A call to action on women’s health: putting corporate CSR standards for workplace health on the global health agenda

This can be achieved by harnessing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) system, which governs corporate policies and practices related to the environment, labor, and human rights. However, the CSR system has largely ignored the health needs of women workers, focusing primarily on safety issues and neglecting reproductive health. The authors propose a new way for global health to understand CSR, as a set of regulatory processes governed by civil society, international institutions, business, and government that set, monitor, and enforce emerging standards related to the role of business in society. This CSR system is a decentralized network of governance systems that has been put in place and monitored by civil society groups, global organizations and institutions, corporations, and national governments. The emergence of a truly global economy has transformed the nature of work and community life in all parts of the world, but most of all in developing countries. Globalization has amplified the role of business in society as well as drawn more women into the workforce. One fundamental change has been the gender make-up of these workplaces, with women now comprising sizable portions, if not the majority, of the workforce. Yet, workplace health policies and practices have not kept up with the changes, remaining defined by the narrow, traditional lens of occupational safety and health (OSH) compliance that was developed decades ago in a different world with men in mind. The CSR system opens up new ways to engage the private sector in advancing women's health and related SDG goals in developing countries and promote better health policies for all workers. The authors argue that global health practitioners should engage corporations in the public-private policy arena broadly covered by the term CSR and recognize that we are in an era of "new governance" in which corporations, civil society, international bodies, and governments are playing new, intertwined standard-setting, oversight, and enforcement roles. Advocacy and engagement on corporate policies and CSR standards should be a core part of the global health's efforts to achieve SDG Goals 3 (healthy lives and well-being for all) and 5 (gender equality and empowerment). This public-private policy approach situates corporations in their systemic collective relationships and engages new governance levers and a wider range of business incentives that are often missing from the partnership approach. The authors propose that global health practitioners not just pursue valuable public-private partnerships but also engage corporations in the public-private policy arena broadly covered by the term CSR. This approach recognizes that corporations, civil society, international bodies, and governments are playing new, intertwined standard-setting, oversight, and enforcement roles in the era of "new governance." By engaging corporations in the CSR system, global health practitioners can promote better health policies for all workers and advance women's health and related SDG goals in developing countries.