A steering group
Goal 3 - Join a steering group
To ensure that human rights stay on the agenda you can get involved in a steering group. A steering group is a staff-student body that steers the university in a certain direction. It has to reflect the voice of students so it’s gives you a way of influencing big decisions about the university. Your university probably already has a sustainability, Fairtrade or environmental steering group.
If there is no such steering group at your university, then ask them to set one up. To get involved you could talk to sabbatical officers, who usually sit on these groups. Or you can ask to sit on the group yourself, or ask a sympathetic member of staff, a lecturer or a procurement manager to bring up the issue of human rights in supply chains.
Fairtrade, The Worker Rights Consortium and Beyond
Your steering group can move your university into more ethical procurement not just by pushing for more Fairtrade products and for WRC affiliation, but by putting development and human rights at the heart of everything universities buy, even where a Fairtrade option isn’t available.
It’s possible to do this, thanks to an Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) project called Promoting Poverty Aware Procurement on Campus (PPAPC). Students and procurement managers involved in this ground-breaking project have split everything universities buy into 14 categories, and produced an information sheet for each one showing how to buy products in a way that reduces poverty in the Global South, and supports human rights.
The steering group can also help to acheive Goal 4 - Pass the Buy Right Policy which will ensure that the progress you’ve made continues even after you leave.
The Buy Right Goals
Goal 3 - Keep Human Rights on the Agenda
