Human rights

A comprehensive guide to business and human rights, developed in collaboration with the United Nations Global Compact and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will be launched in 2009. In December 2008, to mark the conclusion of a year of celebrations surrounding the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Barclays co-sponsored an international seminar on Business and Human Rights in Paris. Delegates from business, governments, civil society and trades unions attended and discussed how the human rights agenda for business is developing and gained experience of a variety of management tools and learning from around the world.

One of the tools showcased was an online guide for front-line lending managers on identifying and mitigating human rights risk. The tool was first developed in 2007 by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), which established a human rights workstream, co-chaired by Barclays and comprising 12 banks and asset management companies, to progress the project. During 2008 the tool was piloted and a consultation undertaken with user banks, industry sector representatives and NGOs. The content was revised and updated and is now available in final form on the UNEP FI website.

The workstream also produced an Executive briefing which outlines how human rights relate to the finance sector. This can also be downloaded from the UNEP FI website.

Barclays has used the learning acquired through participation in these two initiatives to inform our risk management policies and processes, particularly in terms of lending to businesses and in screening our supply chain. We have reviewed our Group Statement on Human Rights and published the revised version on our website.

The implications for human rights of the effects of climate change are likely to be significant, due to issues such as access to water, reduced availability of natural resources/biodiversity, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and impacts on local communities. While it is important to maintain a strong focus on mitigating climate change through international emissions reductions, it is also important that communities are supported in adapting to the changes which are already inevitable. Barclays is collaborating alongside other banks with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the consultancy Acclimatise, to highlight the potential for businesses, governments and communities to work together to improve the adaptive capacity of communities in developing countries. This work will continue to be taken forward during 2009.

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 and are a response to the world’s main development challenges. They are derived from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. The goals comprise:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and promote women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Compat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Barclays contributes to the Millennium Development Goals directly and indirectly through a variety of initiatives and activities ranging from our work in promoting financial inclusion among communities previously outside the banking system, to our Live Well programme aimed at mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS among our employees and their families in Africa. Our Emerging Markets business serves more than 4.2m customers and employs more than 22,700 people across 15 countries, contributing to economic development in those regions through provision of local retail and commercial banking services.