Electronics Watch has developed a new forced labour risk chart that allows public buyers to quickly understand the risk composition of the electronics they buy. The chart focuses on assembly and component levels, and the country of origin. This is done by combining analysis of specific regional conditions and supply chain characteristics. The Australian Government will be among the first to use this tool to better understand and respond strategically to modern slavery risks in its ICT supply chains.

We're delighted to start 2022 announcing four new affiliations to Electronics Watch, in Australia, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK.

Electronics Watch has joined the Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN). CEPN is a multi-stakeholder innovation network, with the goal to "move toward zero exposure of workers to toxic chemicals in the electronics manufacturing process." As a member of CEPN, Electronics Watch will help our affiliates work effectively to remove toxic chemicals from their electronics supply chains.

Today, just six days before the start of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 26, Electronics Watch releases two films focusing on the mining of nickel, a key mineral for batteries in electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure. Produced in collaboration with Pacific Asia Resource Center and Friends of the Earth, Japan, with support from Bread for All, A Cry from Palawan - The Environmental and Social Cost of Energy Transition and What is at Stake Behind the Energy Transition? - The Real Cost of Nickel Mining in the Philippines vividly demonstrate the need for a Just Transition to achieve the climate goals.

Electronics Watch, IndustriAll Global Union, the Fair Trade Advocacy Office and Rethinking Value Chains come together to deliver an educational series on human rights and environmental due diligence.

Our first major investigation of a cobalt and copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has revealed significant worker rights, health and safety and environmental problems. The investigation, which included extensive worker surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews, was conducted in collaboration with Southern Africa Resource Center (SARW) and Initiative Bonne Gouvernance et Droits Humains (IBGDH).

The Australian Government has engaged with Electronics Watch through the Australia Border Force to map its ICT supply chains and assess the risk.

Electronics Watch has embarked on a new chapter of its monitoring program in Taiwan. The pandemic in 2020 drew attention to the precarity of the supply chains and the importance of Taiwan for its key role in chip production. Taiwan produces cutting edge chips for the leading electronics companies and is crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain. Electronics Watch is now embarking on a pilot project with Serve the People Association (SPA), Taoyuan, to look at the risk of forced labour in workers manufacturing chips in Taiwan and to build a long-term sustainable partnership that respects and supports workers' rights.

This year, our virtual summit will focus on two of the most important yet least talked about workers' rights: the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The summit will take place between November 30—December 3 and be the culmination of a series of activities on this topic that we are organising in 2021.

The Procurement Office of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has presented the Electronics Watch impact model as best practice.