Ethical Toy Program at UNICEF & UN Global Compact Summits on Family-Friendly Policies

In July, Ethical Toy Program was invited to present at a high-level UNICEF and UN Global Compact Summit in New York focused on family-friendly policies in business operations and supply chains. 

At the Summit, Mark Robertson, Senior Vice President at Ethical Toy Program, shared impacts and achievements from our family friendly spaces and women’s empowerment programs, highlighting how these are delivering positive impacts for parent workers and children – as well as driving business benefits for participating factories.  

Ethical Toy Program then joined others from government, business, the UN, academia and civil society to participate in a business-focused, deep-dive discussion exploring key issues and challenges around family-friendly policies.

Family-friendly policies encompass a broad range of issues including paid parental leave, appropriate support for pregnant workers, breastfeeding breaks, quality childcare and child rights. Evidence from our own programs shows that implementing these policies at factories can increase the recruitment and retention of workers; support advancement of working parents, especially mothers; boost employee engagement and morale; help make factories more competitive and attract talent. 

Reflecting on the Summit, Mark commented: “From supply chains to broader business operations, it’s clear that family-friendly policies are relevant to almost every aspect of business. Decisions made with family-friendly policies are great for workers and good for business’ bottom line. We look forward to further expanding our Best for Workers programs and will continue to champion positive work underway to advance family friendly policies in the toy industry supply chain”. 

To learn more about our Best for Workers strategy – or to find out how your company can participate in this work - please email the IETP team

Celebrating 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

November 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. The Convention commits member states to uphold children’s rights – including the rights to survival and development, freedom and protection, and identity and privacy.

Ethical Toy Program is planning a series on blogs to tie-in with the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, celebrating the work of our buyer and factory members in implementing the Child Rights and Business Principles and setting out our ambitious agenda to expand our Family-Friendly Factory programs in 2020 and beyond. 

Alongside our Family-Friendly Factory programs, we’d also like to profile other examples from our members supporting child rights in the toy supply chain. We encourage you to share best practice examples our case studies on child rights and business issues here.