07 June 2017 
Emma Keenan, Procurement Specialist
Through reports in the broadcast media and in the press, the world is getting to know about widespread abuse of human rights in supply chains. Human exploitation is both easy and lucrative in many parts of the world, including the UK, where more and more cases are being brought to light and perpetrators brought to justice. Businesses are responding, as many global brands take steps to tackle this scourge of our society.
It is becoming clear that the tide of opinion is also placing greater responsibility on public purchasers to address the issue, emphasising an increasing need to understand the potential human impacts of our commercial activities. Public authorities need to start putting the infrastructure in place to achieve compliance and pursue good practice to identify, prevent and mitigate the risk of human rights violations in our supply chains.
In collaboration with CIPS, Andy Davies, Director at LUPC and Dr Olga Martin-Ortega, Reader in Public International Law at the University of Greenwich, have written an excellent document, directed at public procurement practitioners, decision-makers and opinion-formers to:
To read the full document please click here.
Additionally, Andy Davies recently delivered an excellent presentation to a group of local council procurement managers. This was recorded, and is available on YouTube so can be shared by you to educate others in your organisation about Modern Slavery and Human rights. To access the video please click here.
