Global Health NOW: Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile: Engaging Corporations on Reproductive Health
David Wofford, vice president of Meridian Group International, Inc. and senior adviser on workplace policies at the Evidence Project

“…The global health community needs to ask corporations to do more on reproductive health and rights policy and practice. … [T]he operations and policies of corporations and their supply chains touch millions of poor workers in low- and middle-income countries and directly affect worker access to general and reproductive health services. One way to shape the policies and practices of corporations is through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or sustainability standards. … We argue that global health advocates should engage in developing policies in this system … We recommend … that the global health community advocate for women’s health in the CSR policy sphere. We call on global health to make corporate standards and CSR policy core issues in the agendas of global forums to advance family planning, women’s empowerment, and the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)]; to engage global initiatives, like the Business and Human Rights Guiding Principles; and to build on existing relationships and common ground with environmental and labor groups…” (3/1).