Book

Description

Public procurement offers government a one-of-a-kind opportunity to participate actively in the market. Government leaders should use public procurement to harmonize international standards to accomplish primary U.N. human rights objectives. But please do not stop there: the public procurement community should now incorporate preventing human trafficking into its social objectives. Knowledge is power. U.N. workers watch many human rights violations unfold. They are most aware of the nuanced relationship between business and human rights abuse. The non-transparent supply chain problem is not new to the U.N. - lack of transparency means, for example, that organized crime could become a business partner. U.N. human rights workers are in the best position to shed light on the dark places that exist in supply chains. The United States and the EU should collaborate with the U.N. to take the lead in incorporating anti-human trafficking initiatives into public procurement.