What We Do
Electronics industry in Vietnam, ©ILO, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO DEED
Together with our affiliated public buyers and civil society monitoring partners, Electronics Watch coordinates industry-independent supply chain monitoring and facilitates the remediation of human rights abuses in public procurement electronics hardware and Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) supply chains.
What we do
Our operations can be broken down into three main areas:
Capacity building for public authorities
Public authorities often lack the resources and in-house expertise needed to effectively identify, prevent, mitigate, remedy and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts. Electronics Watch raises awareness about the severity and prevalence of risks to workers in public sector supply chains, and provides its affiliates with tools and guidance to strengthen their ability to drive change through procurement. Support for supply chain mapping, integrating human rights due diligence into procurement planning and contract management, the provision of procurement tools, webinars and resources, and facilitated peer learning opportunities are among the many ways we do this. In addition, we facilitate collaboration between public buyers, helping them combine their leverage to promote and protect the rights of workers.
Worker-driven monitoring
Monitoring partners are local civil society organisations based in electronics production regions and mining regions. They are well-suited to reach workers without putting them in harm’s way because they understand the local context and languages and have established relationships with workers and their communities. Electronics Watch trains monitoring partners in its methodology to enable consistent and credible reporting on risks to workers and rights violations. We also support them to educate workers about their rights and collaborate with trade unions and worker representatives to provide an external grievance mechanism and drive remedy.
Engagement with industry
Electronics Watch pursues remedy for business-related harms in public supply chains through various means. Electronics Watch works directly with affiliates to engage their suppliers in dialogue on human rights, informed by the evidence generated by worker-driven monitoring. Electronics Watch facilitates multi-stakeholder dialogue on workers’ rights issues and organizes public buyers to ensure compliance with contract obligations, legal requirements and international labour standards. In-scope violations are also addressed using the Terms of Engagement between Electronics Watch and the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The RBA is an industry association that convenes many electronics brands, manufacturers and resellers.