As this month's topic will be financed, I would like to focus in this post on a specific topic related to finance: human rights.
Often these two seem to be two policy fields that do not intertwine. For decades, a narrative of finance as a "heartless" world has been proposed to us. Nonetheless, in recent years, we have seen the private sector playing a more crucial role in pushing human rights forward.
In particular, private actors have become drivers of change by focusing on corporate social responsibility practices (CRS). This means that business models that make private companies more socially accountable are becoming more and more popular, since they improve the reputation of private organizations.
Among the actions that have been taken in the framework of CRS, there are both the reduction of carbon footprint and the promotion of diversity, equality, and inclusion. As the overarching theme of this blog is inclusion, it is essential to highlight the role that CSR plays in empowering women.
Later in 2022, UN Women held a Women's Economic Empowerment Congress in Ukraine, where experts on CRS were also present. Also, at the end of November 2022, the European Parliament adopted a new law on gender balance in corporate boards - which aims at reaching "40% of underrepresented sex among non-executive directors or 33% among all directors by 2026" (as reported by the
European Commission, see link below).
These are signs of the importance that the private sector plays in implementing human rights - such. As women's rights - today. The law of private companies is central to leading the way to a much-needed change in law and society.
As Hillary Clinton said in Beijing in 1995: "Women's rights are human rights" (see video below). That statement was revolutionary at the time but now is understood. What needs to be understood yet, instead, is that the private sector can, and needs to be, the frontrunner in this race for a change.
Love,
Elena
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