‘The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child … recognises that the business sector’s impact on children’s rights has grown in past decades because of factors such as the globalised nature of economies and of business operations and the on-going trends of decentralisation, and outsourcing and privatising of State functions that affect the enjoyment of human rights. Business can be an essential driver for societies and economies to advance in ways that strengthen the realisation of children’s rights through, for example, technological advances, investment and the generation of decent work. However, the realisation of children’s rights is not an automatic consequence of economic growth and business enterprises can also negatively impact children’s rights.’

Thus states the 1st paragraph of General comment No. 16: On State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights, adopted last Friday by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. That’s the U.N. body charged with monitoring compliance with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, a multilateral treaty treaty that enjoys near-universal ratification (the 3 nonmember countries are Somalia, South Sudan, and the  United States). For a detailed analysis of the 22-page General comment No. 16, see this Rights as Usual blog post by Nadia Bernaz (Middlesex Law).