ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 29, 2019 -- The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) today announced it has received the 2019 Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The U.S. Secretary of State presented the award to the RBA at a ceremony this afternoon during a cabinet-level meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) in the historic Indian Treaty Room at the White House.
The RBA received this award for its “innovative work and leadership within the global business community to push for industry-wide change to enhance worker protections, transform the market for ethical recruitment practices, and promote strong management systems to prevent human trafficking and trafficking risks in global supply chains.”
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award and appreciate the validation of our work on human trafficking, including forced labor,” said Rob Lederer, Executive Director of the Responsible Business Alliance. “We are proud to represent a multi-industry group of companies that have come together to use business as a force for good.”
It has been a long journey, and there is still much work to be done, but the RBA and its members have made tremendous strides in the past 15 years. The journey began in 2004, when a small group of forward-thinking companies sought to create an industry-wide standard on social, environmental and ethical issues in the supply chain. Today the RBA and its Initiatives include nearly 400 members with combined annual revenues of greater than $7.7 trillion, directly employing over 21.5 million people, with products manufactured in more than 120 countries.
Labor and human rights have been prominently featured in the RBA’s Code of Conduct since its inception. In 2015 the RBA also became one of the first industry groups to adopt a “no fees” policy in its Code to eliminate charges to migrant workers seeking employment, while adding other protections against forced labor. In 2017, the RBA launched its multi-industry, multi-stakeholder Responsible Labor Initiative to further ensure the rights and dignity of workers vulnerable to forced labor in global supply chains are consistently respected and promoted through responsible recruitment and employment practices.
Global supply chains are incredibly complex and diverse, and there is no single solution to these challenges, but the RBA has developed a robust set of tools that companies can use to conduct due diligence, advance responsible business conduct, and support continual improvement. Learn more about the RBA, its Code of Conduct, programs and tools here on its website.
Learn more about the President’s Interagency Task Force meeting here on the State Department website.
About the Responsible Business Alliance
The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) is a nonprofit coalition of leading companies dedicated to improving social, environmental and ethical conditions in their global supply chains. The RBA has a Code of Conduct and a range of programs, training and assessment tools to support continual improvement. The RBA and its Responsible Minerals, Labor and Factory Initiatives have nearly 400 members with combined annual revenues of greater than $7.7 trillion, directly employing over 21.5 million people, with products manufactured in more than 120 countries. For more information, visit ResponsibleBusiness.org and follow @RBAllianceOrg.
Media Contact
Jarrett Bens, Director of Communications
Responsible Business Alliance
Phone: +1 571.858.5721
jbens@responsiblebusiness.org
