Our Resources

Analysis of the key problems and challenges faced in diverse value chain sectors in terms of human rights and environmental impacts and the underlying causes, with particular attention to :

• gender and specific rights of women workers and producers
• links between pricing, company buying practices and working conditions.
• ‘emerging trends’ in the industry that are having an impact, e.g, technological developments
  (reducing labour needs), precarious work, supplier contracts, price issues (higher costs of
  production vs lower market price) and climate change.
• the challenges faced in the transport and logistics part of the chain and other secondary and
  tertiary industries.

Overview and analysis of the barriers to human rights protection including: access to justice, lack of accountability / transparency, questions of jurisdiction and lack of enforcement mechanisms, with particular attention to :

• barriers to worker agency / organisation and the importance of collective bargaining and other local worker-driven initiatives to implement regulations and rights
• identification of loopholes in existing legislation and recommendations for stronger and more legally binding regulation towards the respect of human and environmental rights
• analysis of examples of the practical application of legislation that has led to an improvement in social, environmental and economic conditions.

Mapping of the value chain, including data and analysis on key stakeholders and the (unequal) distribution of power and value along the chain, in particular :

• Who holds the power? Who makes the decisions? Where are the profits going? How is this inequality maintained? How can we tip the balance towards greater equality along value chains?
• potential strategic points to address issues of equality and power – assessment of endemic challenges and systemic solutions
• analysis beyond small producers vs big multinationals, developing a deeper understanding of the complexities in between (including the role of governments)
• identification of key levers in company decision making and access to capital, including the role of fiscal mechanisms
• analysis of transparency issues is key !

Identification of strategies used, and advances made, towards improvements in the respect of human rights and environmental conditions, in particular :

• promotion of worker agency, collective bargaining, the organisation of small producers and other local worker and small producer driven initiatives
• promoting binding regulation, sanctions on companies and independent watchdogs
• strategy focused on key issues and political leverage points that target the source of unequal power within value chains, for example sexual harassment, gender-based violence and worker slavery.
• creating and redistributing value both by working with existing structures and institutions, and identifying new paths could lead us to fairer distribution of value along value chains constructing economic alternatives with a focus on activities outside the institutions and structures where economic and political power is currently held.
• analysis of initiatives that do not work and why, e.g., social auditing

Developing concrete cross-sectoral conclusions and recommendations to help the RVC collective and our members to develop a common agenda and shared strategy to improve the respect of worker, human and environmental rights at a global / multi-sector level, including :

• analysis on and response to the current and future challenges (linked to any emerging trends)
• global conclusions and trends across sectors on how value chains function and are used by corporations to escape from their legal responsibilities.
• recommendations on regulatory and non-regulatory strategies that can be used and promoted by not-for-profit organisations in their advocacy, campaigning and dialogue with industry actors
• identification of specific actions that can be undertaken by the RVC collective and / or our individual members