Summary

  • IHRB has published a new report highlighting the disproportionate and unique challenges facing women migrant workers worldwide, and the consistent failure on the part of governments and businesses to ensure the rights of women migrant workers are respected and protected in supply chains.

  • Women migrant workers are more vulnerable to labour exploitation than men, stemming from discrimination in recruitment; earning on average twenty percent less than male migrant workers; and because a significant majority of women migrant workers carry out domestic work, an industry often overlooked by labour laws.

  • Legal standards and international agreements are failing to protect women migrant workers. Sending states in many cases have reacted to reports of abuses by restricting the ability of women to migrate for work rather than ensuring their right to do so safely. While destination state governments often adopt a security-based approach to manage migration and overlook factors including gender, which make women migrant workers more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse during their migration journeys.

  • Specific challenges facing women migrant workers seldom feature in major multilateral non-binding standards and guidelines on responsible business practices and fair recruitment, meaning very few businesses have paid attention to these workers as a group facing distinct issues and risks.

  • The report provides specific recommendations in four key areas in supply chains: due diligence, recruitment, equal pay, and grievance mechanisms.

Respecting the Human Rights of Women Migrant Workers During Recruitment: A short Report for Businesses, published by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, sets out key challenges facing women migrant workers in their migration journey; gaps in protection provided by in international standards and national laws; and outlines measures that businesses can apply in their own operations to reduce the risk of exploitation in supply chains.

The report is being published alongside new guidance to the Dhaka Principles, which now includes a number of amendments and additions to help companies address the challenges facing women migrant workers. The Dhaka Principles are a set of human rights based principles intended to enhance respect for the rights of migrant workers from the moment of recruitment, during employment, and through to safe return.

 


Recommendations for companies

  • Carry out effective human rights due diligence. Companies should conduct gender-sensitive human rights risk assessments throughout their operations and supply chains, which include the issues of recruitment fees, debt bondage and forced labour.

  • Invest in responsible recruitment systems. Companies should adopt recruitment models based on the Employer Pays Principle and end the practice of recruitment fees being charged to workers.

  • Commit to equality and non-discrimination. Companies should employ and promote more women, particularly women migrant workers to supervisory and managerial positions.

  • Make grievance mechanisms available. Companies should make reporting mechanisms available to migrant workforces and should include provisions to ensure that they are accessible and trusted by women migrant workers.
     

Julia Batho, IHRB’s Deputy CEO, said:

There are 70 million women migrant workers in the global workforce who make vital contributions to the societies and economies of their countries of origin and destination, yet far too many experience exploitation and abuse.”

This research shows the numerous points where women migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, as well as the shortcomings of international standards and laws to adequately protect their rights. In some cases, responses from sender and destination governments are making women more vulnerable to exploitation.

Using this report, companies can take action within their own operations, applying its recommendations, and the guidance for the Dhaka Principles, which now includes 40 new implementation points to help protect and respect the rights of women migrant workers.

 

Downloads

Issues such as illegal recruitment fees are negatively impacting the lives and wellbeing of seafarers and jeopardising the profession’s future, according to the latest annual progress report on seafarers’ rights.

The Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights Annual Progress Report, published by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), is a comprehensive review of the challenges facing seafarers, the shipping industry’s efforts to address challenges, and recommendations for 2024.

The report covers topics including: attracting people to a seafaring career, illegal recruitment fees, corporate action on improving seafarer welfare, as well as an update on data from the RightShip Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool.

These issues significantly impact the lives and wellbeing of seafarers worldwide, making it even harder to attract the talent the industry needs. The impact of welfare on recruitment and retention is a huge concern for shipping's wider viability and sustainability. The prevalence of illegal recruitment fees poses a severe threat, exploiting seafarers, their families and communities, and undermining their rights.

Despites these issues, there has been progress. Leading shipping companies and charterers are working on a range of initiatives to enhance seafarer welfare, to improve standards and diversity on their ships and within their supply chains. Such efforts play a pivotal role in fostering a supportive and conducive environment for those working at sea, acknowledging their fundamental rights and basic needs.

The number of companies using the RightShip Crew Welfare Self-Assessment Tool has increased in 2023, signalling a commitment to monitoring and improving industry standards, and emphasising the importance of continuously evaluating and advancing the conditions and treatment of seafarers aboard vessels.


Download the report



 

This second Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights Annual Progress Report is vital reading for all in the industry. There is progress we can learn from, such as the ideas, innovation, and energy of companies who are investing and making sure their people and social needs are to the fore. However, it is clear that there is so much more to be done. We need to take these lessons and ensure they are not simply the domain of the good companies, we need to make sure there is no place for the bad to operate.

- Steven Jones, CEO of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative

 

We know the Maritime Labour Convention isn’t enough to prevent seafarers’ rights being undermined. Charterers and container cargo owners should encourage their shipping suppliers to comply with the Seafarers’ Rights Code of Conduct and use the self-assessment tool to improve their performance. This report is a positive sign that uptake of the Code of Conduct is increasing, but verification and transparency around compliance are the critical goals now.

- Frances House, Special Advisor at IHRB

 

The report shares insights from various organisations and stakeholder groups on the issues facing seafarers, as outlined in the Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights Code of Conduct, and brings together contributions from the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), Nautilus International, Oldendorff Carriers, Rio Tinto, RightShip, and Turtle.

For more information, interviews or comment please contact Elizabeth Petit, Sustainable Shipping Initiative ([email protected]) or Sam Simmons, IHRB ([email protected]).

In 2021, IHRB, together with the Sustainable Shipping Initiative and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, published the Delivering on Seafarers’ Rights Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct, accompanied by a self-assessment questionnaire that is hosted on the RightShip support platform, is intended to provide a guide for shipowners and operators to improve their performance against the Code of Conduct. 

In a time of conflict, climate crisis, rapidly evolving technologies, and persistent inequalities, what are the frontiers where responsible business will be critical? How can business leadership help renew a global commitment to human rights over the decades to come? 

Each International Human Rights Day, IHRB releases our 'Top 10 Business & Human Rights Issues'  - an annual forecast of priority challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. 

2024’s Top 10 list looks further into the future, and examines the places where business actions are likely to be critical in the decades to come. Some of these issues have been long-standing parts of the business and human rights agenda, while others are still emerging challenges, far beyond our ability to see clearly. All will require new forms of leadership and collective action in order to advance human rights in the years ahead.

Read or download our Top 10 Business & Human Rights Issues 2024.

Browse each issue below:

Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and member of IHRB’s International Advisory Council, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for her ‘sustained and brave contribution to promoting human rights, democracy and transparency in Myanmar’. She received the honour from Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at an Investiture Ceremony on 27 October at Buckingham Palace, having been awarded the honour in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023 in June.

Vicky has been Director of MCRB since July 2013, and until last year was based in Myanmar. Prior to this she was a British diplomat, serving inter alia as Ambassador to Myanmar (2002-2006).  She also worked on human rights and transparency for global mining company Rio Tinto (2011-2013).
 

"I am delighted to receive this honour which I believe recognises not only my work, but the effort and achievements of all those involved in MCRB." 
"Ten years ago, the Centre embarked on a pioneering model for putting the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into practice in Myanmar, which was coming out of decades of economic and political isolation. We undertook extensive field research and consultation to gather knowledge on positive and adverse human rights impacts of businesses in Myanmar. We promoted dialogue between Myanmar and foreign companies, civil society and government. And we built their capacity to adopt international standards and good practice, including through our advocacy on questions of policy and law, and our publications.  I am proud that this model has proved its worth, even after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar.    
"Leading MCRB has been an intellectually rewarding,  exciting, and occasionally challenging, experience. I remain committed to supporting responsible business in Myanmar, a country which remains very close to my heart. This is needed more than ever to support the economic resilience of those living through the ongoing political crisis. I also plan to continue sharing the lessons learned from Myanmar to support implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in other equally ‘challenging contexts’."

- Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB)


About MCRB

IHRB’s work in Myanmar began during 2012 in the context of the newly launched democratic reform process. This led to the joint establishment in 2013 with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and the appointment of Vicky Bowman as Director.

MCRB was established to provide a trusted, impartial forum for dialogue, seminars, and briefings to relevant parties committed to responsible business in Myanmar, as well as access to international expertise and tools. In its initial phase, it developed a new methodology, the Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) which has since been adapted for use elsewhere. This drew on environmental and social impact assessment methodologies, but applied a human rights lens to an entire sector, based on field research and consultation. It highlighted the actual and potential impacts of each sector and made recommendations for government, businesses and other stakeholders on how to increase positive and reduce negative impacts of investment.  SWIAs were completed for oil and gas, mining, tourism and the ICT, as well as a pared down assessment of the private security sector.

MCRB has also led action in on disability and LGBT+ inclusion in employment, promoted business integrity, transparency and good corporate governance, and undertaken research on the links between biodiversity, business and human rights.

The Centre has been funded by six government donors including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands and Ireland.

Read more about MCRB’s work.

IHRB has recently joined IRMA, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, a global, multi-stakeholder, standard-setting organisation whose mission is to protect people and the environment directly affected by mining.

Since 2009, IHRB has worked extensively on human rights issues related to the extractive industries - mining, commodity trading, and more recently ‘transition minerals’ - on land and in our oceans, and has actively contributed to strengthening multi-stakeholder initiatives in a number of related areas. 

IRMA’s independent assessment of mines is a valuable contribution at a time of exponential demand for ‘transition minerals’, such as copper and cobalt, which are needed to help the green transition to a low-carbon economy.  With this demand comes increased risks to the human rights of workers and vulnerable communities involved in mining. 


Governed by stakeholders 

IRMA is equally governed by all affected stakeholders – the IRMA Board may be the only place where communities have power equal to mining companies. IRMA sets a global, best-practice mining standard; and it independently and transparently assesses how individual mines measure-up to that standard. 

We have joined IRMA as a research and expert partner organisation in order to better understand IRMA’s multi-stakeholder approach to achieving responsible mining.

Human rights must be  protected and respected in the full value chains of minerals, from mines to consumers. The success of net-zero depends on it because of the need for minerals to grow renewable energy, sustainable transport, and other green industries. 

We look forward to learning from IRMA’s multi-stakeholder coalition and contributing IHRB’s own experiences to the further development of responsible mining around the world. We remain committed to ensuring that the mining industry respects the human rights of affected communities, protects rights in the workplace, and minimises harm to the environment.

- John Morrison, IHRB

Find out more about IRMA.

The world faces interconnected challenges, many of which play out in how we plan, finance, design, build and manage cities and towns, infrastructure and buildings.

The Institute for Human Rights and Business, with support from the Ove Arup Foundation, is developing an international professional certificate on “Human Rights and Just Transition in the Built Environment” - and we want to hear your ideas to help shape the course content.
 

Practical tools and powerful strategies

The course will equip current and future leaders working in the planning, financing, design and construction of the built environment with a strong grounding in human rights – and expertise to address the social dimensions of climate action and technological change.

The certificate will introduce new ways of thinking and practical tools to help individuals rise to the growing expectations for combined social and environmental leadership.


Call for input

We are seeking feedback on the structure and content of the course, so that it is shaped by the needs and the expertise of the field. Please provide your feedback by February 12, 2024.

Review the course overview here.

Provide your ideas here.

 

Dignity by Design

The course is part of IHRB’s “Dignity by Design” built environment programme. The programme advances action on human rights throughout the built environment lifecycle by shaping policy, finance and projects, supported by evidence and research from examples of built environments across the globe.

It is grounded in the “Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment”, which translates international human rights standards and the Sustainable Development Goals into built environment decision-making.

As part of our work to advance a just transition in the built environment, IHRB has partnered with Dark Matter Labs to map the largest public and private owners of land in four European cities: Copenhagen, Lisbon, Prague and Athens. 

Land owners of land in urban areas have a significant influence over what gets built and maintained, and how that happens, which has implications for climate action, the right to housing, workers’ rights and other human rights.

Increasing transparency of land ownership patterns is an important step in advocating for a human rights based approach in decision-making in the built environment.

Mapping land ownership can help address issues such as affordable housing, as well as help to create more sustainable and inclusive development in cities and towns.

This mapping exercise will be invaluable for businesses, policymakers, civil society, workers and tenants who are trying to achieve a just transition in the built environment.

- Giulio Ferrini, Head of Built Environment, IHRB 

The project will also generate lessons on ownership mapping itself, including challenges to mapping, and methods to overcome those challenges. This project draws inspiration from ownership mapping initiatives in other cities such as Cairo and New York.

Find out more in this Dark Matter Labs blog.

Representatives of global companies, along with governments and civil society organisations from around the world, are meeting today at the sixth Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment in-person (New York) and online.

The Forum, hosted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Aim Progress on June 13th -14th 2023, tackles one of the most common forms of exploitation facing migrant workers - the payment of recruitment fees. Migrant workers around the world are being charged recruitment fees to secure employment, which can result in significant levels of debt, and lead to forced labour conditions.

Register to attend online via GFRR.org.

By registering, you get access to the event platform where you can watch the sessions live or on-demand.

Alternatively, tune in live to the Forum on Youtube. The Forum's live stream is split into four videos. Select the video with a 'Live' tag.
 

The impact of recruitment fees

  • Charging of recruitment fees remains one of the most common yet hidden forms of exploitation facing migrant workers.

  • Migrant workers are three times more likely to be trapped in forced labour often caused by exploitative recruitment practices.

  • And estimated $1.4 billion is lost to recruitment fees* annually - money that could be driving development in home communities.

 

Neill Wilkins, IHRB’s Head of Migrant Workers Programme, said:

“Recruitment fees and associated costs and charges are a drip, drip, drip of exploitation facing migrant workers. Fees are introduced at the start of a migrant worker’s job cycle - they are how vulnerability gets sewn into their employment. Charging recruitment fees is an insidious and unethical practice that can result in significant levels of debt for workers, and can lead to forced labour conditions.

“The Employer Pays Principle says no worker should have to pay for their own job. It’s a message the Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment will persist in keeping on the agenda, so that recruitment fees charged to workers will one day be stamped out of supply chains for good.”

 

Louise Herring, Executive Director at Aim Progress said:

“AIM-Progress are delighted to be partnering with the IHRB on the Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment. This year’s agenda is a packed and progressive one and we are looking forward to seeing members and other stakeholders at the event and sharing learnings and next steps back with the AIM-Progress membership and our Responsible Recruitment working group.”
 

Event details 

The full agenda and and featured speakers can be found online at: gfrr.org

Register to attend online via GFRR.org. By registering, you get access to the event platform where you can watch the sessions live or on-demand.

IHRB and partners are calling for an end to recruitment fees, an illegal practice prohibited under the Maritime Labour Convention.

The results of a new study of seafarers launched today finds that over two thirds (70%) of seafarers who have experienced violations of their workers’ rights say they were either charged recruitment fees - an illegal practice that can result in significant levels of debt leading to forced labour conditions - or were victims of fake job offers after making advance payments.

The Seafarers and Recruitment Fees research briefing, published by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI), surveyed almost 5,000 seafarers between September 2022 and February 2023. The research shows that of those who experienced illegal charging of recruitment fees, the large majority (71%) did not report it, in most cases because they didn’t know where to report such abuses. 

The survey was conducted by TURTLE and designed by TURTLE in conjunction with the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN).
 

Frances House, Senior Advisor at IHRB, said:

“The Employer Pays Principle affirms that no worker should have to pay for their own job. But the reality remains that far too many seafarers continue to confront the illegal practice of recruitment fees.

“With 90% of world trade carried by sea, there is almost no company immune from needing to carry out their own due diligence on the issue of recruitment fees - from the shipping industry itself to commodity companies and high-street brands. This research exposes just how prolific recruitment fees are for seafarers - the time has come to end this illegal practice, and we will continue to work to ensure respect for the rights of seafarers everywhere.”

