The three-day Summit began with organisational highlights from the Electronics Watch Executive Director and staff members, who shared key developments and achievements from the past year. We heard about affiliate engagement, the Low Emission Vehicle Programme, supply chain transparency, grievance mechanisms, evidence, and a new approach to remedy that puts the needs of harmed workers at the centre - where they belong.

The potential of the regulatory environment: national and international legislation

The second part of the session focused on the potential of the regulatory environment—human rights and environmental due diligence, trade measures, and reporting/transparency requirements—to help advance workers' rights in public procurement supply chains.

Dr Olga Martin-Ortega, widely recognised as an expert on business and human rights, moderated the session. Speakers from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Norway and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights discussed how public buyers can set expectations and demonstrate higher standards for human rights due diligence. The conversation covered policy, practice and national and international regulations, including the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Australian Modern Slavery Act, how public buyers and industry are reacting to Norway's transparency law, and the impact of German supply chain legislation.

Battery supply chains: human rights violations and due diligence

The second day focused on mining and battery manufacturing. During a round table discussion speakers provided an overview of Electronics Watch Low Emission Vehicle Programme and monitoring in mines, and explored conditions in mines across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and sub–Saharan Africa and battery manufacturing facilities in Hungary. Two public buyers, Transport for London (UK) and the Federal Institute for Sustainable Development (Belgium), discussed what they are doing to establish human rights due diligence in their battery supply chains and progress to date in engaging with electric bus manufacturers.

Monitoring partners and public buyers in conversation

The third session, Stories of challenge and change, brought affiliates and monitoring partners together, creating a confidential space where they could share experiences and learn from each other. The panel discussed systematic issues workers face in global electronics supply chains. Monitoring partners and trade unionists from Nepal, India and Malaysia shared insights related to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, forced labour, and challenges to achieving a living wage across the supply chain. They were joined by affiliates from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), Griffith University (Australia) and the Swedish Regions, who shared their efforts to address these issues, including how they use evidence from worker-driven monitoring to inform their supplier dialogue.

Missed the Summit?

The recordings for day 1 and day 2 are available on our website. Affiliates can see the recording of the closed-door session on day 3 by logging in to the intranet.