Human Rights and Public Procurement – International Learning Lab Hits Its Stride

The International Learning Lab on Public Procurement and Human Rights was launched last year and is co-organised by the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), the Harrison Institute at Georgetown Law, the Business, Human Rights and Environment Research Group (BHRE), the Public Procurement Research Group of Nottingham University, and the London Universities Purchasing Consortium.

This is a hot topic in public procurement, and only likely to get hotter, we suspect. Stories about conditions in electronics and garment factories for instance have hit the national press. Citizens and taxpayers are rightly horrified to think that ‘their’ money, being spent by contracting authorities via public procurement, may be helping support human rights abuses in those and other areas.

So the Learning Lab aims to be a platform and mechanism for:

• experience-sharing among procurement actors on approaches to integrating respect for human rights;
• generating knowledge about public procurement law and policy and human rights;
• producing and disseminating tools and guidance to build capacity to integrate human rights issues among procurement professionals; and
• promoting coherence between procurement and human rights in international and regional frameworks and initiatives.

In what appears to be a positive start, the Learning Lab recently launched its website (www.hrprocurementlab.org) which covers three main content-related sections: Thematic Hubs, Resources and Events.

Additionally, the Learning Lab also recently published its inaugural report, (available free to download here), titled “Public Procurement and Human Rights: A Survey of Twenty Jurisdictions.” The substantial piece of work (104 pages) was authored by Claire Methven O’Brien, Amol Mehra, and Nicole Vander Meulen, with contributions from Marta Andrecka, Olga Martin-Ortega, and Robert Stumberg. The report provides the following:

• An overview of key standards, issues, and policy or practitioner initiatives concerning the interface between public procurement and human rights
• Key findings from a 20-jurisdiction survey of law, policy, and practice on public procurement and human rights conducted in collaboration with local partners
• Recommendations on measures needed to bring public procurement into alignment with human rights and sustainable development.

Do take a look at the website and the report – and for more information about the Learning Lab’s activities, or to subscribe to the mailing list, please contact Nicole Vander Meulen at nicole@icar.ngo

This article first appeared online on Public Spend Forum Europe

Modern Slavery and Procurement Obligations – Dr Olga Martin-Ortega at LUPC/SUPC Event

Another of the strong sessions at the recent London Universities and Southern Universities Purchasing Consortia joint conference was “Managing Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain: Responsibilities Under the Modern Slavery Act”. The speaker, a real expert on the topic, was Dr Olga Martin-Ortega, Reader in Public International Law at the University of Greenwich in London

She explained that human rights violations are enabled by the nature of the supply chain, and occur where there are governance and regulation gaps. Global supply chains are increasingly buyer-driven – it is often the brands at the end of the supply chain that hold power. There has been much more outsourcing over the past 20 years, so often the big brands don't make anything themselves, and rely on supply chains, often spread around may countries...

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LUPC shortlisted for THELMAs 2016

LUPC has been shortlisted in the Outstanding Procurement Team category of the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2016.

The Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards (affectionately known as the THELMAs) showcase and celebrate the best examples of innovation, teamwork and enterprise within the higher education sector.

LUPC’s entry focuses on our leadership in the area of sustainable and ethical procurement, notably our lobbying for contract clauses to protect labour rights in electronics supply chains; our success in achieving Level 4 of the Sustainable Procurement Flexible Framework; publication of our Slavery & Human Trafficking statement; and our collaboration with the University of Greenwich’s Business, Human Rights & the Environment Research Group led by LUPC Board Member Dr Olga Martin-Ortega.

LUPC faces competition in this category from five other universities, including the University of Cambridge and University of Leicester.

LUPC Director, Andy Davies, said: “This is a great achievement for LUPC, and an important opportunity to raise the profile of ethical procurement across the sector through these prestigious awards.

“As a smaller outfit, we’re facing stiff competition in this category from well-established universities, but we hope that our shortlisting will propel the issue of labour rights within supply chains further up the sector’s agenda, and spread the message that ‘good’ procurement is about much more than saving money.” 

The awards dinner and ceremony will take place on Thursday 23 June at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Read the full THELMAs 2016 shortlist.