Blogs, publications & articles
Beyond Compliance: Three Human Rights Risks That Companies Overlook
As companies navigate the complex landscape of human rights, they tend to focus on the most visible and well-known human rights risks or those they are legally required to address. However, numerous risks are often overlooked and undervalued, posing significant...
Due Diligence on Child Labour; new law in the Netherlands
Broad support in parliament February 7, 2017 the Dutch parliament approved a new law, the Due Diligence Child Labour. The law was initiated by the Labour Party (PvdA) and after some amendments received broad support in Parliament. Only the Liberal Party (VVD), the...
Due diligence in practice: how companies in the Netherlands can combat child labour in their supply chains
Is child labour still a problem? First the good news: child labour decreased since the beginning of this century by more than 30%. One hundred and sixty-eight million children are still working as child labourers according to the International Labour Organisation...
Oxfam GB groundbreaking report on labour rights in Unilever’s supply chain
Oxfam GB released a groundbreaking report on labour rights in Unilever’s supply chain. It is groundbreaking not so much because of its content (although as the project’s technical advisor and co-author of the report, I do think we have some fascinating findings to...
Human rights compliance is more than a legal checkmark
With human rights due diligence obligations becoming mandatory in the EU (think #CSDDD, #CSRD), more companies approach this as a purely legal duty, often bringing in lawyers to ensure compliance. But as a lawyer myself, I have serious concerns about the limits of...
EU legislation on corporate due diligence finally agreed upon
It's been an exciting few weeks. Every day seemed to bring a new developments. Will the Member States be able to reach a compromise on a new law that will make it a legal requirement to respect human rights? For 12 years I have been helping companies to comply with...