Children's Rights and Business

Businesses large and small affect the lives and rights of children every day, everywhere

Businesses have an important role to play in protecting children's rights as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Children's Rights and Business Principles, launched by UNICEF in 2012 alongside Save the Children and the UN Global Compact, offers a comprehensive guide to the diverse ways businesses affect children and how to prevent adverse impacts on their rights. Since then, to promote best practices and advance this work, UNICEF has engaged businesses in over 70 countries and collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders, including industry associations, investors, academia, civil society and other UN agencies.

By working closely with business experts, UNICEF has built a body of evidence around children’s rights in mining, food and beverage, garment and other sectors — evidence with relevance to many more sectors. 

Putting children first means integrating children's rights into existing business models

Alongside government partners, UNICEF has developed practical tools and guidance for businesses and policymakers on how to integrate respect for children’s rights into day-to-day operations. These tools support impact assessment, action in supply chains and workplaces, practices in marketing and advertising and child safeguarding.    

UNICEF continues to encourage companies to consider the many ways in which their business affects children, whether through their products and services, marketing methods or distributions practices, government relationships or investments in local communities.

By integrating respect and support for children’s rights into the core strategies and operations, businesses can strengthen their existing corporate sustainability initiatives while also generating business returns.

Addressing child labor

A major focus of efforts toward protecting children's rights in business is preventing or eliminating child labor. 

UNICEF estimates there are 160 million children around the world currently engaged in some form of child labor in violation of their fundamental rights — work that cuts them off from schooling and health care, and puts their physical or mental health, social or educational development at risk. 

Recognizing the growing issue of hazardous child labor in the United States, UNICEF USA has developed a framework to support efforts to reduce child labor in corporate supply chains.

UNICEF USA aims to help reduce hazardous child labor in the U.S. through a multi-pronged approach that includes producing innovative research and case studies; advocating for policies that protect children; convening key stakeholders to drive awareness of challenges and resources; and encouraging corporate and investor adoption of best practices.

Read UNICEF USA's report, Invisible Hands: Child-Centered Solutions to Address Child Labor in the United States to learn more.

Better business for children

To achieve better business for children, UNICEF and UNICEF USA advocate that companies "mainstream" children's rights in the following ways:

Be an advocate

• co-create tools for industry adoption

• engage peer companies, governments and policy makers and influencers via thought leadership

• exercise convening power to bring together key children's rights stakeholders

Act on research findings

• engage in policy development

• collaborate with stakeholders to promote change

• foster digital literacy and awareness

Help build the evidence base

• engage in and/or support country-level research

• enable child consultations

• review internal policies and processes

Opportunities for companies to join with UNICEF and UNICEF USA

Companies can join with UNICEF and UNICEF USA by:

• contributing knowledge by participating in or funding research

• helping to test tools and programs by joining pilot initiatives

• understanding how their business impacts children and taking action to address or mitigate those impacts as needed

• applying UNICEF-developed policies, practices and tools to help implement better business for children

• championing children’s rights within industry, among peer organizations and in the public domain

Areas of focus for the Children's Rights and Business Initiative

Fostering responsible business conduct to protect and empower children in the digital age

UNICEF and UNICEF USA share strategies for empowering and protecting children in the ever-expanding, global digital environment. 

The goal is to ensure that children benefit from opportunities to become engaged digital citizens through information and communications technologies (ICT), while at the same time staying protected from exploitation and harm in relation to the development and usage of ICT products and services.

To help promote children’s rights in a digital age, both UNICEF and UNICEF USA convene companies, NGOs, academia, government and young people to gather feedback and develop best policies and practices, and partner with companies to pilot good practices.

UNICEF offers these training modules for industry.

Child rights in global supply chains

Global supply chains impact children both directly and indirectly. Their impact extends beyond child labor; it includes how supply chains affect parental working and living conditions and the larger communities and environments in which businesses operate.

UNICEF has launched a number of pilot programs aiming to address the impacts of global supply chains — initiatives within the apparel and footwear industries in Bangladesh and Vietnam, palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia, tea farming in India and cocoa farming in Côte d'Ivoire. The focus of these programs is to research, test, and model best practices regarding:

• improving workplace conditions (e.g. promoting and supporting breastfeeding for working mothers, ensuring safe water and sufficient sanitation and hygiene (WASH), providing child-care solutions)
• supporting community interventions to ensure access to essential services for working families in cities and the countryside 
• encouraging businesses to partner with local authorities to promote child rights and well-being
• driving joint action and advocacy needed to create an enabling environment for supporting children's rights with global supply chains

UNICEF partners with governments, NGOs, academia, thought leaders and other influencers, local manufacturers, international brands and affected communities to ensure that children's rights are being protected.

Learn about how UNICEF and companies work together to create better futures for children.