Amnesty International calls for social issues on corporate agendas

According to a recent report, far more than in the past, multinational company's stance on human rights will be considered part of its performance. It also says that companies must be prepared to confront the governments that play host to them about issues including child labour.

The report titled "Human Rights -- Is It Any of Your Business?" was released by Amnesty International along with the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, an advocacy organization supported by Prince Charles of Britain to promote socially responsible business practices.

"To go without a policy on human rights is to go naked into a dangerous world," Sir Geoffrey of Amnesty International warned.

This signals the beginning of a new campaign by advocacy groups to hold corporate behavior to standards that many multinational corporations had once sought to dismiss.

The report's insistence that other corporations should follow the lead of companies like Shell, BP Amoco P.L.C., Reebok International and Levi Strauss & Company reflects how advocacy groups have increasingly challenged businesses over their practices.

It also cites how pressure from United States and British groups in the 1990's forced scrutiny of the way child labour was used in the Asian sporting goods industry, from footwear to soccer balls.

The campaign takes aim not so much at consumers as at the boardrooms of big international companies, urging them to consider the hazards of ignoring such issues.

"Companies have a direct self-interest in using their legitimate influence to protect and promote the human rights of their employees and of the communities within which they are investing and/or operating," the report says. "The increasing scrutiny of corporate behavior and the immediacy of global communication leave companies with little, if any, hiding place."

The report urges that companies incorporate explicit commitments to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their central strategies and operating procedures.

It is not clear how the report would be received in business circles. However, a survey by the Ashridge business school in Britain released in conjunction with the report suggested that human rights issues were finding their way onto corporate agendas.

The survey of Fortune 500 companies revealed that 36 percent "have decided not to proceed with a proposed investment project", while another 19 percent "have disinvested" because of concerns over human rights issues. It also found that less than half -- 44 percent -- of companies with a code of ethics or business principles "make explicit reference to human rights