BANGKOK — A groundbreaking study by UNICEF has revealed that despite growing corporate commitments to human rights, children remain largely invisible in corporate sustainability reporting across emerging markets in Asia.

The report, titled “Making Children Count: Sustainability Reporting across Emerging Asia,” was developed in collaboration with The Centre for Child Rights and Business. By analyzing 1,399 publicly listed companies across nine Asian nations—including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia—the study exposed a staggering disconnect between high-level human rights pledges and concrete actions to protect the region’s youngest citizens.

Key Findings: A Critical Disclosure Gap

While children make up roughly one-third of the population across much of the region, the report highlights that corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks systematically overlook them:

• Minimal Identification: Only 1 in 20 companies identifies children as distinct stakeholders in their business models.
• Lack of Impact Assessments: Just 1% of the analyzed corporations actually assess or measure the direct impact of their business activities on children.
• Philanthropy Over Integration: While 88% of businesses engage in child-related charity or community donations, these efforts are rarely integrated into core business practices or supply chain accountability.

Blind Spots in Critical Sectors

The study noted that corporate transparency is weakest in areas that present the greatest modern threats to children, such as climate change, nutrition, and digital safety:

• Climate Inaction: Only 2% of companies explicitly mention children or their unique vulnerabilities within their climate strategies.
• Digital Harms: Fewer than 10% of technology and digital firms report taking measures to safeguard children from online exploitation or data privacy violations.
• Child Labor Remedies: While 72% of companies have formal anti-child-labor policies, a mere 2% explain how they remediate cases when child labor is actually discovered in their supply chains.

Moving from Promises to Proof

Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, emphasized that corporate sustainability reporting is accelerating rapidly in Asia, making it the perfect opportunity to codify child rights into global ESG standards.

“These gaps matter not only for children’s well-being today, but for Asia’s future workforce, productivity, economic growth, and human development,” Wijesekera stated. “UNICEF is ready to work with companies, investors, and governments to ensure children are no longer overlooked.”

The Call to Action

UNICEF is urging a coordinated regional effort to close these gaps:

1. For Companies: Shift from passive philanthropy to active impact tracking, assessing how marketing, supply chains, and workplace policies (like parental leave and living wages) affect families.
2. For Governments: Integrate child rights directly into state policies, corporate laws, and national mandatory disclosure frameworks.
3. For Investors: Implement “child-lens investing” by integrating child-related metrics into mainstream ESG ratings to hold corporations financially accountable.