Frances House will be speaking about the issue of recruitment fees at a seminar (Wednesday 19th April) during One Ocean Week happening in Bergen, Norway, between 15th - 21st April.
 

In India, there are no jobs for seafarers who don’t give a bribe - only money or help from relatives will get you onboard." (survey respondent from India)

I have not seen a single company that does not deceive sailors or extort their money from them. (survey respondent from Lithuania)

Testimoney from seafarers whose identities have been protected.
 

Mark Dickinson, General Secretary of seafarer union Nautilus International, said:

“Recruitment fraud and job scams are outrageous practices that can leave seafarers jobless and/or in serious debt. The charging of recruitment fees to seafarers is expressly prohibited under the Maritime Labour Convention - if it is as widespread as this research indicates, then governments and the shipping industry must take urgent and determined action to stamp out this illegal practice.”


The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) said: 

“Seafarers are instrumental in escalating and sharing data on integrity challenges; and the success of many companies’ Anti-Bribery and Corruption programs lies in the engagement and empowerment of seafarers. 

“MACN’s efforts to support seafarers will deepen in the coming years, focusing on capacity building of young seafarers (the next generation of seafarers) and through collaboration with organisations and companies who work with seafarers daily.”


Research Briefing Recommendations:

To rid the industry of illegal recruitment fees and minimise the risk of forced labour among seafarers, the research findings point to important steps and recommendations:

  • Shipping companies need to ensure that seafarers employed on board their ships have not been charged recruitment fees to secure their work contracts.
     
  • Customers of shipping companies - including charterers, commodity companies and traders, and container cargo owners - must carry out human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights across their value chains - this includes their shipping suppliers.
     
  • As the payment of recruitment fees is prohibited under the Maritime Labour Convention, port state authorities must investigate any reports of the charging of recruitment fees.
     
  • Home states (where recruitment agencies are based) must ensure that recruitment agencies do not charge fees for jobs, and importantly must enact and enforce penalties for such practices.
     
  • Much greater awareness is needed of the illegality of the charging of recruitment fees, among seafarers, national authorities, ship operators and cargo owners.
     
  • Effective mechanisms are needed to penalise offending agencies and for remedy for seafarers who have paid illegal recruitment fees, including possibly, reimbursement by employers of fees already paid.
     
  • Seafarers need to know how and where to report such practices.

Further qualitative research on this issue will be forthcoming from Mission to Seafarers. 

IHRB will be hosting a two-part panel on seafarers and recruitment fees on 14th June at the Global Forum on Responsible Recruitment.

Read the research briefing.

The UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing has shared a new report about the impact of climate change on housing rights. IHRB's Annabel Short explains what business and investors should know, including the report's recommendations.

The report sets out the multiple ways that climate change impacts the right to housing. In addition to recommendations for governments, the report outlines what can be done by companies involved in the financing, development, design and construction of housing. 

“In the light of the climate crisis, the core elements of the right [to housing] – security of tenure, availability of services, affordability, habitability, accessibility, appropriate location and cultural adequacy – acquire a new meaning.”  – UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopa. 


The report recommends that sustainability of housing should become an additional core element of the right to housing, to help fulfil people’s right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

According to the report, increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events are experienced disproportionately by those who have contributed the least to climate change. It also highlights how housing itself is a major contributor to climate change, through construction material supply chains and through energy use for heating, cooling and lighting. 

IHRB’s Research Fellow Annabel Short has been leading our work to feed into the report.

“The Rapporteur’s new report sets out clearly the ways that climate change and the right to housing are inextricably linked. In addition to the measures that national and local governments must take to realise the right to housing in the context of the climate crisis, it brings welcome clarity to responsibility and accountability measures for private sector actors.”

 

The role of the private sector

The report highlights the ways the private sector can contribute towards rights-based transition, and it outlines some of the risks, such as:

  • Climate resilience, carbon offset and disaster re-building projects that displace communities from their homes, sometimes forcibly

  • The risks of energy efficiency and other retrofit efforts being used for “renovictions” or pushing increased housing costs onto low-income tenants. The report recommends that measures should be taken to prevent this, through “rent caps, tenant protections, requiring a proportion of genuinely affordable housing in mixed-use developments, and the tying of retrofit loans to future energy savings”

  • Limited insurance coverage, with coverage in most developing and emerging economies at below 10 per cent, as well as insurers increasing premiums and refusing to insure certain at-risk properties

  • The report also calls on the international community to establish the historical responsibilities of States and real estate finance in regards to their contributions to the climate crisis through overbuilding, and ensure they participate in any redress and compensation mechanism proportional to their impact.

 

Recommendations for a rights-based transition

The report makes a number of recommendations. It draws on input from IHRB, including the consultation we facilitated for the Rapporteur with private actors involved in the financing, design and building of housing, as well as a formal submission, and previous reports and recommendations. These include:

The report’s recommendations for state and non-state actors to drive a rights-based transition include:

  • States should adopt legislation to prevent climate harms and violations of the right to housing by corporations or investors that are domiciled in their territory or jurisdiction, irrespective of whether the harm is caused within their jurisdiction or abroad. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide that businesses have human rights due diligence obligations (principle 17) and that individuals and communities should have access to appropriate and effective remedies (principle 25).”

  • Business and non-State actors should conduct human rights due diligence and remedy human rights violations for which they are responsible. Specifically, this requires:

a) Businesses to incorporate the right to adequate housing in corporate, social and governance policies;

b) Architecture and design firms to design with the objective of transitioning to climate-resilient and carbon-neutral housing in mind and to innovate in sustainable materials and processes, paying specific attention to the needs of marginalized groups;

c) Construction and engineering companies to consider climate impacts when sourcing materials and consider utilizing low-carbon construction processes and methods;

d) Investors and developers to shift investment away from short-term profit-maximization that promotes overbuilding and to proactively support climate-resilient, carbon-neutral housing;

e) Owners and managers of buildings to seek to reduce the operational carbon emissions from buildings.” 

 


Explore further:

From 3-6 October 2022, Alejandra Rivera from IHRB’s Built Environment Programme joined the 58th ISOCARP World Planning Congress in Brussels, Belgium. The Congress theme this year was “From Wealthy to Healthy Cities - Urbanism and Planning for the Well-Being of Citizens” and its main objective was to promote the “search of a new planning agenda for urban health, sociospatial justice and climate resilience” in cities. The event was organised by ISOCARP the International Society of City and Regional Planners, a “member-led global organisation with the vision of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”

With this objective on mind, the congress aimed to deconstruct the meaning of “healthy cities” and was therefore structured around four tracks: Healthy People, Healthy Planet, Healthy Governance, and Healthy Economy. This holistic approach allowed to explore in detail the different determinants of physical and mental well-being in cities. The presentations and discussions ignited dialogue, knowledge-exchange, and potential partnerships in the planning profession with the aim to advance an ecological transition that is socially and spatially just and healthy.

Alejandra’s presentation to the congress was titled "Healthy cities: a human right”. It showed how effective and inclusive urbanism can improve physical and mental wellbeing, and how adopting a human-rights approach throughout the built environment lifecycle can help achieve that.

Some key points from Alejandra’s 15-minute presentation were:

Existing health risks at city level are: air pollution, Urban heat islands, anxiety and other mental health issues, and socio-spatial disparities in health risks. At building level there are risks like: household and ambient air pollution, poor-quality housing, toxic construction materials, density, and inadequate design to dwellers’ needs.

• Inaction will exacerbate these issues, but if harnessed, effective urbanism –planning and governance– can significantly improve the quality of life and wellbeing of people by reducing illnesses, and hence government expenditure, having a more productive and healthier workforce, reducing employee absenteeism, and overall having happier and healthier citizens

Human rights approach from IHRB: the concrete and practical ‘Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment’ helps guide governments, investors, developers, project managers and advocates on specific social considerations for each stage of the process. With this tool they can minimise risks to human rights and maximise social outcomes, including the physical and mental well-being of people.

• There are several good examples that show how it is possible to plan, design, and build in an inclusive way and mindful of health needs. Some are: EU Horizon 2020 Project VARCITIES, New North Zealand Health Facility in Hillerød, Denmark; or the Psychopedagogical Medical Centre in Vic, Spain; among others.

Key recommendations for:

Governments

Align decarbonisation & physical and mental health strategies

Channel finance to building retrofits of hospitals/medical centres

• Expand free and unconditional access to green public spaces

Financial Institutions

• Invest in companies with clean and circular construction approaches

• Invest in nature-based solutions

• Require portfolio companies adhere to WHO Housing and Health Guidelines

Project Managers

• Address health risks and opportunities through the ‘Dignity by Design Framework’

• Use evidence-based design

This presentation was a summary of an academic paper by the same name published in the conference proceedings. Read the full paper “Healthy Cities: A Human Right” here (pg. 718).

This paper and presentation are based on IHRB Built Environment Programme’s previous research conducted for the “Better Building(s)” 2021 report. In addition to the right to physical and mental health, other thematic focuses of this report are: the right to housing, nondiscrimination, participation, workers’ rights, and the role of technology.

Insights from the Congress:

The congress counted with an audience of urban and regional planners working for urban development, engineering and design companies, as well as public urban planning agencies and other government organisations; it included as well a mix of urban planning master and PhD students, and well-established professors from multiple sub-disciplines in urban studies. This worked as fertile ground for insightful discussions with inputs from various angles. Here are takeaways from four sessions:

Measuring well-being to increase the effectiveness of urban planning

A joint pilot project by Metropolis conducted in three cities:

Montreal has 51 Key Performance Indicators to measure well-being, and focuses on the subjective ones through a city-wide survey. In Barcelona, there is not such survey, so city officials rely on statistics of the determinants of health. In Brussels, they are trying to stay away from neighbourhood scores to avoid stigmatisation, but still use internal indicators to analyse the quality of the living environment.

Alejandra Rivera, from IHRB’s Built Environment Programme, was invited by the session organisers to provide feedback into these presentations. Her main take-aways were:

1. Progress on the discourse: It is a significant step forward to look for indicators beyond the GDP [to measure success], and aim to gain and measure a comprehensive understanding of well-being –factoring education, housing affordability and quality, social inclusion, employment, and urban design, etc.

2. Importance of resilience: City governments can be more resilient to external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, by: (a) Investing in basic urban systems and infrastructure; (b) constructing strong safety nets (data-driven, need-centred social programs); and (c) increasing their reaction time, facilitated by efficient urban governance structures and good, open communication with citizens.

3. Tools for healthier and more just cities: indicators –statistics, KPIs, and indexes– even the well-being ones, only show the symptoms. IHRB’s ‘Dignity by Design’ Framework can help implement projects and policies in the built environment that are more socially-conscious and aligned with well-being goals.

The energy transition of cities

This session was focused on the technical and economic aspects of the energy transition. The panellists discussed optimisation of energy production and storage, the increasing demand of heating and cooling with climate change, and how district heating networks harness the benefits of circular systems. There was less talk, however, about the socio-spatial distribution of those solutions. There are issues of energy poverty, ‘renovictions’, increasing energy prices, and the benefits of green-building certifications and district heating networks not reaching underserved peripheral areas, which should also be part of the conversation. (See IHRB’s report ‘Human Rights and the Decarbonisation of Buildings in Europe’ for more on these issues and recommendations to address them)

The debate is also about leadership. A representative from Engie, asked where are national governments setting the way for the transition? “if national policies would dictate, for example, to divert investments from gas to renewable energy, the private sector would [unhappily] have to comply”. While this is undeniable, on the other hand, companies themselves can also take lead, especially when the speed of change of technology and industry policies is much faster than national laws. Also, strong gas lobbies around Place du Luxembourg seeking to maintain the status quo is another reminder of the need to transcend economic interests for a just energy transition to happen. It is a matter of shared responsibility where each one has a role to play: the government to regulate, companies to shift their business models, and consumers to change behaviour, without waiting for the others to start.

Not-so obvious things with large impact

DeAndra Navratil, on the Master Trails Plan from Greene County in Ohio, USA highlighted the importance of connecting physically key areas of the city, while also connecting people with nature. This trail network, the largest in the U.S., was a refugee during COVID-19, and also helps with road safety, accessibility, and economic benefits for small businesses around the trails.

Siphokazi Rammile, from the University of the Free State in South Africa, made the audience reflect how names of streets, towns, places can have a direct impact on people’s mental health. Toponyms in South Africa have a clear link to racial segregation and socio-economic differences, and are a daily, constant reminder of such reality. She recommends a highlyparticipatory approach to these historic scars, not necessarily renaming, but using storytelling to embrace, understand, and overcome the past.

Women in planning

The issue is evident if the topic requires a dedicated session, and even more so, when the people showing up are only women. Simin Davoudi professor of Town Planning at Newcastle University, emphasised that planning is about inclusivity for all, not only women, but the elderly, children, disabled, men, and women. A key takeaway from this session is about the ‘added value of women’. Female planners tend to be more sensitive to social issues, human connections, safety and security in cities, perhaps due a maternal instinct to protect(?). Another form of women empowerment is to become aware and harness that added value for the planning profession: to think, plan, and design being sensitive to social issues, to ultimately yield more inclusive and just cities.

IHRB’s Built Environment research and visioning project “Building for Today and the Future: Advancing a Just Transition in the Built Environment” has concluded its first research cycle in Lagos and Prague.

Local researchers Oluwafemi Ojo (Lagos) and Michaela Pixová (Prague) worked closely with our team from September 2022 to January 2023 in the research and engagement processes in these two cities. We conducted parallel research including urban observations, stakeholder mapping, interviews with key stakeholders in government, businesses, universities, NGOs, and civil society groups, (19 in Lagos, and 21 in Prague) and brought them together for visioning sessions (November in Lagos, and January in Prague) to facilitate the forging of each city’s own vision of their just transition in the built environment. 

City Summary Reports with the research findings and the resulting visions will soon be published.

Furthermore, the project has moved into its second research cycle in the cities of Lisbon (Portugal) and Melbourne (Australia), which will take place from February to May 2023. For this stage, we have partnered with local researchers and facilitators: Diana Soeiro from the Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies at the ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa; and a research and advisory team from the University of Melbourne, composed of Natalie Galea, Dan Hill, and Judy Bush.

Diana Soeiro is a policy analyst and scientific writer for Sustainable Cities and Communities, with ample expertise in research and consulting. She is also adjunct researcher at the Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design (CIAUD) and an Ambassador for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda in Lisbon. In the Melbourne side, the research team counts with the multidisciplinary expertise and decades of experience in the construction sector, urban planning, and design. The primary researcher, Natalie Galea’s focus is human rights in the construction sector, specifically on gender equality and workers’ rights. Judy Bush focuses on urban environmental policy, nature-based solutions and climate change as key drivers for liveable and inclusive cities. They both work with Dan Hill, Director of the Melbourne School of Design and Professor in Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, at the University of Melbourne.

The IHRB Built Environment team is delighted to count with these high-level experts in both cities, and we look forward to their valuable collaboration in this project in its second research cycle.

Our world faces multiple crises; from the growing climate emergency to an ongoing pandemic; from violent conflict and persistent inequalities within and between nations to rising threats to democratic institutions and governance. 

A better, more sustainable future, one in which the inherent dignity and equal rights of all people are guaranteed, can’t be achieved through state actions alone, although holding governments to their obligations under international law remains central. Today’s global challenges will only be met when all influential actors - public and private alike - recognise and take the steps needed to align their actions at every level with international human rights, labour and environmental standards, and commit to working with others in seeking solutions to complex problems beyond national borders. 

The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) was established over a decade ago to better understand and address the many connections and conflicts between business activities and efforts to realise human rights around the world. Today, IHRB is a trusted leader in advancing the responsible business agenda in multiple regions and across diverse industry sectors. By undertaking cutting edge research and policy analysis, facilitating constructive multistakeholder dialogue, and developing innovative programmes that help shape state and business performance, IHRB’s work is more important than ever. 

