Japanese companies should pay more attention to human rights issues in their business activities, UNDP Crisis Office Director Asako Okai said on February 4, the Kyodo news agency reported.
In his opinion, non-compliance with international ethical standards will become a serious risk for the activities of Japanese companies in world markets.
“If companies do not address this issue properly, they may be forced to exit the European and US markets”Okai said in a recent interview.
Examples include clothing, textile, and solar panel companies, which allegedly scrutinized their supply chains to see if their products included materials from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The region is known for the production of cotton and polycrystalline silicon used in solar panels. At the same time, accusations of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities have recently been heard against China. This has already sparked a series of scandals with product rejections from the region and a harsh response from China. Beijing itself denies all the accusations and, in turn, reproaches the critics for the lack of evidence.
European countries and the United States are actively promoting regulatory activities to eradicate human rights violations (such as forced labor) in supply chains, the agency notes. For example, this year a due diligence law came into force in Germany that requires companies with at least 3,000 employees to monitor the legal and ethical environment in which they operate. Human rights issues, environmental risks, etc. they are back in the spotlight.
In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously approved the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It is a set of guidelines for governments and companies to stop human rights violations committed in the course of business.
In September last year, the Japanese government published guidelines for respecting human rights in supply chains. The document requires companies doing business in the country to develop their human rights policies, exercise due diligence in this area, and take action when companies create situations that negatively affect or contribute to human rights.
According to Okai, the concept of conducting a human rights assessment has not been widely adopted among small and medium-sized businesses in Japan, mainly due to a lack of human resources and funds.
“It’s a lot of work and it costs money, but the effort will lead to better corporate brands”Okay says.
Recall that this week the UN Human Rights Council issued some 300 recommendations to Japan. Among them, the abolition of the death penalty and the improvement of medical care in immigration institutions.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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