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Many commentators claim a key role for the private sector in reducing poverty. This can be achieved through direct benefits, such as the adoption of ethical business practices and the provision of employment, goods, and services to the poor; and through indirect positive impacts on macro-economic policy and business development. This paper argues that the likelihood of business impacts being pro-poor depends also on wider policy and structural conditions. These include the importance of poor people in a company's business model, and the length of local investment and commitment that this demands. Case studies of three companies demonstrate the importance of legislation and civil society as catalysts for pro-poor change in business. Leadership from within the company and a strong business case are also essential. However, multiple entrenched problems with modern capitalist systems work against positive change within international business. Overcoming or mitigating these will be necessary if the pro-poor potential of he private sector is to be realised.
A critical and detailed analysis of inequalities of world trade systems.
Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times. Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college courses worldwide and still used to address critical issues in government and business alike. That’s why it is time, says renegade economist Kate Raworth, to revise our economic thinking for the 21st century. In Doughnut Economics, she sets out seven key ways to fundamentally reframe our understanding of what econ...
* Comprehensive examination of roles private sector plays in development * Collection part of the Kumarian Press and Oxfam Development in Practice readers series Corporations have a major impact on the lives of people in developing countries. Not only do they determine the shape of the international economy but many private companies now provide essential social services that were previously the responsibility of government. The growth of corporate power has generated a backlash as companies are held to account for the social and environmental impacts of their business. The resulting array of new initiatives coming under the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ has many implications fo...
Business and human rights has emerged as a distinct field within the corporate governance movement. The endorsement by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in 2011 reinforces the State’s duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and greater access by victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial. This book draws on the UN Guiding Principles and recent national plans of action, to provide an overview of relevant developments within the ASEAN region. Bridging theory and practice, the editors have positioned this book a...
This timely work reflects on the role and obligations of the state as a buyer of goods and services, from the dual disciplinary perspectives of public procurement and human rights. Through theoretical and doctrinal analyses, and practice-focused case studies, it interrogates the evolving character of public procurement as an interface for multiple normative regimes and competing policies. Challenging the prevailing paradigm which subordinates human rights to narrowly-defined economic goals, insightful contributions advance a compelling case for greater inter-disciplinarity and policy coherence as crucial to realising international policies such as those embodied in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
This report asks fundamental questions about the global sportswear industry - questions that go to the heart of debates on poverty, workers' rights, trade, and globalisation. 'Olympism', in the words of the Olympic Charter, 'seeks to create a way of life based on ... respect for universal fundamental ethical principles. 'This report shows that the business practices of major sportswear companies violate both the spirit and the letter of the Charter. Yet the Olympics movement, particularly the International Olympics Committee, has been remarkably silent in the face of these contraventions.
This handbook surveys how international law is applied and interpreted in the Asia-Pacific region. It explores Asia's contribution to the development of international law and whether a distinct 'Asian' approach can be perceived
Closely based on background studies commisiioned together with Oxfam's partners in 12 countries [acknowledgements].