I’m honoured to engage with the talented IHRB team, supported by our committed Trustees and International Advisory Council, to advance IHRB’s ambitious work around the world. IHRB's 2023-2025 Strategy sets out a vision for scaling up our impact and engaging in new areas over the coming years. That includes the critical aim of connecting business and human rights principles and approaches more directly with ongoing initiatives to address climate breakdown and achieve transitions to a regenerative economy rooted in social justice. 

In the years ahead, IHRB will continue to base all its activities on the international human rights framework, in particular the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We’ll strengthen our efforts to put the perspectives and voices of affected stakeholders at the centre of everything we do. And we’ll maintain our commitment to constructive dialogue and collective action in achieving results that matter in the lives of people.

We look forward to further opportunities for dialogue and cooperation focused on making human rights part of everyday business around the world.

 

Read IHRB's 2023-2025 Strategy

 

Document design by: Declarative Labs

IHRB's Alejandra Rivera attended the MENA Housing Forum as a panelist and delivered a presentation about ‘A rights-based approach to housing’ alongside:

  • Stephen Seidel, Senior Director of Global Partnerships, Habitat for Humanity

  • Kareem Ibrahim, Founder and Director of Takween Integrated Community Development

  • Heba Allah Khalil, Professor of Architecture at Cairo University

  • Kif Nguyen, Technical Advisor, SAAVI Project Iraq, Internatioonal Trade Centre

  • Besim Nebiu, director for Central and Eastern Europe, Habitat for Humanity

The panel discussion explored how to integrate housing with socioeconomic development, creating housing infrastructure that effectively contributes to, and builds on, all relevant socioeconomic aspects of the community, allowing for access to affordable and well-designed housing for populations (including, for example, elders, people with disabilities and low-income people), and ensuring a community-based approach in the decision-making process for housing planning.

Alejandra introduced to the MENA audience, the ‘Dignity by Design’ approach to the built environment lifecycle – which provides a foundation and the macro perspective of what needs to happen at each stage of a housing development project, in order to respect human rights.

The Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment is a comprehensive tool for various actors –e.g. governments, investors, project owners, architects & designers, construction companies, and communities­– to help put in practice the right to housing, and related rights such as right to a clean environment, and to physical and mental health, among others. She also provided specific recommendations for these actors, which can be found in more detail in the Housing chapter of IHRB’s ‘Better Building(s)’ Report.

This ‘solutions circle’ event, organised by BuildChange, focused on adaptation and housing resilience. “Firestarter” panelists ignited discussion based on their organisations’ experiences and participation in the COP27 to reflect on how different stakeholders can collaborate and engage together. However, the goal was to come together and hear not only from the speakers but from all of attendees as well about pressing issues on their minds about housing action right now and in the years to come.  

Featured speakers included: 

  • Sarah Bush, Chief of Staff, Build Change 

  • Alejandra Rivera, Global Programme Manager, Built Environment, IHRB 

  • Mandy Entrikin, Director of Global Affairs and Advocacy, Habitat for Humanity International 

  • Zilire Luka, CCODE Executive Director, Slum Dwellers International Malawi 

 

Some takeaways from the group discussion were: 

  • In many countries in the global south, locally-led housing provision has aimed to mitigage housing shortage on the ground, filling in the undelivered responsibilities of governments. Governments should recognise this, and provide and regularise access to basic services such as water systems and waste management, as urbanisation expands. 

  • Housing investment: if governments are investing in education, water and sanitation, and other infrastructures, but people go back to poor housing conditions, they are losing dividends on their investment in those other areas. 

  • Housing is a trigger: “If we address housing shortage (in quality and quantity), we also fix other issues”… improved living conditions enable citizens the time and focus on human and economic development activities 

  • “Housing is a climate change issue”: urbanisation has both a relationship of cause and effect with climate change 

 

IHRB is a member of BuildChange’s Climate Resilient Housing Initiative which engages decision-makers and homeowners across the housing value chain to build climate resilience. We are a collaboration of governments, banks, philanthropists, implementers, and technologists universalising the right to access resilient, climate-smart housing worldwide. 

This session at COP27 was hosted by the UN High-level Champions, ITUC, Skill lab and Clean Cooking Alliance. It shared best practices from trade unions, employers and governments that promote productive employment and decent work for all, as we experience labour restructuring due to the ecological transition. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera participated as a respondent to this discussion relating the key takeaways from the speakers to the big picture of what a “Just Transition” entails including the role and responsibilities of each sector. 

The future lab included a foresight exercise imagining we are in 2050: “How does 2050 look like? 

What did we do right now to ensure a just and equitable transition?” to this, and as closing remarks, Alejandra responded: 

To achieve a just and equitable transition from now until 2050, our actions were based in the human rights principles of non-discrimination, freedom of association and speech, no forced labor, and no child labor. This is a framework, that we do have from the ILO, but its implementation is more challenging. For that, it is important to recognise the roles of the various sectors. Referencing the UNGP for Human Rights and Business, governments have the duty to protect these human rights, businesses to respect them, and [in addition by Alejandra] civil society to advocate for them. 

This means in practice: 

  • Governments have a legal framework at national level to protect labour rights and efficient and reliable authority bodies to enforce it. They should also lead by example with high working standards required in public procurement. 

  • Businesses commit to respect labour rights and uphold a high level of working and living conditions for their employees. Companies translate these commitments into internal policies and standard operating procedures to respect labour rights in their operations, in addition to in their CSR. 

  • Workers have the freedom and empowerment to demand good treatment and employment conditions, and they are given the knowledge, skills, and tools to be able to contribute meaningfully in their workplace. 

  • Consumers have visibility and awareness of the supply chain processes, the risks to human rights throughout, and use consumer behavior to put pressure on companies and governments to improve working standards. 

  • Public and private finance includes respect for human rights in ESG sustainability standards and impact investment frameworks 

In conclusion, the changes needed for a just transition in the future of work are not only in re-skilling and training workers, but every single sector must make changes to their internal procedures. Only like that we will collectively achieve human dignity for all workers, and can accomplish a truly just and equitable transition. 

The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) will be in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 7th-18th, engaging national and local policy makers, companies across sectors, and civil society players from trade unions, NGOs, and grassroots activists to advance human rights and people-centred climate action. Below is a quick run down of some of our key engagements.

 

IHRB's flagship COP27 dialogue

High-Level Roundtable on Just Transitions: Business, Human Rights, and Climate Action
  • Host: Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), Laudes Foundation, Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
  • Time: 18:30-20:00 (local)
  • Where: Akhenaten (Room 150), COP27 Blue Zone
  • Recording: The dialogue was live streamed on the UNFCCC's YouTube channel and a recording now available here
  • Further background: Further background on the session and speakers is available here

There has been huge growth in the number of just transition commitments and claims in recent months and years by financial institutions, companies, and industry associations, all coloured by a wide array of interpretations and definitions of the "just" element in particular. Wide uptake of the just transition concept is not only welcome but essential to managing the social disruption that is inevitable in such wide-scale systems changes. But there is also a growing and serious risk that the term is increasingly misused and misapplied without sufficient clarity or accountability. IHRB's John Morrison will moderate a conversational and interactive dialogue around how to achieve clearer "rules of the road" over transition what constitutes "just" transition processes and outcomes in the short time remaining to meet our global climate targets. 

Featuring: 

  • Mary Robinson, Chair of the Elders; IHRB Patron
  • Joan Carling, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI)
  • Megha Nath, Energy & Environment Programme Manager, Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC)
  • Andreas Ahrens, Head of Climate Agenda, IKEA 
  • Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council (WGBC)
  • Leslie Johnston, CEO, Laudes Foundation 
  • Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) 
  • John Morrison, CEO, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)

 

Tuesday 8th November 2022

A Just Transition, Grounded in Human Rights: The Role of Businesses
  • Host: Raoul Wallenburg Institute (RWI)
  • Time: 13:20-14:40 (local)
  • Where: Business Sweden pavilion 
  • Livestream: You can also join the live stream on RWI Jakarta's YouTube channel

IHRB's Haley St. Dennis joins a panel of Swedish businesses to talk about the state of progress in implementing just transitions, including the applicability of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as a key climate action framework. 

Other speakers include: 

  • Maria Simonson, Head of Sustainability SSAB
  • Christina Friborg, Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability, SEK
  • Eija Hietavuo, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Tetrapak
  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)
  • Yoko Lu, Country Contact Point & Regional Contact Point, YOUNGO (Youth NGO constituency of UNFCCC)
  • Victor Bernard, Raoul Wallenburg Institute (RWI) (moderator)

 

Thursday 10th November 2022

Just Wind: Business, Human Rights, and Climate Action across the Wind Energy Sector
  • Host: Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)
  • Time: 14:00-15:00 (local)
  • Where: ILO Just Transition Pavilion 
  • Recording: The session was live streamed on the ILO's YouTube channel and a recording now available here
  • Further background: Further background on the session and speakers is available here

IHRB's Haley St. Dennis will moderate a panel of experts about the state of just transitions in the wind energy sector, spanning materials sourcing through to infrastructure rollout and the risks and opportunities for affected groups across the value chain, with a particular focus on indigenous peoples.

Featuring: 

  • Joan Carling, Executive Director, Indigenous Peoples Rights International
  • Ben Backwell, CEO, Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)
  • Morten Dyrholm, Group SVP, Vestas Wind Systems A/S
  • Alan Wallis, Strategic Advisor, African Climate Foundation (ACF)
  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) (moderator)

 

“Climate resilience in the built environment: adapting to a changing climate” on Civic Participation and Inclusion

IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will take part on the panel discussion on Civic Participation: how to make sure voices from communities most vulnerable to climate change impact are heard? She will discuss the challenges and opportunities for different groups in the built environment like tenants, youth, construction workers, and local communities.

  • Host: World Green Building Council (World GBC) and BuildingToCOP coalition •
  • Time: 13:30-16:30 (local)
  • Where: Buildings Pavilion (Zone C, Area 5, lot n. 113) •
  • More info: Here

 

Friday 11th November 2022

“Futures Lab: Just Transition and the Future of Work” on construction worker’s rights

This session will share best practice from trade unions, gender, employers and governments to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will participate as a respondent to the Future Lab session relating the key takeaways from the speakers to the big pictures of what “Just Transition” entails and key reflections on what’s needed from businesses and governments.

  • Host: UN High-level Champions, ITUC, Skill lab and Clean Cooking Alliance
  • Time: 11:50-12:50 (local)
  • Where: 4th Capacity-building Hub
  • More info: Here

 

Actioning a just low-carbon transition: Respecting human rights in business to achieve the Paris goals 
  • Host: World Benchmarking Association (WBA)
  • Time: 12:15-13:15 (local)
  • Where: The COP27 Danish Platform

IHRB's Haley St. Dennis joins a panel of experts to discuss how to advance action on just transitions.

Featuring: 

  • Martha Selwyn - Maritime Just Transition Task Force, UN Global Compact
  • Concepcion Boo Arias - Chief Advisor, Climate & Green Transition for A.P. Moller Maersk, A.P. Moller Mærsk
  • Camilla Roman – Policy specialist and Green Jobs and Just Transition, ILO
  • Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions programme, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)
  • Elisa Estrada Holteng – Campaign Lead and strategist, BTEAM
  • Vicky Sins, World Benchmarking Alliance

 

Monday 14th November 2022

IPCC dialogue on Just Transitions
  • Host: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III (Mitigation)
  • Time: 18:15-19:45 (local) 
  • Where: IPCC Pavilion 

IHRB's John Morrison will join a panel of experts convened by the Mitigation Working Group of the UN's scientific research arm to discuss the state of just transitions understanding and progress within UNFCCC Mitigation action.

Featuring: 

  • Ben Sovacool (WG III Lead Author, Chapter 4) (keynote)
  • Mercedes Bustamante (WG III Lead Author, Chapter 7)
  • Fatima Denton (WG III Coordinating Lead Author, Chapter 17)
  • John Morrison, CEO, IHRB
  • Saliem Fakir, Executive Director, African Climate Foundation (ACF) (tbc)
  • Jim Skea (IPCC WG III Co-Chair) (moderator)

 

Wednesday 16th November 2022

“2030 is Today - how we can act NOW to halve built environment emissions by 2030” on how to enable change

This thematic session will provide an overview of leading initiatives and actors in decarbonisation of the built environment, and explore how this can be done in practice. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will be a panelist in the session “How to enable change?” a discussion centered on the role of stakeholders to achieve a just transition in the built environment, and highlight the rights and responsibilities that each one has from a human-rights perspective.

  • Host: World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
  • Time: 13:30-16:30 (local)
  • Where: Buildings Pavilion (Zone C, Area 5, lot n. 113)
  • More info: Here and livestream here

 

Thursday 17th November 2022

“Spotting embodied carbon”

The notion of ‘embodied carbon’ is an increasingly important dimension in the growing debate on reducing emissions in the built environment. The event will illustrate the concepts around embodied carbon, its framework and policy needs, and will showcase how lead markets can become a reality by collaboration between relevant actors. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will participate as a panelist bringing the perspective of human rights in the built environment, and focusing on the social risks and opportunities in the processes of reducing embodied carbon.

  • Host: Bellona Foundation
  • Time: 10:00-11:15 (local)
  • Where: Bellona Foundation Pavilion (Area C, Delegation Pavilions 4, P82)
  • More info here (will not be livestreamed)

Speakers:

  • Irene Domínguez Pérez, Policy Analyst, Bellona Foundation
  • Pamela Conrad, Senior Fellow, Architecture 2030
  • Ola Elvestuen, Member of Energy & Environment Committee, Norwegian Parliament
  • Hugh Garnett, Senior Programme Manager – Real Estate, IIGCC
  • Alejandra Rivera, Global Programme Manager, Built Environment, IHRB
  • Mohammed Chahim, Member of the European Parliament

 

“Implementation Lab on the Built Environment 2030 Breakthrough” on the role of civil society

The implementation Lab on the Built Environment 2030 Breakthrough “All new projects completed from 2030, are net zero carbon in operation, with >40% reduction in embodied carbon” will bring together actors across the value chain to showcase existing, action- based projects, case studies, and solutions. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will participate as a panelist representing the voice of civil society in this discussion.

  • Host: Marrakech Partnership with support from the High-Level Climate Champions
  • Time: 12:30-14:00 (local)
  • Where: Climate Action Zone, Action Room Lotus
  • Livestream: LINK available 24 hrs before 

 

“Preventing Loss and Damage: How Can Housing Resilience Strengthen Climate Adaptation” on the right to housing as driver of housing resilience, and COP27 takeaways

In this solutions circle focused on locally-led adaptation to housing resilience. IHRB’s Alejandra Rivera will participate as a Firestarter speaker to reflect on the role of housing in COP27 and ignite discussion based on IHRB’s Built Environment Programme’ experiences and participation in the COP. Participants will discuss what has been achieved to date, what actions show promise from COP27, and what can accelerate action for the next several years.

  • Host: BuildChange
  • Time: 16:30-17:30 (local)
  • Where: Area C, Local-Led Adaptation Pavilion (P74)
  • More info: Here

On UN World Oceans Day (July 8 2022), the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) are delighted to announce the Ocean and Human Rights Platform – a collaborative initiative to raise awareness of and mitigate human rights risks across ocean industries. 

The Platform will strive, with global partners, to embed respect for human rights through more inclusive dialogue, advocacy for stronger policies and support for better practices across key aspects of the blue economy.

 

You cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy ocean. – Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean

 

In this era of climate crisis and transition to net zero, a healthy ocean must include sustainable ocean industries built both on international environmental standards and on respect for the rights of those living and working in or by the ocean.

