Private voluntary initiatives

Private voluntary initiatives are activities that are pursued to make business more socially responsible. They can relate to individual unilateral enterprise initiatives (codes of conduct) or concerted initiatives developed and implemented by coalitions that can group together enterprise associations, trade unions, NGOs and other stakeholders in civil society.

Owing to their globalized nature, the TCF industries, due to the fact that they subcontract work, especially to developing countries, are particularly exposed to various pressures to become more socially responsible. It is therefore not surprising that these industries, over the past decade, have seen a proliferation of voluntary initiatives which puts this group of industries among the most advanced but also the most open to criticism in the area of social accountability.