ASSIGNMENT

RESPONSIBLE SUPPLY CHAIN

What is a Supply Chain? Trace the Coltan and Chocolate Supply

Chains from the given videos.

A supply chain is the process of producing, manufacturing, transporting,

and eventually selling or delivering the product. All organizations, people,
technologies and activities involved in this process are also a part of the
supply chain. The major factors that affect a supply chain are availability of
labour, demand of the product and economic factors.

Coltan Supply chain- The journey of coltan and cassiterite started from a
mining town in Congo called Tchonka. The workers work on corporate
owned mines not just Coltan these mines are rich of Cassiterite, gold,
wolframite, diamonds and tourmaline.
The minerals are mined and the mixture of Cassiterite and Coltan in rinsed
with water the dirt goes into the cart, the water is kept shallow so that the
coltan does not roll down only the stones and dirt do. These are then filled
in bags and taken back to the mining villages where they are dried and
Coltan and Cassiterite are separated with a magnet manually. They sell this
for $6 and mine 10-12 Kilos a day. The separated minerals are then is
packed and sent to Bukavu via plane, from here buyers from Europe and
other western countries buy it to use it for their production.

Chocolate Supply Chain- The Chocolate production starts at the cocoa

plantations, majorly at the Ivory Coast, a country in West Africa. The coco
pods are harvested and the beans are removed by the children working in
the plantations, these beans are then dried in the sun. The beans are then
packed and sold off to the intermediaries at the price of 1 euro/kilo
intermediaries who further sell them to the exporters, who wash the beans
and pack them and sell them to the stock exchange. After this the beans
enter the international market to the international traders where they sell it
to other traders this is called trading/processing. These beans coco then
finally reach the cocoa processors and chocolate manufacturers namely
Nestle and Callebaut who turn this into coco powder or butter to make
chocolates and other coco products. 1 KG/ Euro for a farmer are equal to 40
chocolate bars.
 What are Human Rights?

 Human rights in very simple words are rights that every human being have just
because they exist. In the eyes of law everyone has this right universally,
equally and forever. It is the basic standard without which humans cannot live
with respect. An individual does not have to be of a particular gender or a
member of any religion, caste or society. Human rights work on the principle of
independent existence no law of any country can prohibit people from their
basic human rights, rather its holder cannot lose it temporarily or permanently
even if they want to voluntarily give it up. Some important rights which come
under human rights are, the right to vote, the human right to freedom of
movement, the right to speech, the right to information, right to life, right to
privacy, right to equality and right have an opinion. Some of these are formed
as treaties to protect the vulnerable groups of people like women, minorities,
children and aboriginals. These rights can also exist without legal obligations
and just as an act of morality and as a norm of interpersonal behaviour.

Why, Whose and How are Human Rights violated in the 2 Supply
Chains discussed in the video cases?

In the two supply chains discussed, the human rights of the people were being
violated because they did were not well informed, they could not ask for their
rights as they were kept in the dark even by the government. The biggest
reason for human rights violation in DRC and Ivory Coast by the industries, is
that the government is corrupt, does not care about the citizens and there is
no law and order. In Democratic Republic of Congo, the natives were earlier
enslaved by the Belgians, after independence they started working on
commercial mining sites where they are not provided the right equipment to
work, the workers work under unsafe working conditions, even their basic
needs are not being met i.e. they do not have enough money to provide food
to their families, after doing labour intensive work they only get to eat raw
beans. When the Coltan and Cassiterite is further sold, it is sold at a higher
price but the workers are not informed. They are often lied to about the
market price of the minerals, here their right to information is violated. Even
after being so rich in minerals they have been stripped off from their
resources, and have not been able to develop since generations. There is a
restriction on colonial education because of which to Congolese is a lawyer or
doctor, Right to Education and freedom of speech is also violated here.
Economies of the world are dependent on them and their resources, but they
do not even have basic living amenities.

The biggest violation of human rights in the chocolate supply chain is that the
children are bought and sold at a price of 230 Euros (this price was inclusive of
their transport and indefinite use). Kids are kidnapped or lured from nearby
villages namely Mali, Pahina Faso, Nigeria and Togo. they are made to work
forcefully in the cocoa plantations. Their freedom of movement and freedom
of speech is taken away, if any of them tries to run and hide, or if they work
slowly, they are beaten up and made to work in the plantations by the farmers.
The underaged kids are exposed to heavy pesticides, and unhealthy working
conditions. Mostly children between the age of 8-12, do not learn the local
language as they don’t attend schools, violating their right to basic education.
The government bodies, cocoa manufacturers or chocolate makers refuse in
the Ivory Coast refuse to accept that children are being trafficked and forced to
work. When the Interpol tried to rescue these children by Operation BIA, the
farmers and the people nearby hid the children. Nobody in the whole system
raises their voice for the safety and welfare of these children.

What are some of the salient features of UN Guiding Principles for

Businesses on Human Rights? 

The UN Guiding Principles for basic Human Rights states that every state or
enterprise is obligated to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and
fundamental freedoms of the individuals involved with the organisations
The responsibility of business enterprises which play a major role in the society
and perform special functions, of doing business, producing goods and services
are required to abide by all the applicable human rights. The states are
obligated to protect, respect and fulfil human rights of the citizens living in
their territories who are involved with these businesses specially of women,
children, ethnic minorities, migrant workers and people with disabilities.
UNGPs are legally binding documents that are supposed to be adhered by all
businesses and enterprises.
Business enterprises should respect human rights with due diligence by
adapting best practices for the people working for them. This Includes
considering issues of gender, marginalization of the workers, being informed
about the specific challenges faced by indigenous peoples, women, national or
ethnic and linguistic minorities, children and migrant workers and their
families.
The businesses are required to maintain healthy working conditions. Another
major principle with is to be followed by every business of organisation is
corporate social responsibility in which the businesses and the states have to
asses the impacts they can have on the people working in and living around
the areas of their factories or workplaces. Affective remedies through judicial,
and legislative are to be provided to the citizens under the UN Guiding
Principles.