From renewable coastal and offshore energy to transportation, aquaculture, tourism and food security, ocean economies are fundamental to delivering resources across the globe. However, without appropriate standards, regulation and accountability mechanisms, these industries risk negative impacts on local communities and ocean-based workers, including through ocean and land grab, downward pressure on wages, unsafe working practices, and environmental mismanagement

John Morrison, CEO, IHRB says:

“IHRB is delighted to be collaborating with Rafto and our regional partners to convene this Ocean and Human Rights Platform, creating a crucial business and human rights focal point for the blue economy, and we look forward to working with others in this space from Colombia and Nigeria to the Arctic. We want to convene unusual combinations of stakeholders to enrich this conversation, bringing those with deep local knowledge round the table with corporate, financial and government decision-makers, resulting in better protection and respect of the rights of coastal communities and workers.”

Jostein Kobbeltvedt, Executive Director, Rafto Foundation says:

“The Rafto Foundation supports and collaborates with human rights defenders globally and awards the Rafto Prize to individuals and groups who fight for human rights and justice. We have had the pleasure of working closely with IHRB and other international partners over many years to address business related human rights challenges in a number of sectors, including ocean industries such as shipping and seafood. As a globally oriented human rights organization based in the Ocean City of Bergen, we will work, through the ocean platform, with a wide range of stakeholders to promote respect for the rights of workers and communities impacted by ocean industries."


Learn more about the Ocean and Human Rights Platform. For all enquiries, please contact IHRB's Francesca Fairbairn

IHRB’s Haley St. Dennis provided an overview of the business and human rights value-add to the cobalt sector’s understanding of just transitions around the world at the 2022 annual meeting of the Cobalt Institute.

The session is the industry association's first-ever session convened to explore the cobalt sector’s role in supporting a rights-respecting approaches to net-zero energy transitions – a concept broadly referred to as just transitions. The cobalt sector itself is new to the concept of just transitions but plays a critical role when it comes to transitioning to a net zero future, supplying a metal critical to battery supply chains for electric vehicles and wind energy storage.

This session explores where activities undertaken by the cobalt sector intersect, and where there may be distinctions and variations in understanding, in order to unlock synergies and possible next steps for faster progress.

Other speakers included:

  • Bettina Reinboth, Director of Human Rights and Social Issues, PRI

  • Charlotte Hugman, Lead Researcher Climate & Energy Benchmark, World Benchmarking Alliance

  • Benjamin Katz, Policy Advisor, OECD

  • Assheton Stewart Carter, CEO of Fair Cobalt Alliance

  • Moderated by Anna Triponel, Founder of Human Level

WEF's Global Future Council on Human Rights, co-chaired by IHRB's John Morrison, launches a Guidance Note for Boards and a supporting report on company boards' duties in ensuring company engagement with affected stakeholders at Davos 2022.

Speaking alongside Yuliia Svyrydenko (First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine); Eric Cantor (Vice Chair and Managing Director, Moelis), Ann Wagner (US Congresswoman) and Adam Tooze (Author), during a panel on 'Economic Weaponry: Uses and Effectiveness of Sanctions', John Morrison brings a human rights lens to the conversation, commenting that business (and governments) must:

  1. Be really precise: "State the objectives, whether you're a government or a business as to why you are disengaging from the Russian markets, cite your rationale within international law, human rights corruption – be very clear about why you are doing it."

  2. Measure and evaluate: "Beware of unintended consequences. How do we know in the medium to long term that the path we're walking down is actually having the purpose we intended? Magnitsky allows us to measure the consequences in the terms of specific individuals. [With] broad based sanctions, you're measuring the impact on a whole population."

  3. Center the impact on the human beings: "If you're withdrawing from the Russian market to make sure you are doing so responsibly, responsible exit is and responsible entry are key factors here in the discussion, cutting and running, leaving staff and others in harm's way is no way to behave. So responsibility comes, whatever your decision."

 

IHRB’s Stephanie Bratnick attended the  UN Global Compact For Migration, International Migration Review Forum (New York 16-19 May).

Four years after the adoption of the UN Global Compact for Migration, the Forum provides an occasion for stakeholders to reflect on initiatives to promote the contributions migrants bring to societies and mitigate their vulnerability to exploitation.

In a short intervention Stephanie addressed the importance of ensuring the responsible recruitment of migrant workers to promote social and economic development. She noted:

"Remittances sent back to countries of origin are an instrumental tool in the global economy and can have resounding impacts on impoverished communities and families. Yet, current recruitment systems too often fail to respect the rights of migrants and erode the migrant labour contributions to local economies." 

Watch the full intervention

 

To coincide with the Forum, IHRB launched a new report, "Realising Rights and Maximising Benefits,"  which highlights  the positive impact on development outcomes that could be realised through adoption of recruitment practices aligned with the Employer Pays Principle.

From 19-25 March, 2022 Alejandra Rivera, IHRB’s Built Environment Research Consultant represented the expertise area of “Human Rights in the Built Environment” at the ‘Young Planning Professional’s Workshop in Koaceli, Turkey. 

Organised by the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISCOCARP), the workshop convened 25 urban professionals from 15 countries and 10 disciplines to propose ideas for the redesign of the public space of Interteks International Fair Area located in the Izmit Gulf. Key considerations included the area’s fragile biodiversity, waterfront location, decaying infrastructure, industrial surroundings, spatial segregation, and underutilised and disconnected public spaces. While this posed multiple challenges, it also offered unique opportunities to harness urban design as a driver for resiliency and spatial justice.

Working collaboratively with four other urban professionals: Nazlican Akci (Turkey), Oluwafemi Ojo (Nigeria), Sümeyye Yazici (Turkey), and Thato Mothaping (Botswana), she employed IHRB’s ‘Dignity by Design’ Framework and the Built Environment lifecycle approach as tools to incorporate the human rights lens into an urban renovation project premised on “Thriving Inter-Flex: Inter-weaving the built and natural environments in a just way”.

Key aspects of the plan were: a flexible innovation hub with uses dictated by community needs, the regeneration of green and blue corridors to allow enjoyable spaces for people and nature; and a circular approach by reusing existing structures and resources.

Summary of spatial proposals

Using a human rights approach, the conceptual framework for these interventions identified 6 areas of opportunity in order to: (1) employ waste, (2) advance productivity, (3) reclaim mobility, (4) expand knowledge, (5) allow recreation, and (6) thrive arts & culture – each one having direct benefits in the built and natural environments.

Conceptual framework for the proposed interventions: A human-rights approach

Alejandra’s main recommendations for the implementation of this project included:

  • A participatory approach: starting with stakeholder mapping to identify and engage with all 5 sectors of the city: public, private, universities, NGOs, and local to ensure the interventions are relevant, effective and successful

  • Social considerations throughout the Built Environment lifecycle: Social Justice is not only achieved in planning, but it should be present in all the stages of the project’s lifecycle for which the ‘Dignity by Design’ Framework is a fundamental tool.

  • Cross-cutting Human Rights principles: of accountability, transparency, non-discrimination, and participation throughout the whole process.

This proposal was presented at the Kartepe Zirvesi Summit on March 25th, to Kocaeli Büyükşehir Belediyesi’s mayor Tahir Büyükakın, other city officials, members of the Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU), and urban practitioners from Turkey and abroad. The proposed interventions and recommendations are currently under review by the Kocaeli Municipality.

This is an example on how IHRB tools can be used practically in urban design projects by local governments, as well as by architects, developers, investors, and local stakeholders to advance social justice and to protect human rights in the built environment.


Interested in learning more about this approach and how it could be applied in built environment projects? Get in touch with the Built Environment Team: Alejandra Rivera (Research Consultant) Andreia Fidalgo (Programme Manager) or Annabel Short (Senior Advisor)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Hosted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) Migrant Worker Programme, we are launching a global information sharing “listserve” on all things labour migration and business and human rights. It is a simple email-sharing system for members to directly share news and resources and make global connections with other practitioners from around the world. 

Participants include workers themselves and representatives of: unions, CSOs and NGOs, UN agencies, governments, companies that employ migrant workers directly or in their supply chains, recruiters, trade associations, investors and financial actors, and academics.

Members of the ListServe can use this platform to share work and news on any aspect of labour migration, collaborate with others in the network, and participate in posted activities.

If you are interested in joining the listserve, find more details here.

Any views expressed and shared are those of the subscribers, with the intention of promoting real conversation and engagement around migrant workers. 

The Institute for Human Rights and Business is delighted to announce the appointment of Julia Batho as its new Deputy Chief Executive.

IHRB announced in January 2022 that its long-time Deputy CEO Frances House would be stepping down and taking on a new role as IHRB's Senior Advisor on Special Projects. Since then, IHRB undertook an extensive search for her replacement, receiving an overwhelming number of applications.

Collaborating closely with John Morrison, IHRB's CEO, and Vanessa Bissessur, IHRB's COO, Julia will play a leading role in shaping IHRB's future direction and leadership, contributing to the strategic development of IHRB, oversight for monitoring and evaluation of programmes, good governance, and day-to-day management of the organisation. Julia will also play a key role in representing IHRB externally and building strong relationships with IHRB's funders and strategic partners.

Formerly IHRB’s Head of Labour Rights, Julia established IHRB’s presence in Southeast Asia and has managed our outreach in the Gulf region since 2019. Originally from Brazil, Julia is a qualified lawyer and human rights expert with a background in policy research and advocacy, strategy development and stakeholder engagement in the areas of international labour standards and labour migration.  

HRB's Julia Batho moderating a session at the 2018 Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment in Singapore.

 

On her new role, Julia comments: 

“Over the past decade, IHRB has grown to be recognised as an impartial, unique, and trusted organisation in the business and human rights space. I am excited to continue on this journey with the Institute and look forward to helping it stay ahead of the curve – adding value, breaking down silos and catalysing collaboration and action to advance human rights.”

John Morrison, IHRB's Chief Executive commented: 

“I’m delighted to have Julia contribute her expertise to the development of IHRB’s organisational growth and initiatives. As a colleague, Julia has been instrumental in shaping IHRB’s labour rights work. I'm looking forward to working with her in this leadership capacity, further strengthening IHRB’s role as a critical friend to businesses and human rights stakeholders, and supporting our mission to make respect for human rights part of everyday business."

IHRB's Former Deputy Chief Executive, Frances House says: 

"It's been a great privilege to work for many years with a fantastic team of colleagues at IHRB under John Morrison's inspired leadership. I'm delighted to be passing the baton as Deputy CEO to Julia, who will bring great dedication, energy, and wisdom to this exciting role, as she has already done so ably since she joined IHRB in Thailand five years ago.”

Many countries are prioritizing construction of buildings and infrastructure within their economic recovery plans: a recent forecast projected construction output through to 2030 will be 35% more than in the ten years to 2020. 

The Coalition for Dignity in the Built Environment advances a global agenda for integrating human rights and accountability throughout the built environment lifecycle – using a Framework that flows from land use, finance and planning, through design, construction and management, to redevelopment. The coalition harnesses two core strategies: policy advocacy and project-level implementation, supported by dynamic research and communications. 

Here are some of the highlights from our work in 2021, with references to work ahead in 2022.

 

Public procurement of infrastructure: Mitigating social risks, maximizing social outcomes

IHRB (coalition secretariat) and the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of South Wales testified to an Australian Parliamentary Inquiry on public procurement of infrastructure, advocating for the consideration of social risks and outcomes from the very earliest stages of project planning and procurement, an approach that was well received by participating MPs. 

 

Building decarbonization and a just transition

As finance flows into reducing emissions from buildings, IHRB highlighted the actions policy-makers and investors must take to align policies with human and workers’ rights – through a policy report; multi-stakeholder event with an emphasis on implications for the right to housing; COP26-related engagement; and serving on the taskforce for the World Green Building Council’s “Beyond the Business Case” report. This work will develop further into global research on the built environment just transitions through 2022 – 2024, with deep-dives into specific countries combined with global-level communications and advocacy. 

 

Urban planning, human rights and just transition in Cartagena, Colombia

IHRB, Rafto Foundation and IHRB’s sister organization in Colombia CREER conducted fieldwork in Cartagena from October – December 2021. This involved participation in three community consultations on the city’s new territorial plan in predominantly afro-Colombian neighborhoods of the city as well as research, and interviews with representatives of government, civil society and business. The findings will inform recommendations for the approach to the territorial plan, a workshop in March 2022 and development of ongoing partnerships with key actors in the city. This work will develop into similar efforts in other ports and coastal cities.

 

“Turning the tables” - Participatory decision-making in the built environment

IHRB conducted in-depth interviews with organisations working to strengthen local community participation and agency in decisions about what gets built and how, in countries ranging from Portugal to Bangladesh, from Senegal to Bulgaria and Albania. Summaries and analysis will be published in 2022, and interviewees will be invited to join a virtual global teach-in to share their experiences and recommendations on how to strengthen community agency in the built environment. 

 

Convening UN experts on Dignity by Design

Coalition members IHRB, Raoul Wallenberg Institute and Rafto Foundation hosted a virtual discussion for UN Rapporteurs on risks and opportunities for human rights in the built environment, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The session was attended by the Rapporteur on the Right to Health and the Rapporteur on the Right to Housing, with representation from the mandates on the Right to Privacy, Rights of People with Disabilities, and Rights of Older Persons. The event highlighted the ways in which the built environment and its power dynamics have major implications across the full spectrum of human rights.  

 

Bringing a human rights approach to “smart cities” 

Coalition members provided input to an OHCHR/UN Habitat initiative on human security approaches to smart city development in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. In 2022, IHRB will work with UNDP Asia Pacific to develop a toolkit on smart cities, business and human rights, with recommendations for governments (particularly municipal government procurers of technology), the private sector (technology and implementation companies), and civil society. 

This initiative recognises the growing role of technology within the urban fabric: which can contribute to the realisation of rights but also poses significant risks of rights abuses, including on privacy, targeting of defenders, discrimination, and differentiated benefits throughout a city. (See pages 61-62 of IHRB’s foundational report “Dignity by Design” on technology, smart cities and human rights).

 

Addressing architecture and the right to housing in Egypt

IHRB co-presented together with housing expert and 10Tooba co-founder Yahia Shawkat on a webinar hosted by the John D. Gerhart Centre for Philanthropy at the American University of Cairo, attended by a large group of architects and architectural students. 

The session honed in on the roles and responsibilities of decision-makers throughout the built environment lifecycle. It elevated in particular the responsibilities of architects for human rights, through design decisions for buildings, for planning processes, and even for regional and national socio-economic plans. Shawkat made the case for a “Hippocratic oath” (to do no harm), for architects. And he elevated the ways in which related principles are in fact already included in existing engineering and architectural codes – but need to be put into practice.

 

Management school students develop built environment case studies

On a placement with IHRB, three management school students mapped challenges and opportunities for advancing human rights in the built environment in India, Czech Republic, Germany, Canada, and Ukraine. These mapping studies will be a powerful stepping stone in developing plans for future work with local and national partners in these countries. 

 

Advancing the “Building Dignity Project” in Bergen, Norway

The city of Bergen published its second report on progress on integrating the Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment into a specific project - the conversion of a former teacher training college into a centre providing services for newly-arrived migrants and refugees. The process has provided vision and purpose across the project team, and specific lessons on how to put the city’s designation as a “human rights city” into practice in the context of building projects. Cities in all regions have the opportunity to learn from this project and take up the approach in their own projects.

 

Presenting the Dignity by Design Framework in planning and building processes 

Coalition members advocated throughout 2021 for rights-based approaches, with the lifecycle “Framework Dignity in the Built Environment” as a touch-point, in multiple fora. These included engagement:

  • At city level, for example with municipal officials from Guayaquil, Lisbon, Utrecht, and Munich, and through participation in the “Conscious Cities – Warsaw” event on  Diversity and Inclusion in a City;

  • With finance, for example through IHRB’s submission to the EU social taxonomy process, as well as presentations to UNEP-FI North America, Climate Positive Europe Alliance and individual banks;

  • And with industry, for example through participation in BRE Group’s social equity working group; a presentation to the Spanish Green Building Council; and input to the Global ABC guidelines on building material passports.

