January update

Welcome to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s January update. In our first edition of the year, we’re announcing a new partnership to strengthen responsible business practices. Read on to learn more. If you don’t regularly receive our newsletter, you can subscribe here.

Investing in better business practices

We are proud to announce that the Foundation is the new home of one of the world’s leading labour and human rights corporate disclosure platforms, the Workforce Disclosure Initiative (WDI).

Focusing on the issues most crucial to decent work and human rights in the workplace, the WDI collects data related to companies’ operations and supply chains and shares it with investors, in order to inform their investment decisions linked to ESG considerations.

Watch this message from our Chief Executive, Antonio Zappulla.

Since the global adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, CEOs and business leaders have been urged to provide a new type of leadership, pivoting the focus from shareholder proﬁt to stakeholder value. Investors, regulators and consumers alike are demanding greater scrutiny and transparency around issues such as workers’ rights and environmental impacts.

The WDI was launched seven years ago by responsible investment charity ShareAction. The investor coalition is made up of over 50 institutions managing over $9 trillion in assets, and the platform currently sees around 170 of the world’s largest companies voluntarily disclosing their data.

The transfer to the Thomson Reuters Foundation aims to further accelerate the platform’s impressive impact.

The WDI will continue to engage with companies and investors to scale responsible business practices, spotlighting a company’s impact on people as much as its profit margins. As such, its focus is on the ‘social’ component of ESG frameworks – a key component of our inclusive economies work.

LEARN MORE

January updates from across the Foundation

Media Freedom:

Championing journalists’ safety

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), between 2000-2022, 121 journalists were imprisoned for defamation. This rise in online abuse is aimed at silencing reporters’ vital work. The Foundation has redesigned a brand-new Safety of Journalists website.

This platform – developed in collaboration with UNESCO, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) and the International News Safety Institute (INSI) – hosts a suite of practical resources to support reporters around the world in combatting online harassment. This includes new interactive Know Your Rights guides for journalists in Brazil and Kenya with useful tips on how to identify and deal with online abuse.

EXPLORE THE WEBSITE

Inclusive Economies:

Covering the impacts of elections

A record number of elections are taking place across the globe this year. Context, the Foundation’s digital news platform, is uncovering some of the challenges that may impact millions of voters heading to the polls. Our correspondents have reported on key issues such as the proliferation of deepfake videos ahead of elections in India.

They have also been looking at what’s at stake for climate action on election agendas and whether social media companies are ready to tackle misinformation.

LEARN MORE

Human Rights:

Driving positive change through pro bono

This month, TrustLaw, the Foundation’s global pro bono network, made its 10,000th connection. This milestone builds on our team’s incredible work in facilitating $29 million of expert legal advice for NGOs and social enterprises around the world last year.

This support includes ground-breaking legal research and guides produced in partnership with the Legal Network for Journalists at Risk (LNJAR).