Our network in Australia is growing with the affiliation of a second university, the University of New South Wales.

Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW Sydney, said: “Electronics Watch will significantly assist UNSW in responding to potential risks of modern slavery in a meaningful way. The experience of Electronics Watch (working in 11 countries) and the engagement it has with electronics manufacturers, industry and civil society groups on the ground, will enable us to efficiently and collaboratively work together to effect positive change on the supply chain”.

Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium has become the fourth UK regional purchasing consortium to fully affiliate with Electronics Watch on behalf of their members. SUPC has been a member since 2017, and now their members join those of APUC, LUPC and NWUPC in their efforts to protect the rights of workers in their electronics supply chains. With this full consortium affiliation, over three quarters of UK public universities are now able to procure under the Electronics Watch contract conditions.

Gasunie, a state-owned Dutch company, has also affiliated. Gasunie manages and maintains the infrastructure for large-scale transport and storage of gas in the Netherlands and the northern part of Germany. Their affiliation to Electronics Watch helps them to contribute to some of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Jan Marten Spanjersberg, Chief Information Officer at Gasunie, said: “As a state shareholding, Gasunie has set an ambitious target in various areas. One of these concerns social responsibility in the supply chain. We try to give substance to this with our partnerships, such as those with Electronics Watch. With this we try to get the entire chain at/near the level [of sustainability] that we aspire to ourselves”.

The City of Oslo and its affiliated agencies come to Electronics Watch with considerable experience implementing and following up on social selection criteria and social contract clauses in procurements of high risk goods. They are working towards criteria for human rights due diligence systems, emphasising the need for follow-up based on in-house competence.