 

Get in Touch!

To get involved in IHRB’s built environment programme, review our materials and get in touch with the programme team: Annabel Short (Senior Advisor); Andreia Fidalgo (Programme Manager, Europe); and Alejandra Rivera (Research Consultant) – email format: firstname.lastname @ihrb.org 

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) today introduces its newest member, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB).

IHRB and SSI have been working together throughout 2021 on the Delivering on seafarers’ rights project, which saw the launch of a landmark Code of Conduct and self-assessment tool to protect the human rights and wellbeing of the world’s nearly two million seafarers in October 2021.

IHRB is the leading international think tank on business and human rights. IHRB’s mission is to shape policy, advance practice, and strengthen accountability in order to make respect for human rights part of everyday business. They join fifteen members across the shipping value chain, including NGOs Forum for the Future and WWF in working together for a more sustainable maritime industry.

Building on the close collaboration on delivering on seafarers’ rights, IHRB is delighted to formalise its relationship with SSI”, said Frances House of IHRB. “We welcome this opportunity to strengthen our work with the shipping sector, working to ensure that protecting and promoting seafarers’ rights are at the heart of a sustainable and decarbonising shipping industry, and that companies are held to account for their commitments in this regard.

After working closely over the past two years, we are proud to welcome IHRB to the SSI community, now a member as well as a partner.” said Andrew Stephens, SSI’s Executive Director.

Sustainability in shipping is not only about decarbonisation, but also the consideration for the workers who will be operating, building and recycling zero emission vessels which is paramount to create an industry that is both environmentally and socially sustainable. We look forward to continuing to work with IHRB on identifying challenges and shining a light on solutions to promote and improve social sustainability in the shipping sector.

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative brings together like-minded organisations with shared goals and determination to improve the shipping industry. Members, ranging from shipowners and operators, to charterers, NGOs, banks, service providers and classification societies, work together toward the milestones laid out in the Roadmap to a sustainable shipping industry. IHRB becomes the sixteenth organisation and third NGO to join the initiative.

- ENDS -

 


Notes to Editors

For more information, interviews or comment please contact Elizabeth Petit, Head of Communications, Sustainable Shipping Initiative ([email protected]) and Haley St. Dennis, Head of Communications, Institute for Human Rights and Business  ([email protected]).

 

About the Sustainable Shipping Initiative

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) is a multi-stakeholder collective of ambitious and like-minded leaders, driving change through cross-sectoral collaboration to contribute to – and thrive in – a more sustainable maritime industry. Spanning the entire shipping value chain, SSI members are shipowners and charterers; ports; shipyards, marine product, equipment and service providers; banks, ship finance and insurance providers; classification societies; and sustainability non-profits.

www.sustainableshipping.org | @SustShipping

 

About the Institute for Human Rights and Business

Founded in 2009, IHRB is the leading international think tank on business and human rights. IHRB’s mission is to shape policy, advance practice, and strengthen accountability in order to make respect for human rights part of everyday business.

www.ihrb.org | @ihrb

Banks have a crucial role in supporting a 'just transition' to net zero economies. Clearer frameworks are needed to meet the opportunities and challenges.

Private sector involvement is essential to mobilise the trillions of dollars necessary to transition to an inclusive net zero economy. Clifford Chance, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the CDC Group have jointly authored a white paper titled, 'Just Transactions, a white paper on just transition in the banking sector', which addresses how banks can support a 'Just Transition' through climate-related financing activities, and the challenges and opportunities that this presents given the range of stakeholders to consider and the balance that needs to be struck between climate action and achieving equitable and inclusive outcomes for all. 

The research team took account of interviews with representatives from multilateral development institutions and commercial banks in developing the White Paper, the purpose of which is: (1) to explore the key reasons why just transition framing is relevant to commercial banks; (2) to map the state of play in the banking sector in addressing the social and human rights dimensions of climate action; and (3) to offer suggestions for how banks can incorporate just transition considerations into their internal structures and systems as well as across their relationships with clients and their transactions.

The paper concludes that further work is necessary and useful to identify gaps in existing frameworks in relation to strategy development, policy making and implementation through decision-making and transactions, to build a framework set of principles whereby a Just Transition lens can be integrated into banking practices.

Rae Lindsay, Partner at Clifford Chance said: "With the ever-growing rank of net zero pledges, and financial regulatory instruments for managing the green transition, banks recognize the importance of their role in achieving a sustainable, and fair climate change transition. Many banks haven't yet adopted specific Just Transition policies or strategies and are considering how to use existing frameworks and tools to do so. With a wide range of stakeholders, objectives and impacts to balance, informed guidance is necessary when incorporating a just transition lens into governance around sustainable finance."

John Morrison, CEO of IHRB said: "The transitions ahead will have significant social as well as climate impacts, and we must ensure they are just and fair for both workers and communities.  Following COP26 and the commitments made, to use significant financial leverage to achieve net zero in time, banks must integrate human rights into their climate transition strategies. The Just Transactions report sets out how this can be done."

Amal-Lee Amin, Director Climate Change, CDC Group said: "As economies transition to net zero emissions, the domestic banking sector will need to understand the implications for their balance sheets as well as how through their lending they can support a just transition, particularly for those workers and communities that might be negatively impacted. As a development finance institution, we are increasingly supporting banks to build their capabilities for identifying, assessing and managing climate risk, and how to integrate a focus on the just transition through their lending."

To mark the launch of our "Just Transactions" White Paper and celebrate Human Rights Day, Clifford Chance, IHRB and the CDC Group held an event to explore the relevance and implications of the just transition for the banking sector. Watch the full event here. Human Rights in Focus: Cop26, Just Transitions and the Financial Sector.

ENDS


Notes to Editors:

  1. Read the report: www.cliffordchance.com/justtransactions 

  2. For further information about IHRB: https://www.ihrb.org/focus-areas/just-transitions/just-transactions-banking-sector 

  3. For further information about CDC: https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/ 

  4. Clifford Chance is one of the world's pre-eminent law firms with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. As a single, fully integrated, global partnership, we pride ourselves on our approachable, collegiate and team-based way of working. We always strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, which include corporates from all the commercial and industrial sectors, governments, regulators, trade bodies and not for profit organisations. We provide them with the highest quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm's global standards with in-depth local expertise.

For further information about Clifford Chance see www.cliffordchance.com 

For further information about this release contact [email protected] +44 (0)7581 004 506

Australia, like other countries, has made infrastructure a core plank of its strategy for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Government is committing $110 billion in land transport infrastructure over the next decade – as part of a wider plan for all types of infrastructure. 

On 5 October 2021, Dr. Natalie Galea of the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales presented to a public hearing as part of the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Procurement Practices for Government-Funded Infrastructure, making the case for an approach that is grounded in human rights. Dr. Galea was joined at the hearing by Annabel Short, a Senior Advisor with IHRB’s Built Environment Programme - both are part of the Coalition for Dignity in the Built Environment.

In the opening testimony and in follow-up remarks, Dr. Galea and Annabel Short:

  • Highlighted the significant leverage that public procurement processes have over specific infrastructure projects as well as in influencing wider industry practices

  • Recommended that the government integrate the Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment into its public procurement practices. This would ensure that human rights risks and social outcomes are taken into account at the very earliest stages of projects and managed throughout the lifecycle, from planning and financing, to design, construction and use, to redevelopment.

  • And elevated the benefits of integrating human rights into procurement practices, beyond avoiding harm to people. These include: generating improved economic returns over the medium and longer-term, for example by reducing community opposition and work stoppages; ensuring that infrastructure is aligned with local needs and improves health outcomes; stimulating local economies and strengthening supply chain resilience; and expanding access to international finance. 

Dr Galea also cited initial findings from her research into a five-day week on construction sites, which has identified the multiple harmful knock-on effects for workers and their families of excessive working hours in construction, and the benefits of shorter work weeks. 

The hearing also heard from speakers from:

  • Construction Industry Culture Taskforce (Submission 21) 
  • Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (Submission 29) 
  • National Association of Women in Construction (Submission 39) 

During the course of the hearing, MP Andrew Giles said: “Having heard a lot of evidence about our aspirations for doing procurement better as a national government and in dealings with other levels of government, it's going to be a fool's errand unless we build the capacity to effectively look to these wider goals, whether it's looking at supply chains, security, reinforcing sovereign capacity or incentivizing issues for diversity in the workforce.”

The hearing Chair MP John Alexander expressed interest in recommending that the government establish a forum for ongoing input on these issues. 

 


Further reading:

On 21 September 2021, Alejandra Rivera, IHRB’s Built Environment Consultant, joined the online workshop “Validation and Feedback of the REACTIVA GUAYAQUIL Plan”. This citywide Plan for Guayaquil is part of the United Nations project “Building Urban Economic Resilience during and after COVID-19” where 15 pilots cities around the world (three cities in Latin America, five in Africa, three in the Arab Region, and four in Asia-Pacific) develop plans to reactivate their economies in sustainable ways. UN-ECLAC, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, coordinates this project in Guayaquil, as well as in Lima and Santo Domingo.

During the workshop, UN-ECLAC presented Guayaquil’s city recovery plan which is centered on affordable housing, sustainable development and decarbonisation. Alejandra was invited to participate in the event’s panel of experts to provide feedback and recommendations on the city’s plan. 

She highlighted insights from IHRB’s recent Better Building(s)” report,  which provides recommendations and case studies on an inclusive and rights-based decarbonization process, with thematic focuses on non-discrimination, participation, workers’ rights, health, the role of technology, and most relevant for this event: the right to housing. Alejandra brought IHRB’s work and the report’s general recommendations to be adapted to local particularities and current challenges in Guayaquil.

The panel also included experts from the following organisations:

  • Guayaquil Municipal Public Housing Company

  • Popular and Solidarity Finance Corporation

  • Litoral Polytechnic School (ESPOL), Public Policy Development Center

  • MyHousing Fund of Peru

  • UN-ECLAC’s Division of Sustainable Development and Human Settlements

 

In IHRB’s 15-minute intervention Alejandra commented on components of the city plan and on new local public policies to enable sustainable affordable housing.  

Key points from the intervention were:

  • The need to coordinate public policy actions with a multi-level (local to national) as well as multi-sectorial governance (including the public, private, third sector, civil society, and academia) into the implementation of the plan.

  • New local policy that enables economic recovery and decarbonisation should also aim to reduce socio-economic inequalities and risks to human rights. This can be done by considering the policy’s benefits for three groups: primarily the city’s residents, followed by governments and investors.

  • The public administration can harness multiple tools to enable an inclusive and sustainable local policy, including: procurement requirements, fiscal policy, and housing market regulation

  • Likewise, city-wide strategies should seek to: strengthen the role of the municipal public housing company by increasing public housing stock, consolidate various projects into a city-wide housing investment programme, and develop local policy as in as participatory and collaborative a way as possible.

 

Watch the video (in Spanish only)

This intervention was in the context of IHRB’s built environment programme, which aims to advance human rights and a just transition in the building and infrastructure sectors. 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) will hold the annual Conference of Parties, COP26, from October 31st to November 12th 2021. The UK Government, in partnership with Italy, is hosting COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

IHRB is committed to elevating the risks to and experiences of workers and communities in the climate-driven industrial, technological, and energy transitions underway. These transitions must be just, as outlined in the legally binding 2015 global agreement on climate change (known as the Paris Agreement), and there is a clear role for business in preventing, mitigating, and remedying harm to people during the transition out of high-carbon activities and into the green economy.

 

Climate change is the greatest threat to human rights of the 21st century. – Mary Robinson, IHRB Patron

 

In recent weeks, two major international developments at the UN Human Rights Council add impetus to the just transition agenda at COP26: The adoption on October 8th of a Resolution recognising that everyone, everywhere has the human right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and; the agreement on the same day to appoint a first-ever Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change.

 

Opportunities for Engagement with IHRB

IHRB has been fully accredited to all COP proceedings and will be advocating for the rights-based approach to climate action in all of our engagements before, during, and after COP26. These include:

  • 27 October 2021: As part of the three-day Just Zero conference by the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE, IHRB’s CEO John Morrison will participate in the closing session focused on articulating the key messages for COP26 and the financial imperatives of the just transition.
  • 2 November 2021: IHRB will be hosting an invitation-only high-level dialogue at COP in Glasgow on business, human rights and the just transition. The discussion with CEOs, government and civil society leaders will focus on the actions required to meet global climate goals while enabling workers and communities to thrive through the transition. (Recording now available.)
  • 4 November 2021: IHRB is co-hosting a special session on multilateral development banks (MDB) support for a just transition. The panel will discuss the joint MDB work on just transition – including the Common Principles for MDB Support to a Just Transition – and provide country perspectives and practical examples of the MDB policy support, finance, and partnerships that will be crucial to delivering them. (Livestream available on EBRD's YouTube channel)
  • 11 November 2021: Throughout COP’s official Built Environment day, IHRB will be advancing the policy recommendations in our Better Building(s) report focused on financing human rights-based decarbonisation in Europe’s built environment, and the Dignity by Design Framework advancing human rights and the SDGs throughout the built environment lifecycle.
  • 3 December 2021: EU-level policy initiatives such as the EU Green Deal and EU Taxonomy include respect for workers’ rights in the context of the green transition. In parallel, there are growing expectations for companies to conduct human rights due diligence throughout their operations. IHRB in partnership with NOVA BHRE will bring together diverse stakeholders to explore what this means for the construction sector, and what it will take to ensure greater respect for construction workers’ rights in practice.
  • 9 December 2021: Access to finance is an essential enabler for the measures needed to achieve net-zero targets. IHRB in partnership with Clifford Chance will be launching a new, detailed policy report on the critical role banks have to play in ensuring that funds are directed towards actions that are impactful in driving this transition.

The Annex to “The Weakest Link in the Global Supply Chain: How the Pandemic is Affecting Bangladesh’s Garment Workers” report is now available to download and read.

The literature reference guide covers relevant writing on the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent responses of garment companies as they relate to the Bangladesh readymade garment industry and its associated stakeholders. Associated stakeholders include Bangladeshi manufacturers, Bangladeshi factory workers, Bangladeshi labour activists, international civil society organisations, and the government of Bangladesh. 

The guide intends to contribute to the broader understanding of how enterprises engaged with their suppliers and factory workers at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on Bangladesh as a case study for how developing countries were impacted. It aims to provide a basis for further research on corporate social responsibility and supply chain accountability towards the goal of advancing companies’ responsibility to respect human rights.

Access and read the guide

 

This guide was prepared by Nancy Reyes Mullins, Independent Researcher, with inputs from Sanchita Banerjee Saxena, Director, Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor (Global Issues), Institute for Human Rights and Business.

Today sees the launch of a landmark Code of Conduct and self-assessment tool developed to protect the human rights and welfare of the world’s nearly two million seafarers. The initiative aims to support a safe, healthy and secure onboard work environment, and goes beyond the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to focus on the full spectrum of seafarers’ rights and welfare, from fair terms of employment and minimum crewing levels to the management of grievance mechanisms.  

The project has been led by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), in collaboration with the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and RightShip (with additional funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs). Key SSI members played an active role in its development, with expert input from Forum for the Future, Louis Dreyfus Company, Oldendorff Carriers, South32, Standard Chartered Bank, Swire Shipping and Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

“A sustainable shipping industry needs to ensure the protection of its workforce. This presents a unique opportunity for the industry to work together and take concrete action for the rights of nearly 2 million seafarers worldwide, now and in the future” Kristina Kunigenas, Human Rights Lead at the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, said.

Based on international labour and human rights standards and principles, the Code of Conduct and self-assessment were created over eight months of consultation and collaboration with shipowners, operators, charterers, cargo owners, seafarers’ associations, civil society and others.

