Society

Children have a right to privacy – and not in the technical, legal sense (though in that too, because it’s enshrined in Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK has both signed and ratified) but in what I would call the real, natural, sense.