Why is this important?

Children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of business activities and can be affected by them more severely than adults, but are often overlooked as stakeholders. By engaging with children, teenagers and/or their representatives, companies can better understand and mitigate these impacts, ensuring that their materiality assessments are comprehensive and inclusive, and helping to identify issues that might otherwise be overlooked.

About the scoring

A score of 10 is given if it is clear from public disclosures that the company is engaging with children, youth and/or their representative as external stakeholders. This engagement can be realised when identifying material topics for their materiality assessment, during product development, or before realising a supplier impact assessment, for example.

Representatives of children and teenagers can be:

• Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) focusing on children’s and youth’s rights
• Youth-led Organisations
• Educational Institutions such as Universities or Student Unions
• Youth Councils and Advisory Boards

A score of 5 is given if there is evidence that the company is engaging external stakeholders, but it is unclear whether children, youth or their representatives are specifically consulted.

Marketing engagement is not included under this indicator, as it often overlooks the perspectives and needs of children and youth as key stakeholders.

Indicator reference

Children’s Rights and Business Principles:

• All business should meet their responsibility to respect children’s rights and commit to supporting the human rights of children (Principle 1)

OECD MNE Guidelines:

• Part 1, Chapter 2, p. 15, B

OECD DD Guidelines:

• Chapter 1, p.22, 1.1

ESRS Indicators: S1-4, S2-4, S3-4