To enable immediate action across the industry, RightShip has launched an online self-assessment tool developed in collaboration with SSI and IHRB. This freely available questionnaire provides practical guidance on utilising the Code of Conduct, helping shipowners and operators understand their responsibilities while assessing current operations and ways of working, and consequently showing areas for improvement.

“The global pandemic brought seafarers rights firmly into focus, with many crews forced to endure exceptionally difficult conditions to keep global supply chains and trade freely flowing,” notes Frances House, Deputy Chief Executive at IHRB. “We expect a great deal from them and it’s only right that they expect an adequate standard of care, conditions, and quality from us. This is a proud, vital industry that depends on people to keep sailing. This Code of Conduct and self-assessment will help build a platform to respect worker dignity while advancing industry progress. We look forward to widespread engagement from industry stakeholders everywhere.”

 

Download the Code of Conduct and Self Assessment here

 


 

Testimonials from SSI members and partners:

  • Cynthia Morel, Senior Sustainability Strategist, Forum for the Future: “This marks a vital step towards ensuring that seafarers’ human rights are respected. We hope that this will lay the foundation for fostering the deeper relationships, connections and trust necessary to ensure the shipping sector commits to honouring human dignity and enabling equitable outcomes in its operations and supply-chains it is active in.”
  • Sebastien Landerretche, Head of Freight at Louis Dreyfus Company: “As a leading global charterer, LDC is committed to promoting the welfare of seafarers, who are essential to the continuity, resilience and decarbonization of the shipping industry. We believe today’s launch is an important foundation for a sustainable future, setting industry participants’ responsibilities and reinforcing support processes for crew members.”
  • Scott Jones, Director of Communications at Oldendorff Carriers: “The shipping industry has been, and continues to be, very focused on reducing its carbon footprint. However, it is equally important that we focus on the human element to make sure that seafarers’ rights are respected and that we have a holistic view to make the industry truly sustainable. This Code of Conduct is an important new step in highlighting seafarers’ rights and giving the shipping industry a sustainable future.”
  • Jostein Hole Kobbelvedt, Executive Director, Rafto Foundation for Human Rights: “There are growing expectations towards companies with regard to adhering to international human rights standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. A proactive and systematic approach is necessary. The Rafto Foundation has had the privilege of working with IHRB and SSI to develop the Code of Conduct – Delivering on seafarers’ rights. We hope it will be a valuable tool for the shipping industry in order to promote social sustainability and deliver on human rights.”
  • Christopher Saunders, Chief Product Officer at RightShip: “At RightShip, we have an ambitious vision for a maritime industry that causes zero harm to people and the environment we operate in, so we are delighted to be working with SSI and key stakeholders to deliver this important initiative for seafarers. While technology is changing the way that we move cargo, the human contribution to the supply chain is the lifeblood of our industry. Safe, sustainable voyages rely on crews that are supported to work safely, without risk to their wellbeing. We believe the Crew Welfare Code of Conduct and self-assessment tool will be a significant step forward in giving our essential workers the respect and recognition they deserve and importantly provide guidance and support to those striving to operate beyond compliance.”
  • Robert Haggquist, Senior Chartering Manager at South32: “We are pleased to have worked with likeminded partners across the shipping value chain to deliver this important initiative that we believe will contribute to a more sustainable maritime industry. The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of seafarers but also their importance to keep global supply chains working. With this Code of Conduct we are addressing the systemic issues in the industry by giving owners and charterers a platform to collaborate and to improve transparency around seafarers’ welfare. Only by improving the respect for seafarers’ rights can we achieve truly sustainable supply chains with positive social impact.”
  • Samantha Bramley, Director Environmental & Social Risk Management, Sustainable Finance, Global Banking at Standard Chartered Bank: “Standard Chartered has made a commitment to achieve zero CO2 emissions from our global operations by 2030 and transport by 2050. In line with our work under the Poseidon Principles we are integrating climate considerations into lending decisions with an aim to supporting shipping decarbonization. However, the S in ESG must not be forgotten, and the work being done to protect and respect seafarers’ rights should remain a priority for lenders, investors and other stakeholders in the maritime sector.”
  • Simon Bennett, General Manager – Sustainable Development at Swire Shipping: “Seafarers work long, hard hours, for many months away from their families and friends. They deserve to be treated with respect, and to receive the same rights that their shore-based colleagues experience as the norm, and then more, to take account of the non-standard working environment. Many of us had assumed that the ILO MLC (2006) would assure this. But sadly the Covid-19 pandemic showed that whilst much was said about the crucial nature of the job they were doing, little was practically delivered, and in fact in many places their treatment became markedly worse. We believe that this Code of Conduct details the areas required to be addressed to ensure that seafarers’ rights are observed, and exhort all shipowners to facilitate, provide them and support shippers and others with interests in our delivering a sustainable and humane shipping value chain and industry to assure themselves, using this assessment, that this is indeed the case.”
  • Carl Schou, CEO and President at Wilhelmsen Ship Management: “The question is no longer whether seafarers deserve better, but how we are addressing this and taking action. This Code of Conduct and self-assessment tool is a good check and balance for responsible owners and operators to improve the welfare of our seafarers. The responsibility to ensure a thriving seafaring community is in our hands.”

 


You're Invited

Webinar | Tuesdsay 19th October 2021 | 09:30am BST

Join us on Tuesday 19 October to hear from seafarer representatives first-hand about the importance of taking a rights-based approach to crew welfare, from companies and investors leading the industry’s response, as well as from SSI and IHRB on the #SeafarersRights Code of Conduct and self-assessment questionnaire and how they can assist shipowners and operators, charterers, financial stakeholders, and ultimately seafarers.

 

Agenda

  • 09:30 – 09:35 Welcome by Andrew Stephens, Chief Executive, SSI

  • 09:35 – 09:45 Keynote by Jacqueline Smith, Maritime Coordinator, International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)

  • 09:45 – 10:05 Overview of industry response; introduction to Code of Conduct and self-assessment

    • Andrew Stephens, Chief Executive, SSI

    • Christopher Saunders, Chief Product Officer, RightShip

  • 10:05 – 11:00 Panel discussion and audience Q&A, moderated by Francesca Fairbairn, Programme Manager, Shipping IHRB

    • Samantha Bramley, Director Environmental and Social Risk Management, Standard Chartered Bank

    • Simon Bennett, General Manager – Sustainable Development, Swire Shipping

    • Seb Landerretche, Head of Freight, Louis Dreyfus Company

    • Carl Schou, CEO & President, Wilhelmsen Ship Management

 

Register here

 


About the Sustainable Shipping Initiative

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) is a multi-stakeholder collective of ambitious and like-minded leaders, driving change through cross-sectoral collaboration to contribute to – and thrive in – a more sustainable maritime industry. Spanning the entire shipping value chain, SSI members are shipowners and charterers; ports; shipyards, marine product, equipment and service providers; banks, ship finance and insurance providers; classification societies; and sustainability non-profits.

www.sustainableshipping.org | @SustShipping

About the Institute for Human Rights and Business

Founded in 2009, IHRB is the leading international think tank on business and human rights. IHRB’s mission is to shape policy, advance practice, and strengthen accountability in order to make respect for human rights part of everyday business.

www.ihrb.org | @ihrb

Image credit: “Just a typical day in West Africa” by Richard Arguelles from ITF Seafarers’ Trust’s Still At Sea Photography Competition, 2020.

IHRB’s John Morrison moderates the Centre for Sports and Human Rights' closing plenary of the Sporting Chance Forum and is joined by industry experts from sporting, governmental and commercial organisations. 

The conversation builds upon the discussions held throughout the forum and focuses on the mainstreaming of human rights into all elements, and actors, within sport and sporting events. 

Watch panelists reflect on pressing questions that explore what comes next for sport and human rights and what must be done to create sustainable change in a responsible world of sport.

Watch IHRB’s Salil Tripathi keynote address the launch of UNDP’s ‘Reporting Business and Human Rights: A handbook for journalists, communicators and campaigners’. In his keynote, Tripathi shares some examples from his career as a journalist and the importance of scrutinising the performance of states and companies in protecting and respecting human rights proactively, ass well as and especially when things go wrong.

 

 

About the publication

Reporting Business and Human Rights: A handbook for journalists, communicators and campaigners’ is the first guidance published by UNDP for reporting on business and human rights. Written by a journalist, with journalists, for journalists – the handbook is designed as a tool to help everyone from journalists, campaigners and activists developing their own stories to those conducting media and communications training better communicate business and human rights topics.

 


Salil Tripathi's Keynote Address

Reporting Business and Human Rights: A Handbook for Journalists, Communicators and Campaigners

29th September 2021

 

One December night in 1984 in the central Indian city called Bhopal, a cloud of gas leaked out of a fertilizer plant, swirling over the city. The gas was known as methyl isocyanate. It was poisonous, and little was known about its toxicity. It spread far and wide; the silent killer suffocated thousands of people that night in a city where poor people lived side-by-side with industrial complexes. 

The plant was owned by an American company, Union Carbide, which manufactured the fertilizer for domestic consumption. When the accident occurred, much of India was in the middle of a parliamentary election. Up to 3,000 people died immediately, and close to 10,000 people, and possibly many more, had their life span shortened, dying much earlier than what they could have expected. Victims of that disaster continue to seek justice. American lawyers sought to represent Indian clients, but India argued before an American court that it had the capacity to try the corporation, and the US court sent the case to India. A deal was struck between the government and the company in 1987, with Union Carbide paying a lump sum, but survivors and victims’ families have continued to suffer poor health and are still fighting for justice. Later, Union Carbide sold its global business interests to another American corporation, Dow Chemicals. But the Indian subsidiary was hived off, sold to another Indian company. 

Victims have sought justice from Dow Chemicals, as the parent corporation of the former Union Carbide, and Dow insists it has no responsibility for what happened in Bhopal that night, when it was nowhere on the scene. That is correct; Dow Chemicals did not own Union Carbide in 1984. 

The gas leak was not a freak occurrence. The role of Union Carbide had been under the scrutiny of an intrepid journalist for some time. His name was Rajkumar Keswani. 

Keswani, who died at the age of 71 in May this year, had been persistently reporting on failings at the Bhopal gas plant – he pointed out the shortcuts the inspectors made, the risks the plant posed in an area which was highly populated, and in the administrative and managerial short-comings. Few took notice of Keswani’s stories. And yet, his diligent reporting deserves far greater attention than he received. Journalists engaged in reporting the human drama, need to follow his footsteps. 

In the next few minutes, I shall identify what those steps are, and why this guidance, by the UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Business and Human Rights Hub, is so vital to enhance our understanding of what makes the world work and how journalists can tell stories to make those who wield power more accountable. 

The Bhopal disaster is unique for the number of deaths, but sadly, it is part of a pattern. If you dig further, you will discover the 1956 scandal in Minamata in Japan, where the release of mercury sulfate in the wastewater at a chemical factory owned by Chisso Corporation contaminated the city’s supply, creating a neural disorder that affected thousands, because the chemical metabolized into methyl mercury by the bacteria in the sediment. The plant continued to operate between 1932 and 1968, and thousands of lives were affected. 

Let me turn to another disaster: This year, 2021, is an important date for one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia, Bangladesh, as the country celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence from Pakistan. When Bangladesh emerged as a new nation, a state department official described it as ‘an international basket case.’ The international community assumed that Bangladesh would remain the poster-child of poverty; its budget would be made up of grants from weary, angst-ridden Western Governments. Today, Bangladesh has superior social and human development indicators than many countries in its neighborhood: It houses its poor better; educates its girls; offers superior healthcare; and children born to Bangladeshi mothers have better chances of a longer life expectancy than most of its neighbors. Bangladesh’s success rests on several factors – its overseas workers send billions of dollars in remittances, and its productive garment workers, many of them women, stitch the clothes that much of the western world wears today. 

This garment exports saga is a glittering success story.

However, in 2013, a building called Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, and more than 1,100 workers died; many survivors have physical disabilities. The factory inspection had been inadequate; the building had added floors without getting proper authorization; the factories were working overtime to meet production targets for multinational brands; they competed with one another on cost because the global garment industry sought ‘fast fashion,’ where clothes are made cheaply in countries with low labor costs, and supplied efficiently to the world’s malls. That well-oiled, outwardly efficient supply chain has lifted millions of workers out of absolute poverty, but their existence is precarious. As the Covid-19 pandemic showed, when the factories closed, the workers were pushed back into poverty as there was no effective safety net. 

The collapse of Rana Plaza led to the creation of two multi-stakeholder initiatives to address the problem, Accord and Alliance, which were effective insofar as they aimed to prevent a repeat of such a collapse. Rana Plaza was not the first disaster to strike Bangladesh – Bangladeshi and international reporters, trade union leaders, and human rights defenders had been crying hoarse for years about the conditions in which the factories operated. Over a hundred workers had died in a fire at a factory in 2012. It must be our hope that such disasters do not happen again. 

Our understanding of the interplay between business, politics, and society is enhanced when we connect these dots. Regulatory failure leads to disasters, and disasters have adverse impacts on human rights. Eternal vigilance is the cost of liberty, as it has been said, and three independent actors cast the light in the dark alleys and hidden corners of global commerce. What is to be done with it, is up to us.

The three actors are union leaders, human rights defenders, and journalists. Union leaders champion rights at work; human rights defenders campaign to improve human rights for all; and journalists listen and observe, and tell stories that someone, somewhere wants to suppress. That is news; the rest is advertising. News may be the stuff between the ads, but without news, a newspaper is worthless. 

Asian countries had focused on improving competitiveness by lowering barriers, and since the early 1990s there has been upsurge in foreign investment in manufacturing, transforming agrarian economies. Unions, civil society groups, and journalists are essential to ensure that the development is fair and just. Many reporters – local and foreign – have been highlighting stories involving the interplay of business, politics, and society and what it does to the people – in the Philippines, Maria Ressa has been fighting a valiant battle; in Indonesia, investigative reports by journalists and human rights groups have shown poor working conditions in plantations; wire agency reporters have exposed the role of unscrupulous, below-the-radar businesses engaged in human trafficking in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea; journalists have examined what has come to be known as khaki commerce in many parts of Asia, where the military-owned businesses skew developmental priorities; Australian journalists have closely scrutinized a controversial coal project by an Indian company in their country; and journalists have shown the role of timber and gem trading companies in Southeast Asia in perpetuating human rights abuses. 

As we travel across Asia – from the football factories in Punjab in Pakistan to the shipbreaking facilities at Alang in Gujarat, India; from the brickmaking factories in Bangladesh to the rubber glove-making factories in Malaysia; canned seafood manufacturers in Thailand or construction projects in Singapore; cotton producing farms in Xinjiang, China, and the export processing zones in Sri Lanka – we find stories crying out for attention. We find human drama that adds a new dimension to our understanding of economics and dry statistics of gross domestic product growth. They also point out the failure of governments to protect human rights, the weaknesses of international standards and human rights mechanisms to safeguard rights, and the role business has played in maintaining the status quo. 

This does not mean that everything wrong with the world, or every abuse affecting the poor, the dispossessed, the marginalized, and those who are denied their power, is because of business. Far from it. The role of the state – the unwilling one, and the unable one – is important. But this does mean that there is much more business can do to improve people’s lives, beyond what companies claim in their glossy brochures, and when they sign up to adhere to the aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals. The responsibility is twinned – the state has the obligation to protect human rights; business has the responsibility to respect human rights. And yet, we find that there is the gap – between the rhetoric and the reality – and this is where it becomes necessary to identify remedies.

In fact, what I have just described – protect, respect, remedy – is not a magic formula. It reiterates what the world needs, and it has been established succinctly in the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. 

