Unicef published a report on Corporate Reporting on Children’s Rights (March 2025). This report highlights global trends and gaps in disclosure on children’s rights by analysing sustainability reports of 794 companies from all regions of the world. It is intended to guide decision makers across business, regulation and standards development in fully integrating children’s rights into their sustainability reporting approaches.
Human Level’s Take:
- Why should companies care about children’s rights? Business activities can negatively impact children and, given that children are a highly vulnerable group, these impacts can be particularly severe
- While companies often associate children’s rights with child labour, this is just one part of a much broader picture
- Business operations can affect children in many ways. For example, company activities related to land acquisition and use can lead to forced relocations, which may disrupt children’s access to education, healthcare, and adequate nutrition. These are basic needs that are critical to a child’s wellbeing and development
- Despite the importance of these issues, children are often an invisible stakeholder group for most businesses and overlooked in corporate human rights policy and due diligence
- The data reflects this gap: while 41% of companies reviewed expressed a general commitment to respecting and supporting children’s rights, far fewer reported on specific, material issues. An an example, only 19% disclosed measures to ensure their products and services are safe and healthy for children. 87% of companies fail to disclose whether they identify, consult, or engage with children in their stakeholder processes
- So, what can companies do? Companies can begin by recognising that children are legitimate and vulnerable stakeholders within their value chains - and that they have a responsibility to identify and manage their impacts on children
- Acknowledging children as an important and vulnerable stakeholder group should be reflected in company policies and human rights due diligence processes. This includes actively seeking opportunities to engage with children in order to more accurately and effectively identify and address child rights impacts, risks, and opportunities
- Businesses are also encouraged to broaden their understanding of children’s issues, moving beyond the narrow focus on child labour to consider the full spectrum of child rights
Some key takeaways:
- Why are children’s rights important to businesses? Child’s rights are important to companies because children make up one third of the world’s population and are also a group that is highly vulnerable to the negative impact of business activities. Despite this, they are often an invisible stakeholder group for most businesses and, therefore, overlooked in corporate human rights policies and due diligence processes except for the singular issue of child labour. Failing to include children in disclosure is a blind spot for companies.
- How are companies reporting on children’s rights? The review indicates that companies fail to consider children’s rights issues as a priority. Across industries and regions, the overall rate of disclosure on child rights is low, with the highest-performing industry addressing only 29% of key child rights topics. The review also found that sectors that are more actively engaged in global markets, supply chains, and customer bases, disclose more information on child rights due to market and regulatory expectations and greater visibility on human rights which increases the likelihood of children’s rights being in their scope. However, reporting varies by industry and local context. For example, sectors such as banking and construction show particularly low engagement with children’s rights, possibly due to a limited perception of these issues as relevant to their core business activities. In contrast, industries with large local workforces in regions like Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa—such as chemicals and apparel—are more likely to report on children’s rights. This trend is likely influenced by regional social and regulatory pressures, as well as past controversies that have raised awareness. Among child rights issues, child labour is the most consistently addressed in company reporting. Despite this, businesses continue to face challenges in extending their focus beyond child labour to other critical aspects of children’s rights. While 41% of the companies reviewed disclosed a general commitment to respecting and supporting children’s rights, this rarely translates into comprehensive reporting on specific, material topics. For instance, only 19% of companies report on measures to ensure their products and services are safe and healthy for children. This gap may stem from the fact that just 13% of companies identify children as a relevant stakeholder group. Furthermore, 87% of companies do not disclose whether they identify, consult, or engage with children in their stakeholder processes. The least reported issue is the special risks to pregnant women and children through companies’ impact on the environment, with 96% of companies reviewed failing to disclose any information on this topic.
- Actions companies can take: Companies can begin by recognising that children are legitimate and vulnerable stakeholders within their value chains - and that they have a responsibility to identify and manage their impacts on children. Acknowledging children as an important and vulnerable stakeholder group should be reflected in company policies and human rights due diligence processes. This includes actively seeking opportunities to engage with children in order to more accurately and effectively identify and address child rights impacts, risks, and opportunities. Businesses are also encouraged to broaden their understanding of children’s issues, moving beyond the narrow focus on child labour to consider the full spectrum of child rights. Where helpful, companies may refer to the research questions used in this report to assess corporate disclosure on child rights issues (see screenshot below).
