Risk Assessment of Forced Labour in Procurement: Information and Communications Technology executive summary

The severity and prevalence of human rights abuses in electronics supply chains is well documented. Forced labour, child labour and human trafficking are among the most grievous of these. Forced labour has been documented in most production countries in electronics supply chains, and in most supply chain tiers. Child labour is exploited in the mining of minerals used in the components of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products, most commonly in artisanal and small-scale mines, which have lower levels of oversight and accountability.

Purpose of the report

This report assesses the risks of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking in the supply chains of ICT hardware products. It contains information about the risk environment, levels of risk analysis, challenges to risk mitigation, and best practices. The report is intended for public purchasing bodies interested in leveraging their procurements to mitigate these risks and provide remedy for identified abuses in public sector supply chains. Businesses and other stakeholders can also find useful analysis, findings, and recommendations in this report.

This report analyzes forced labour, child labour and human trafficking risks at two levels: by country and by supply chain tier. It draws on Electronics Watch’s own findings, collected via worker-driven monitoring conducted in ICT hardware supply chains between 2016 and 2024, and on other credible public sources.

The country-level findings are described in relation to a typology of forced labour developed by Electronics Watch. The supply chain tier analysis considers labour intensity, visibility of the supply chain tiers and operations, and other relevant supply chain characteristics.

Risk assessment

The level of risk of forced labour in different parts of ICT supply chains is assessed by cross-analyzing the country-level and supply chain-level risks. Individual risk indicators - such as geographic location, the level of supply chain tier and relative visibility, the type of production, and the type of material used – have individual and compounded implications.

Challenges

Mitigating the risk of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking in public procurement presents both systemic and specific challenges.

Systemic challenges

• Complexity of ICT hardware supply chains
• Lack of supply chain transparency
• Lack of accountability for business-related harms among supply chain actors

Specific challenges

• Limitations of social audits
• Difficulties assessing credibility of evidence presented in corporate reports

Recommendations

The report recommends the following concrete steps that public authorities can take to mitigate the risk of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking in their procurements:

• build internal knowledge and capacity to identify and address risks
• develop a dialogue-based contract management approach aimed at continuous improvement
• define clear requirements in the form of tender criteria and contract performance clauses
• adopt and promote responsible purchasing practices
• collaborate and communicate on risk identification and mitigation efforts

This report is primarily designed to assist the Government of Canada and public buyers in the fight against forced labour and child labour. Any other organization involved in ICT procurement supply chains may also find value in the contents of this report. These recommendations reflect an emerging global regulatory environment on human rights due diligence, that is elevating key issues high on the agendas of governments, civil society, and industry.

Request full report

For a copy of the full report, please contact spac.paachatsethiques-apethicalprocurement.pspc@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca.