Minutes Report of International Seminar “The impact of business on the rights of the child”. Lima, August 6-7, 2013

A report on the international seminar “The Impact of Businesses on the Rights of the Child”  held in Lima, Peru, August 6-7, 2013. The two-day seminar, co-organised by UNICEF and Save the Children, tackled various topics related with business impact on children rights. It summoned representatives from the business sector, civil society, the government, and the international cooperation to examine and debate the role of businesses regarding the protection, defence, and promotion of children’s and adolescents’ rights. The seminar emphasized that business practices should not violate children’s rights. Recommendations for business enterprises included assessing their impact on children and taking necessary measures to protect children.

The seminar discussed General Comment No.16 (adopted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in February 2013) regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights,   and also included the presentation of Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP), a document developed by the United Nations Global Compact, Save the Children and UNICEF, which provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the impact of business on the rights and well-being of children.

The seminar was organised around four thematic panels, dealing with:  (i) Exploitation industries and  their role in respecting and promoting children’s rights; (ii) the business sector’s role in preventing sexual exploitation of children; (iii) the role of media in respecting and promoting children’s rights; and (iv) business policies and marketing to promote child nutrition.