2018 December 17

Connecting at the Electronics Watch Annual Conference 2018

90 participants from 18 countries, including 41 public buyers, came away from the third Electronics Watch Annual Conference with new connections and plans for future work together.

An ideal opportunity for stakeholders to get closer and understand more of others' perspectives. I really liked the way of organizing the conference: promoting communications among participants, not just focusing on presentations of speakers. (conference participant)

The conference, co-organized by Electronics Watch affiliates Gemeente Amsterdam and London Universities Purchasing Consortium, as well as SOMO, Good Electronics and the Business, Human Rights and the Environment research group took place at the impressive Royal Tropical Institute last Tuesday 11th December.

This year’s format was different in that participants from different countries and sectors were mixed up on round tables, and, after leading input from guest speakers, were given questions to discuss in three thematic areas: Supply Chain Transparency, Purchasing Practices and Working Conditions and Social dialogue and Workers’ Voices. They could also choose one of three technical workshops on Recent guidance and legislation on human rights due diligence in global supply chains, the second generation Electronics Watch contract clauses and the Electronics Watch Company Performance Tracker. More details, including the presentations, will be posted shortly.