2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Organized by Lambo Films, Storyhouse Films, Abeva and Doughty Street Chambers.

Short description of the session:
The session will be a showing of the film “Breathless” (75 mins), which is a film showing how the asbestos industry moved to take advantages of markets and laws in less developed countries and the struggle of people affected by the industry for redress. It centres on the struggle of victims in Belgium and India, where it takes the director to the largest asbestos waste dump in South Asia. The asbestos story is replicated in many other industries and reflects the difficulties in obtaining remedy in a globalised world.

Session objectives:
To illustrate through the issue of the export of asbestos how corporations have exported the most hazardous and exploitative industries to the less developed world, where people struggle to obtain a remedy, but how through such struggles change can come about. The film is linked to a crowdfunding campaign to fund litigation in India to clean up an asbestos waste dump in Central India (breathlessfund.org), which will hopefully have a wider impact in creating awareness of the hazards of asbestos in India.

Key discussion questions:

• What has been the reaction of Eternit to the film?
• What has been the reaction of the people in Kappelle to the film?
• What is the role of the UN is stopping such violations from happening, Rotterdam Convention and the report of hazardous substances in the workplace.
• What is the campaign in India to highlight the hazards of asbestos?

Format:
The film will be 75 mins followed by a discussion and a Q&A till 8pm

Organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media

Short description of the session:
Join us for a special screening of THE PRICE OF FREE, followed by a conversation with Nobel Peace Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi (other panelists TBD).
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, THE PRICE OF FREE is a suspenseful yet intimate look at one man’s groundbreaking struggle to liberate every child possible from slavery. From director Derek Doneen and Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “He Named Me Malala”), the film follows Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his team of leaders around the world through gripping secret raids and quests for missing children in the hopes of ending the cycle of poverty that forces them and their families into dreadful circumstances. Refusing to be daunted by the impossible, they have succeeded in rescuing over 87,000 children and created a global movement which has resulted in legislation which helps protect young children. The film was co-produced by Concordia Studio and Participant Media, and will be released by YouTube Originals.

Session objectives:

• Introduce / re-introduce Kailash Satyarthi and his movement to the audience
• Illuminate the persistence of child labor, hidden in supply chains
• Discuss the role of business in child labor and slavery in supply chains
• Describe the film’s social impact campaign and how companies in the room can screen this film for their employees, leaders and partners.

Key discussion questions:

• What can the private sector do to help solve this problem?

Background to the discussion:
The film will be launched globally on November 27th by YouTube Originals.
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media (in partnership with YouTube and Concordia Studio) will empower students, policymakers, and business leaders to take action toward a future that is child-labor free. The campaign will provide audiences across the U.S. and around the world with an opportunity to understand and reflect on how many of the products we use in our daily lives — from our coffee, to our clothes, to our mobile devices — could include the work of children. The campaign will provide pathways for audiences to invest, advocate and lead change.
Recognizing the key role that business plays in eliminating forced and child labor, Participant Media is offering the film to companies with global supply chains, so that they might screen for their employees, leadership, customers or shareholders. Companies may choose a date between October 2018 and April 2019 to screen all or a portion of the film and use the event as an opportunity to spark a conversation about improving supply chain practices. Participant Media will provide tools for hosting a successful screening event.

Organised by Doughty Street Chambers with Traidcraft and Ethical Trade Initiative

Brief description
The session is intended to discuss the issue of combatting modern slavery in supply chains through the perspective of two sectoral responses and two industries. The session will show two short videos (around 5 mins each) on the Rajasthan Stone Sector and the Assam tea Industry, which are meant to highlight some of the issues and then engender discussion on the question of what could be done to combat modern slavery in supply chains from an industry, NGO and legal perspective.

Session objectives
The objectives for the session are:

• To highlight some of the violations in two important supply chains which the attendees may not be aware of.
• To highlight the current campaign on the transparency in the Assam tea supply chain.
• To highlight the current work that has been done and is planning to be done on the Rajasthan Stone Supply chain.
• To have a greater understanding of what are the barriers to combatting modern slavery in those supply chains.
• To have a greater understanding of why companies are finding difficulties in mapping supply chains.
• To have a greater understanding of what legal avenues may be possible for combatting the most serious human rights violations in supply chains.

Key discussion questions

What are the key lessons from these two sectoral campaigns in:

• Addressing the main barriers to combatting modern slavery in supply chains?
• how companies should enhance their due diligence in supply chains?
• why many companies are not enhancing their due diligence in supply chains?
• what stakeholders can do to improve due diligence in supply chains?
• what lawyers can do to improve due diligence in supply chains?

Format of the session
There will be:

• Short video on Assam Tea Supply chain, followed by a 10 min introduction by Fiona Gooch, on the campaign.
• Short video on Rajasthan Stone Supply chain, followed by a 10 min introduction by Krishnendu Mukherjee on the issue.
• Response by Cindy Berman on the issues raised.
• Further response by Fiona Gooch and Krishnendu Mukherjee
• Discussion from the floor.

Background to the discussion
A backdrop to the discussion is the reluctance of many large companies in the UK to engage with s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. By drilling down on lessons from two sectoral case studies, the aim is to generate a discussion rooted in practical examples on how barriers and challenges to progress can be overcome.

Organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media

Short description of the session:
Join us for a special screening of THE PRICE OF FREE.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, THE PRICE OF FREE is a suspenseful yet intimate look at one man’s groundbreaking struggle to liberate every child possible from slavery. From director Derek Doneen and Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “He Named Me Malala”), the film follows Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his team of leaders around the world through gripping secret raids and quests for missing children in the hopes of ending the cycle of poverty that forces them and their families into dreadful circumstances. Refusing to be daunted by the impossible, they have succeeded in rescuing over 87,000 children and created a global movement which has resulted in legislation which helps protect young children. The film was co-produced by Concordia Studio and Participant Media, and will be released by YouTube Originals.

Session objectives:

• Illuminate the persistence of child labor, hidden in supply chains
• Discuss the role of business in child labor and slavery in supply chains
• Describe the film’s social impact campaign and how companies in the room can screen this film for their employees, leaders and partners.

Key discussion questions:

• What can the private sector do to help solve this problem?

Background to the discussion:
The film will be launched globally on November 27th by YouTube Originals.
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media (in partnership with YouTube and Concordia Studio) will empower students, policymakers, and business leaders to take action toward a future that is child-labor free. The campaign will provide audiences across the U.S. and around the world with an opportunity to understand and reflect on how many of the products we use in our daily lives — from our coffee, to our clothes, to our mobile devices — could include the work of children. The campaign will provide pathways for audiences to invest, advocate and lead change.
Recognizing the key role that business plays in eliminating forced and child labor, Participant Media is offering the film to companies with global supply chains, so that they might screen for their employees, leadership, customers or shareholders. Companies may choose a date between October 2018 and April 2019 to screen all or a portion of the film and use the event as an opportunity to spark a conversation about improving supply chain practices. Participant Media will provide tools for hosting a successful screening event.