This is an appropriate moment to remember the pivotal role John Ruggie, former special representative of the UN Secretary General for business and human rights, played in drafting those principles and steering them skillfully through the labyrinthine corridors of power. Ruggie, who died last week, was an astute political scientist who understood how the world worked. He knew why it was important to bring along all stakeholders together, to build an architecture where companies would respect rights, as long as the state kept its part of the bargain – of protecting rights. And since Ruggie knew our world and its imperfections, he called for remedies that identify, prevent, and mitigate harms. 

The framework is crystal clear and commonsensical. Ruggie’s legacy will continue to inspire many of us. 

The stories of business impacts on human rights matter not only at the rarefied gabfests of Davos or Geneva; they affect lives on the ground. 

One of the features of business journalism is the emphasis on growth and profits and stressing the positive. Clever public relations firms work assiduously to cultivate journalists to cast their clients in a positive light. Men and women in expensive business suits speak in achingly dull cliches about playing a meaningful role to make the world a better place, and toss in terms like sustainability, inclusiveness, and being a good corporate citizen. Companies can of course be the force for good. They are of course important – they create jobs, pay taxes, produce goods and provide services efficiently, and do make the world a better place through imaginative interventions and innovations. But aircrafts taking off and landing smoothly won’t make a good story. A delayed flight, a scheduling mix-up, baggage mishandled, and tragic crashes are newsworthy. It is when things don’t work as advertised or intended, that a reporter gets interested. 

And there is a business angle to virtually every story that’s outwardly political or social. Reporting about business should not be mere reiteration of balance sheets, price earning ratios, corporate plans, the size of an initial public offering, or the insatiable search for unicorns. Good reporting requires that you look beneath the surface: Yes, a company is hiring more women in managerial positions; that is good. But when it has to downsize, are women employees on the shopfloor more likely to lose jobs? That is a more real story. When a company allows its workers to work from home, are women more likely to face stress, mental pressure, violence at home? Are they more likely to drop out? It is those stories a good journalist seeks. 

The role of a business journalist is not to be a cheerleader for the corporate world, but to ask questions about the impact of business on the society. To be sure, it does not mean being critical of business – but skepticism is the cornerstone of journalism.

 

What should reporters do? 

  • Listen to all sides: Not only corporate executives and their agents, but also the workers and members of society whose lives are impacted by the decisions.

  • Protect sources: There are good reasons why employees or representatives of communities impacted by a company’s actions may prefer anonymity. Your sources are rights-holders. Protect them; ensure they are not harmed.

  • Trust, but verify: Every assertion is a claim. Ask when a company claims it has done something; ask the activist for evidence, not opinion, when the activists blame a company for what could be systemic or governmental failure. 

  • Understand complexities: Business stories are not only about one company gaining market share at the expense of the other, but the complexity of why companies have behaved the way they have done. 

  • One size doesn’t fit all: After the coup in Myanmar, some companies may have good reason to stay on, if their withdrawal would lead to hundreds of thousands of women losing their jobs in the garment sector. At the same time, a company may be justified in leaving, if its continued presence leads to it becoming complicit in human rights abuses. A good reporter analyses those complexities. 

  • Figure out where responsibility lies: The state has an obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill rights. Its unwillingness or inability to play its legitimate role does not mean a corporation has to substitute the state. A company has neither the mandate, nor the capacity, nor the authority, and often no expertise to replace the state. There is a good reason why East India Company is now a boutique brand and not a colonial power. Be wary of what you ask for; you might get it!

  • Draw on the framework: Based on the UNGPs, journalists should identify what is expected of the state and of the corporate sector, and raise questions about assumptions, challenge assertions, and go as far as the facts take them.

  • And let the reader/viewer decide: A journalist is not a propagandist; she is not an activist; he is not the sole arbiter of the truth. Journalists should provide accurate information and interpretation to the readers and viewers so that they can conclude what the truth is, and act accordingly. 

 

This guidance is important. It clarifies why business and society are interlinked. It shows how a society’s progress is to be measured not only by the dollars and cents earned by shareholders and banks that have lent money to those businesses, but also by the hard efforts of the women and men at work. 

The interplay between business and society has profound implications on governments, nations, and indeed the world. Pursuing stories with curiosity, persistence, and enthusiasm, raising questions about what doesn’t make sense, widening the range of sources, and explaining the story in clear terms is the duty of all journalists. 

Political journalism isn’t all about bad news; business journalism isn’t all about good news.

The two affect one another – and its consequences reverberate through the landscape. And good journalists, like canaries in coal mines, can identify those rumblings that foretell tremors. Theirs is not to set the world right; their role is to tell those stories, and in the process, comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, so that it is a slightly better world tomorrow, than what it was yesterday. 

Journalists have to bridge the difference between the stock market and the bazaar, between in the investor and consumer, and give voice to the voiceless, recognize the power of the powerless, and give space to those who have rights but are denied access. It is a noble calling; may this guidance help journalists discover new ways of looking at stories that must be told. 

 
  • Commentary by Annabel Short, Principal, It's Material; Research Fellow, IHRB

In June and July 2021, three postgraduate management students were placed with IHRB’s Dignity by Design programme, which aims to strengthen action and accountability for human rights among investors, owners, architects and builders. Their participation was part of IHRB’s annual CEMS Academic Placement Programme.

The students worked as a team to map challenges and opportunities for advancing human rights in the built environment in five countries: Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, India and Ukraine. The following are a few reflections and findings from the three students. 

 

Dig Deeper: Download a Summary of the Students’ Findings

 

Unnati Mahajan, studying for a Masters in Business Administration at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

 

“The placement was really an eye-opener for me, in terms of the need for people who are working to devise solutions that are long-term and benefit everyone. And also the way in which human rights are a parallel to everything we do, as business leaders and managers.

“In India, with all its diversity not only in terms of population but also in terms of topography and geography, there are a lot of needs and opinions coming through, from communities, and from decision-makers in government and industry. ​​There is a lot of interesting ideation going on: from local designers using local materials and resources that are available in certain regions in India, and also as a result of national-level initiatives focused on building better-equipped cities. The challenge stems from the complexity of the system: to ensure that ideas are translated into successful implementation.”

 

Kateryna Kovalenko, studying for a Masters in International Management at Prague University of Economic and Business

 

“I was aware of migrant workers and worker rights violations in construction, and I was aware of issues in terms of land acquisition. But through the internship I thought about many angles I hadn’t connected to construction before – like inclusivity, and the role of planning and finance. 

“In Ukraine, one challenge I found was a highly cynical, or conservative and profit-orientated approach. But when I saw that despite lack of governance, despite challenges with corruption…there are young people working against the odds, that’s what struck me the most. Like a 25-year old hotel owner, saying 'hey, this building has to be renovated, let’s do it and make it a social hub as well'. Like architects’ bureaus who are researching sustainable materials and design, and have published a disability access guide for all Ukrainian buildings because they think it is important. And a group of impact investors who are transforming a former industrial plant.

“There are still initiatives that manage to make it work, and manage to monetize it, despite all the prejudices that exist in the market. It seems that those people move mountains, just because of their will.”

 

Franziska Kössler, studying for a Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration at the Norwegian School of Economics 

 

“I was surprised how aware different actors in the built environment are of the good they can do and the social issues they can target – but also negatively surprised how economic factors overwhelm that awareness, and so far are much more relevant.

“What gave me hope is the power of rules issued by the government or at the EU to enforce different actors to adhere to different standards and create the need for private actors to comply – to move from awareness to making it necessary. It is sad that we have to have those mechanisms but if they are the way to go, it’s interesting to see that they do work, as they did in many countries for sustainability issues.

“It was great to have that cooperation across time zones and countries, and coming from very different cultural backgrounds – I found that a very enriching experience. We always helped each other out and had each others’ back.”

 


IHRB and its partners in the Dignity in the Built Environment Coalition will draw on the students’ mapping and research in future work. The programme uses the Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment as a touch-point to guide action at the project-level and policy level, and is building a diverse ecosystem of actors committed to respecting human rights throughout the built environment lifecycle. 

The IHRB CEMS Academic Placement Programme runs annually for eight weeks across June and July. It provides CEMS masters students with experience in business and human rights for academic credits required for graduation.

IHRB’s Senior Advisor on the Built Environment, Annabel Short, joined the discussion on building and construction supply chains throughout the whole lifecycle of a building, alongside Jess Verdon (Senior Sustainability Manager, Multiplex) and Marquise Stillwell (Founder, Openbox) at the World Green Building Council’s webinar: Better Places for People. 

The conversation took place on 7 July 2021 and focused on Principle 5 of WorldGBC's Health & Wellbeing Framework – which encompasses workers’ rights in the supply chain, mental and physical health of construction workers, and the impacts of real estate projects on local communities. 

Annabel provides an overview on what it means to protect human rights across the built environment lifecycle and elevates specific human rights, including the right to adequate housing which incorporates elements such as affordability, accessibility and cultural adequacy. She also shares that human rights bring a fundamental lens to projects that first prioritises minimising risks to people.  

The themes that came up frequently in the discussion were:

  • The human rights dimensions of climate change in the built environment (from rising sea levels affecting residents of coastal cities, to climate-induced migration)

  • The importance of action on social outcomes at the earliest stage of a building project

  • The way in which all built environment decision-makers have some points of leverage that they can harness towards positive social outcomes

 

Watch the recording below

 


About IHRB’s Built Environment Programme
IHRB has developed the Framework for Dignity in the Built Environment, linked to existing standards and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Framework aims to guide decision-making and strengthen collaboration, in order to mitigate risks to human rights and maximise social outcomes throughout the built environment lifecycle. There is a clear need to shift investment into built environments that enable everyone to thrive. We are working to achieve this at three interconnected levels: Ecosystem level, Policy-level and Project-level.

On June 23rd, Alejandra Rivera, IHRB’s Built Environment Consultant, joined GBC Spain’s session of the #BuildingLife Project which is led and coordinated by WorldGBC. The project involves 10 GBCs in Europe, and seeks to promote climate action in the building sector by developing a roadmap at the European level and 10 national roadmaps to guide the necessary changes for the sector in the coming years.

Wednesday’s meeting focused on “The value of the lifecycle in relation to the decarbonisation of buildings”, and was the third in a series of events hosted by GBC Spain. The events are a participatory process for the Spanish National Forum bringing together key actors and experts from the building sector to discuss various topics and help develop the Spanish roadmap.

Alejandra contributed to this session with a presentation on “the values of circular and decarbonised building” placing special emphasis on the social value of decarbonisation, over the relatively better understood economic and environmental benefits. She highlighted IHRB’s recent report “Better Building(s) - Financing Human Rights-Based Decarbonisation in Europe’s Built Environment'' which shows how some of decarbonisation’s barriers can be turned into opportunities to maximise social value and mitigate human rights risks on key areas such as housing, health, and equality, among others.

Watch the recording below


For more information about GBC Spain and their participation on the #BuildingLife Project can be found here (Spanish). 
IHRB and the Laudes Foundation have begun a new partnership to scale social equity outcomes in the context of climate action in Europe's built environment. The project comes at a time when the EU is stimulating finance to meet climate targets and starting to rebuild post-COVID economies.

The #DignitybyDesign programme will pilot human rights approaches within four diverse, early-stage building projects across the region: seeking to maximise social outcomes for users, local communities and workers, and to foster greater collaboration between decision-makers throughout the built environment lifecycle. These will build on the first Building Dignity pilot which is already underway in the human rights city of Bergen, Norway - the conversion of a former teacher training college into a welcoming centre for newly arrived migrants and refugees.

Drawing lessons from the pilots, the project will advance Europe-wide policy advocacy, to integrate practical, social equity outcomes into key initiatives such as the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, the EU Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment, and the New European Bauhaus.

The project will also support the creation of a coalition of practitioners from government, finance, industry and civil society, committed to centering social equity as Europe’s built environment moves towards net-zero carbon.

Inequality in Europe’s built environment can play out in multiple ways: climate mitigation projects that benefit only the few; discrimination on grounds of gender, age, race, ability, migration status, and other factors; exploitation of construction workers on sites and through supply chains; and unequal access to green space and adequate housing, with resulting impacts on physical and mental health.

Annabel Short, Head of Built Environment of IHRB: “The urgently-needed action on net-zero buildings will only gain broad-based support if it also addresses inequality and strengthens inclusion. This requires systemic change – overcoming barriers such as top-down decision-making, silos between actors, and financing and business models that drive a race to the bottom, while dramatically scaling responsible investment in the areas that need it the most.”

James Drinkwater, Head of Built Environment of Laudes Foundation: “Meeting the demands of the Paris Agreement is going to require a fundamental rethink of our economy and society. There is a real opportunity for an inclusive and regenerative built environment to emerge, and Laudes Foundation is proud to support IHRB’s drive for #DignitybyDesign to help make that happen.”


What is #DignitybyDesign?

#DignitybyDesign is a two-year project funded by Laudes Foundation to create a pathway for building projects across Europe to embed social equity approaches in their decarbonisation plans. It will do this by: 

  • Piloting social equity approaches within early-stage projects across Europe that represent diverse geographies, contexts, and social challenges, to share lessons, identify the most effective approaches, and inspire others. Stakeholders interested in being one of the pilots are encouraged to reach out to IHRB.
     
  • Advocating for strong policy interventions by local and national governments, investors and industry that scale social outcomes.
     
  • Catalysing a dynamic ecosystem of architects, construction firms, investors, governments, and civil society representatives at local and regional levels to scale positive social outcomes through collaboration and silo-busting.

This project is part of the global #DignitybyDesign programme led by IHRB and its coalition partners Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, and the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales.  This coalition is also advancing the programme in regions beyond Europe.

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), along with SSI members today announce the launch of a new project focusing on seafarers’ labour and human rights.

Delivering on seafarers’ rights will be a joint project to develop a human rights code of conduct for charterers, and a roadmap for tackling systemic challenges which create human rights risks for seafarers – a widely-recognised gap in catalysing industry-wide policy and practice.

Co-led by SSI, IHRB and Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, the project brings together SSI members: The China Navigation Company; Forum for the Future; Louis Dreyfus Company; Oldendorff Carriers; RightShip; South32; and Standard Chartered Bank.

The challenge of protecting and respecting seafarers rights was thrust into the spotlight with the emergence of 300,000+ seafarers stranded at sea due to crew-change restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside this increased public awareness of the challenges seafarers worldwide face, there is a growing demand from consumers, investors, business partners, governments, and civil society for transparent and sustainable supply chains that address human rights along with environmental concerns.

Charterers are also increasingly under scrutiny with regard to the sustainability of their supply chains, not only in terms of their commodities but also the vessels that transport their cargo. However, there is currently a lack of guidance on how labour and human rights risks should be identified and mitigated.  Plugging this gap is key to strengthening both chartering-related decision-making and due diligence processes.

This project will see charterers play an active role in raising the industry’s bar through the development of an industry code of conduct for actors joined together across the shipping value chain. Based on international labour and human rights standards and principles, this work will bring charterers, shipowners, and operators together for collective action, increasing transparency and driving positive change.

The work will further explore ways in which seafarers’ rights can be addressed by demanding transparency on labour and human rights risks, for example – through contractual terms and chartering provisions.

Andrew Stephens, Executive Director at SSI said: Respect of the labour and human rights of seafarers worldwide is a key milestone on the road to sustainable shipping. We strongly believe in the power of transparency to drive positive change, and through this work we seek to catalyse collective action and leadership by charterers to advocate for more robust human rights protection within the industry.”

Frances House, Deputy Chief Executive at IHRB said: “COVID restrictions have stranded over 300,000 seafarers at sea worldwide, thrusting the human rights risks of shipping into the spotlight as never before. IHRB welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with SSI and its members in raising the bar across the industry whereby respect for international human rights standards becomes part of everyday business. An industry-wide code of conduct affirming the human rights responsibilities of shipowners and operators will help to level the playing field and enable cargo owners and investors to make more informed choices around whom they want to do business with.”

