UNICEF Elaboration of Responses to the European Commission’s Public Consultation

UNICEF has submitted its recommendations to the European Commission on the development of guidelines for implementing the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Drawing on its mandate to promote and protect the rights of every child, UNICEF's recommendations aim to support effective implementation of the CSDDD while advancing the objectives of the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child.

The submission highlights the need for companies to explicitly consider children's rights throughout the due diligence process and to identify, prevent, mitigate and remediate adverse impacts on children across their operations, value chains, products, services and digital environments. Children are not simply a vulnerable stakeholder group but rights-holders whose rights may be affected directly and indirectly by business activities. Due to their developmental status, evolving capacities and dependence on caregivers, children may experience business-related impacts differently from adults, with consequences that can be severe, long-term or irreversible if not properly identified and addressed.

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