Dr. Jennifer Woodward, consultant on Global Risk Management Solutions for PricewaterhouseCoopers:

"Increasingly we are seeing companies recognise that human rights are the business of business. Human rights issues manifest themselves in different ways in different industries. For companies in the clothing and retail sector, issues such as child or slave labour in the supply chain are the focus of attention. In the extractive industry, issues range from the economic rights of indigenous peoples to human rights abuses committed by security personnel protecting sites and employees....

In general, as the shift towards globalisation continues, more and more business people will find themselves facing human rights issues. Gradually we will see a shift from managing reputation crises following a media exposé, to companies gaining positive competitive advantage for their good record on human rights."

[from Safeguarding reputation (Dr. Jennifer Woodward, consultant on Global Risk Management solutions for PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Human Rights & Business Matters, newsletter of Amnesty International UK Business Group, spring 1999) ]