Technology for human rights: UN Human Rights Office announces landmark partnership with Microsoft is the title of the press release distributed today by Microsoft and the UN office (see below). It is widely reproduced in the media that glorify Microsoft's generosity with their yearly $1 million grant to the UN Human Rights office for the next five years. See this post on Geekwire for the joined video presentation. The UN is presently running a campaign Stand up for someone's rights today that starts with this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
Eleanor Roosevelt
Driving force behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
I completely agree with Eleanor and my first reaction, beyond an automatic thank you note was to think about Microsoft's responsibilities 'in small places close to home' like toward the thousands of people they employ via vendors in the US, especially in Redmond and Bellevue. I was one of them for several years when we had zero paid time leave despite the fact paid leave is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (articles 24 and 25.2) and the other conventions Microsoft claims it intends to implement like the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights of 1966/1976. Articles 7d and 10.2 state:
(the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to)
(7.d ) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays
10.2. Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. During such period working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.
Are those rights asserted 50 years ago implemented today by Microsoft for it's suppliers employees in the US? Two years ago, on March 26, 2015, Brad smith announced a requirement that should provide 'at least 15 days of paid time off' for those employees. That was certainly a step into the right direction but it fell short of what the UN covenants demand: there is no mention of paid public holidays nor any mention of paid parental leave, specific paid leaves that should be provided on top of the basic 'at least 15 days of paid time off'. As Microsoft reasserts publicly its commitment to human rights and how big data technology can help, I want to use this opportunity to challenge Microsoft to follow Eleanor Roosevelt's recommendation: survey all your supplier's employees to check the type of paid leaves they provide, especially paid holidays and paid parental leave. Also ask the employees how they feel and what their wishes would be. Last but not least, estimate how much fully providing for those paid leaves would cost and how it could be quickly implemented. Who am I to dare making such a request? A former so called 'temporary worker' ready, as the UN invites us, to stand up for someone's rights today. By the way, providing all the 'temps' with 10 paid public holidays would represent a yearly investment of at least $50 million. A bit more than the $1 million Microsoft is going to give to the UN Office for Human Rights. That would be a real commitment, right here, in the US but that would still do nothing specific for all the families with a new child.
Technology for human rights: UN Human Rights Office announces landmark partnership with Microsoft
As communities around the world face continuing human rights challenges, the agreement demonstrates the potential to use technology to help tackle issues, and highlights the opportunity for greater private-sector support for the work of the UN Human Rights Office.
NEWS PROVIDED BY Microsoft Corp.
GENEVA and REDMOND, Wash., May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday announced a landmark five-year partnership with Microsoft Corp. As part of the agreement, Microsoft will provide a grant of $5 million (USD) to support the work of the UN Human Rights Office. This represents an unprecedented level of support from a private-sector organization.
A particular area of focus for the partnership will be the development and use of advanced technology designed to better predict, analyze and respond to critical human rights situations, which currently appear not only to be proliferating in many parts of the world — including areas previously viewed as stable — but also growing in complexity.
The new partnership builds on a longstanding relationship between the UN Human Rights Office and Microsoft that is based on two shared ideas. The first is a commitment to ensuring technology plays a positive role in helping to promote and protect human rights. The second is a recognition of the need for the private sector to play a bigger part in helping to advance the cause of human rights globally.
"As a global company that sees the problems of the world, we believe that we have a responsibility to help solve them," said Microsoft President Brad Smith. "We have an untapped opportunity to use the power of technology to collect data, analyze that data and equip the United Nations to advance human rights around the world."
Technology for human rights
While in some cases technology may contribute to human rights challenges, it also has an important role to play in tackling abuses. The grant from Microsoft will help establish technology that has a positive impact, for example by developing and deploying new technology solutions specifically designed to advance the mission of the UN Human Rights Office and protect human rights.
One example is Rights View, an information "dashboard" that will allow UN human rights staff to aggregate large quantities of internal and external data on specific countries and types of rights violations in real time. It will help facilitate analysis, ensure early warning of emerging critical issues and provide data to guide responses. This tool, powered by cloud computing and big data analysis, is just one example of the potential for technology to be a force for good.
Business and human rights
Microsoft will also work with the UN Human Rights Office to raise awareness of the role that companies can and should play in driving respect for human rights and to promote more responsible business conduct across the world. Microsoft will work closely with the Office to help promote broader adoption and implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UN Guiding Principles provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.
Microsoft will also provide support for human rights advocacy and outreach campaigns through concrete support for the work of the UN Human Rights Office in key areas like freedom of expression, data protection and privacy, and inclusion. This includes direct support for the development and promotion of corporate principles for tackling LGBTI discrimination in the workplace in line with international human rights standards.
"This could be a truly groundbreaking agreement," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. "We live in a rapidly evolving age, where technology can either be used to solve human rights problems or misused to erode human rights. Similarly, companies can infringe people's rights, or they can be a major progressive force."
"The private sector has an essential role to play in advancing human rights, and this partnership with Microsoft demonstrates how we can join forces in a constructive way," Zeid said. "I hope this is just the beginning of something much bigger: that it helps stimulate a broad movement by the private sector to stand up for human rights. Increased support from major companies in the technology sector and other fields can clearly make a critical difference."
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Access our online press kit:
https://news.microsoft.com/HumanRightsUN
Read more about Microsoft's approach to human rights:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about/corporate-responsibility/human-rights
Read more about Microsoft's Technology and Human Rights Center:
https://www.microsoft.com/about/csr/human-rights/humanrightscenter.aspx
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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