The State of Children's Rights and Business 2022

In December 2022, Global Child Forum launched a benchmark of the world’s most influential companies within Food, Beverage & Personal Care – assessing to what extent they addresses children’s rights in their public reporting. The benchmark scores reveal how well they perform in relation to industrial sectoral and regional peers. Please see here for results and key takeaways. 

At this webinar, we looked into what one sees when looking at the industry as a whole. Of all the business sectors benchmarked by Global Child Forum, the Food, Beverage and Personal Care sector arguably has the greatest impact on children’s health and well-being.  

Some examples:  

• The consumer-facing companies in this sector have a special ability to generate meaningful impacts. Marketing communications from this sector to children carry weight with young people, shaping decisions around eating behaviors and influencing diet, weight, and overall health 

• This sector continues to grapple with the impacts of child labour, especially in agricultural supply chains. The many products that contain staple raw materials such as cocoa, sugar, palm oil, and coffee are associated with children working in hazardous conditions. Worldwide, 60% of child labourers (aged 5-17) work in agriculture, including farming, fishing, livestock and forestry, meaning it impacts more than 98 million children. 
• Children’s rights in the community and environment are impacted throughout the sector, from agricultural production right through to product waste and recycling. Companies in this sector may directly harm children by exposure to harmful chemicals or contamination or overuse of local water supplies. Indirect impacts, such as environmental degradation, may also disrupt agricultural production and undermine the livelihoods of local communities, thereby making it financially impossible for children to access basic services such as health and education.