 

-ENDS-

 

Testimonials

Testimonials from members of SSI’s Working Group on the Human side of shipping: Delivering on seafarers’ rights

James Woodrow, Managing Director at The China Navigation Company Pte Ltd said: “Maritime transport is essential to the world’s economy as over 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea and it is, by far, the most cost-effective way to move en masse goods and raw materials around the world (1). Generally this happens quietly and unobtrusively, but this is only possible due to the essential work carried out by 1.65 million (2) seafarers of all nationalities.

Too often the nature of this ‘out of sight, out of mind’ work is taken advantage of by unscrupulous organisations to be also ‘below or ignoring national and international legislative requirements and against basic accepted standards of human rights’. The China Navigation Company is keen to work with the other committed members and partners of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative to ensure that seafarers’ labour and human rights are fully respected and observed. We will work in this initiative with proactive charterers to play an active role in raising the bar and through transparency assist the due diligence to deliver on seafarers’ rights, potentially by way of an industry code of conduct and through contractual terms and chartering provisions”.

Sally Uren, Chief Executive at Forum for the Future said: “COVID has revealed who really are our essential workers and how little value our society and our economy often attaches to their essentialness. This could not be more true in relation to seafarers without whose work, our access to various basic needs would be severely impacted. Yet, the lack of respect for their human rights is not a new story. Forum hopes that this initiative will deliver an understanding of practical ways in which we can all play a role in changing structures and mindsets such that we can re-design a rights-respecting business model for the shipping industry.”

Seb Landerretche, Head of Freight Platform at Louis Dreyfus Company said: Preserving and protecting human rights throughout our supply chains is of great importance for LDC. As leading global charterers, we are committed to protecting the rights of workers at sea, all the more so in today’s context, with the added challenges and restrictions caused by the pandemic. In this area as in others, we believe that transparency and collaboration through multi-stakeholder platforms like SSI is the key to lasting positive change. We look forward to working with others in this drive to address human rights challenges at sea.

David Peel General Manager at RightShip said: It’s unfortunate that it took a global pandemic for seafarer welfare to come into sharp focus. Some seafarers have been on a ship for 18 months. This is not sustainable, it leads to long-term fatigue, which impacts decision-making and focus. That is why we have seen numerous high-profile incidents including fires, groundings, and capsising of ships, and notably, the recent demise of the Gulf Livestock off Japan, which sailed into a typhoon. If we expect our seafarers to make safe choices, we need to do the right thing and protect their health and wellbeing. RightShip is committed driving lasting change and I am pleased that we have been able to work with SSI to make significant strides forward.”

Robert Haggquist, Charterer at South32 said: Respect for human rights is fundamental to how we do business at South32 and reflects our values of care, trust, togetherness and excellence. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it is critical to the success and integrity of our business. We believe the industry needs to focus on seafarers’ human rights in the same way we look at land-based supply chains. Only by improving the respect for seafarers’ human rights can we achieve truly sustainable supply chains with positive social impacts. We are delighted to work with other likeminded companies through SSI to achieve a positive sustainable impact.”

Samantha Bramley, Director Environmental & Social Risk Management, Sustainable Finance, Global Banking at Standard Chartered Bank said: At Standard Chartered we believe we have a fundamental responsibility to respect human rights in all we do and ensure that our financing in no way contributes to any adverse impacts to seafarers rights on ships we finance. The shipping industry has unique challenges regarding the oversight and enforcement of human rights at sea and seafarers rights can often be overlooked, an issue brought into stark reality with the recent COVID 19 pandemic with some seafarers trapped on ships for months on end, leading to serious impacts on their human rights. At Standard Chartered we continue to look for ways to improve the situation for seafarers and work with key organizations like the SSI to bring about greater awareness, transparency and change to improve the lives of seafarers.

 

Notes to Editors

For more information, interviews or comment please contact Elizabeth Petit, Head of Communications, Sustainable Shipping Initiative (e.petit [at] sustainableshipping.org) and Haley St. Dennis, Head of Communications (haley.st.dennis [at] ihrb.org).

About the Sustainable Shipping Initiative

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) is a multi-stakeholder collective of ambitious and like-minded leaders, driving change through cross-sectoral collaboration to contribute to – and thrive in – a more sustainable maritime industry. Spanning the entire shipping value chain, SSI members are shipowners and charterers; shipyards, marine product, equipment and service providers; banks, ship finance and insurance providers; classification societies; and sustainability non-profits.

www.sustainableshipping.org | @SustShipping

About the Institute for Human Rights and Business

Founded in 2009, IHRB is the leading international think tank on business and human rights. IHRB’s mission is to shape policy, advance practice, and strengthen accountability in order to make respect for human rights part of everyday business.

www.ihrb.org | @ihrb

Download the press release

We are pleased to announce John Morrison, IHRB's CEO, will be co-chairing the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Human Rights, helping to shape the new corporate human rights agenda as the world turns its attention to social and economic recovery.

Societal expectations of the role of business in human rights are rapidly changing. Investors, employees and consumers are taking positions previously only held by activists. Businesses can no longer maintain a narrow scope of engagement solely within their direct operations. They must assume a proactive role in advocating for human rights in their communities.

Convening leaders from business, civil society, government and academia, the Council will explore the shift needed for business to take a leading role in protecting universal human rights. Sourcing and generating guidance and best practices, the Council will support companies in embedding corporate human rights activism, and in establishing new partnerships, operational structures, and governance frameworks necessary to do so in an effective and authentic way. 

Co-chairs

Members

The COVID-19 crisis is a threat to all countries and to all people. 

We are all at risk, but many people, including migrant workers around the world, face heightened risk of contracting the virus and in many cases have limited access to adequate health care services, clean water, and sanitation. 

Migrant workers are already among those most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, with economic activity severely disrupted and many migrants being hosted in countries where health systems are under-capacitated or unavailable to migrant populations. The situation for those migrant workers currently living in cramped and unsanitary conditions, or being forced to return to their homes in the absence of a socio-economic safety net, as part of official responses to the virus is of great concern. 

As representatives of major companies, international and expert organisations, which have come together to advance respect for migrant worker rights around the world, the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment urges all governments to prioritise the protection of human rights during this crisis. Protecting human rights must include dedicating all available resources to realising the right to health of everyone within their jurisdictions, including migrant workers. 

Migrant workers are among those disproportionately vulnerable to exclusion, stigma, and discrimination. It is therefore critical that migrant workers receive access to health services and are effectively included in national responses to COVID-19, including prevention, testing, treatment, and access to economic support. Inclusion will help not only to protect the rights of migrants and other vulnerable groups, but will also serve to protect public health and stem the global spread of COVID-19. 

We should also recognise that migrant workers have skills and resources to share as part of national and global responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Countless thousands of migrants are frontline and essential workers across the world. We need the commitment and help of all people in combating this global threat to our collective humanity and we must find new ways of working together to ensure effective national and international responses that leave no one behind. 

The global pandemic of COVID-19 is a powerful reminder that we are one human family. We can only defeat this virus when the human rights of each and every one of us are protected today and in the time ahead. 

 

Kevin Hyland
Chair 
Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment
www.employerpays.org

 

 


Developed as an initiative of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, The Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment is a collaboration between leading companies and expert organisations to drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited.  All members of the Leadership Group are publicly committed to the Employer Pays Principle – that no worker should pay for a job – and its implementation throughout their supply chains.

 


Image: Flickr/Prachatai

Today, The Institute for Human Rights and Business issued an open letter to the Board Chairs of the UK’s major supermarkets pressing them for greater protections for staff at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the letter the global human rights think tank asks the Chairs of Aldi, Asda, The Co-operative, Iceland, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose/John Lewis Partnership to outline their plans for implementing urgent measures to protect employee and customer health and safety.

These measures include appointing a designated lead for lowering COVID-related risks, enforcing social distancing in stores, supplying employees safety equipment including gloves, hand sanitiser, and protective screens at checkouts, and implementing pre-entry temperature checks for customers and staff.

John Morrison, CEO of IHRB, says in the letter:

“Our society is significantly dependent on the hard work and commitment of professions such as supermarket workers. At such a moment, their rights must be protected and employers have duty of care obligations.

“Some UK supermarkets have announced improved measures today, but this is still not routinely applied across the country.

“Shop workers - often not represented by trade unions or other formal processes - have reported feeling “disloyal” raising safety concerns at a time when management is under stress. 

“These business leaders have a responsibility to respect workplace rights through adequate due diligence, mitigation, and prevention, even before staff themselves need to raise concern.”

Today Pepsi Co. was announced as the newest member of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, a corporate-led initiative in collaboration with expert organisations advocating for the end to migrant-worker paid recruitment fees.

Recruiting migrant workers into global supply chains involves a range of fees and charges. The charging of these costs to workers can create situations of debt bondage and leave them vulnerable to further exploitation including forced labour.

Pepsi Co joins 14 other global brands collaborating to embed the Employer Pays Principle globally by working to create demand amongst for ethical recruitment models, increase supply of ethically sourced labour, and improve protection of migrant workers through better government policy and enforcement. The other members include: The Coca-Cola Company, GE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., IKEA, M&S, Mars Inc., Nestlé, Nike, Target, Tesco, Unilever, Vinci, and Walmart.

The announcement coincides with an investor briefing by the Leadership Group in New York City to discuss how the management of recruitment practices in global supply chains is an increasing priority for business and a key to eliminating forced labor and reducing reputational and operational risk.

Welcoming the news, Chair of the Leadership Group Kevin Hyland (the former UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner), said:

“I am delighted PepsiCo has joined the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment and is placing its influence as a global brand behind the Employer Pays Principle. No worker should pay recruitment fees and having another household brand on the side of ending this practice will no doubt provide increased workplaces free of exploitation.”

The 2019 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB – a part of the World Benchmarking Alliance) – results have been released, and demonstrate how most companies in the apparel, food & beverage, extractive and tech manufacture sectors are failing to meet basic corporate human rights expectations.  

CHRB measures how companies in four sectors perform across 100 indicators based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It uses publicly available information on issues such as forced labour, protecting human rights activists and the living wage to give companies a maximum possible score of up to 100%.   

While some leading companies have improved significantly, more than half of those assessed are failing to demonstrate they are meeting any of the UNGPs' basic requirements on human rights due diligence. As this is the tool for companies to both “know and show” that they are respecting human rights, this year’s benchmark shows that more urgently needs to be done by companies, investors and governments. The CHRB data are already being used by multiple investors (such as Aviva Investors, APG and Nordea to inform investments and dialogue) and is used by multi-trillion-dollar investor coalitions when they engage with companies.

“Our rankings show some leading companies demonstrating that action on human rights is possible within a competitive environment. But far too many low scoring companies have not changed their practices at all.  CHRB is calling for a rapid acceleration in the uptake of human rights due diligence to ensure companies respect human rights.  States and investors also have a key role and they should use this data to motivate companies to rapidly improve,” said Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Aviva Investors and Chair of the CHRB Board. 

For detailed results, visit the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark website

The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales, and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights have joined forces to work with others to address some of the critical human rights issues at play throughout the built environment lifecycle.

There are implications for human rights at all stages of the built environment lifecycle. From land acquisition, planning and financing, through design, construction, management and use, to demolition and re-development, the public and private sectors have a major influence over the built environment.

As a first step, the coalition has developed a set of Draft Principles and recommendations to the key actors involved throughout the lifecycle. They are consulting widely on the draft Principles throughout 2019 and 2020 to finalise them and inspire action to put them into practice. The Principles launch will be followed by a programme of research, events, and advocacy to highlight challenges, and advance good practice and innovations.

 

Frances House, Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute for Human Rights and Business concluded: 

"To what extent does the built environment promote, threaten, or diminish human dignity? From flagship projects and smart cities to low-cost housing or emergency shelter, are the human rights of those who will construct and use the buildings being taken into consideration in project planning, financing, design, and delivery?  Enlightened architecture and sustainable urban planning can lead to the enjoyment of human rights by those who live, work, study, and seek leisure in such environments. The converse is too often the case. This coalition will work across a number of countries to spur leadership around the built environment lifecycle  - addressing human rights issues including affordable housing, mental and physical health, social cohesion, climate resilience -  grounding research in living case studies and showcasing inspiring innovation.

Morten Kjaerum, Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, commented:

"Are future cities segregated, along economic, ethnic, age or other dividing lines? Or are cities open, inclusive, and safe for all? It can go either way; it all depends on the choices to be made by the actors involved. The built environment coalition is all about contributing to a liveable city for all based on human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, engaging all the actors from city authorities, architects, constructors, and many more in a dialogue based on these core principles.  At The Raoul Wallenberg Institute we are very excited about this partnership that will deepen our work on the global development of human rights cities."

Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt, Executive Director of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, added:

"The built environment is where lives are lived, where needs are fulfilled, and where deeds are performed. The built environment is where human rights are exercised or restrained, where human dignity is promoted or undermined. In authoritarian regimes, city planning, architectural design and infrastructure often become instruments to support mechanisms of control, leading to discouragement of dissent. In order to develop and sustain democracies, an enabling built environment is of the essence. Human rights concerns must be woven into decision making processes throughout the built environment lifecycle. In order for this to happen, a structured and holistic approach is needed, where decision makers have concrete tools to embed human rights concerns. Here, the Built Environment Coalition provides a groundbreaking tool."

Professor Louise Chappell, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute remarked:

"The deterioration of standards and enforcement in the Australian construction sector is having enormous reputational costs, and tragically, it is costing lives. Every second day, the sector loses a worker to suicide. And the footprint of Australia’s construction industry stretches beyond its borders, and has impacts on communities overseas, including in Asia and the Pacific. We are looking forward to consulting on the Draft Principles throughout the region, with partners including the Asia Centre in Bangkok. Our Institute is pleased to bring an interdisciplinary approach, strong industry links and a record of innovative construction sector research to this exciting new coalition.

Following the devastating dam disaster in Brazil, which has so far claimed 134 lives with 199 still missing, Vale, the Brazilian mining company responsible for the dam, has been suspended from the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB).  This was the second such disaster linked to Vale in three years.

Ethical Corporation reported that "at the launch of the 2018 benchmark in November, Peter Webster of EIRIS Foundation addressed concerns about Vale head-on, saying that companies are scored not on the number of human rights allegations are made against them, but how they handle such complaints, including whether they have implemented management changes to make improvements."

Dan Neale, CHRB's Programme Director, said “The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark seeks to provide robust and credible information on companies’ actions to respect human rights across their business.” He added that “Given this latest disaster involving Vale, we have moved to ensure their inclusion in our benchmark is not now misleading.”

 

Read the full statement on the CHRB website.  

 

Photo credit: By TV NBR, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76122790

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights has appointed Mary Harvey its first chief executive, as international consensus builds around the need for the sports sector to reform and account for its societal impacts.

Harvey is an 8-year veteran of the US Women’s National Soccer team, winning the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 1996 Olympic Games. After retiring from international football and completing her MBA, she went on to serve in several senior roles in sport governance, including on FIFA’s executive team as its Director of Development, the US Soccer Federation’s Executive Committee, and the United States Olympic Committee’s Athlete Advisory Council.  Recently, she led the development of the groundbreaking human rights strategy for the successful United 2026 Bid to bring the FIFA World Cup to Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The Centre is an independent organisation with a mission to build capacity, share knowledge, and increase the accountability of international and national sporting organisations on their human rights track records.

Launched in June 2018 and Chaired by Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Geneva-based Centre for Sport and Human Rights is the product of over three years of coalition building facilitated by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB).

The Centre is backed by 42 organisations from across the world of sport who form its Advisory Council. This includes global sports governing bodies FIFA, the Commonwealth Games Federation, UEFA, the International Paralympic Committee, and Special Olympics, as well as intergovernmental organisations, trade unions, NGOs, and a broad mix of corporate sponsors and broadcasters such as The Coca-Cola Company, BT, ABInBev, Sky, and Visa.

Welcoming the appointment, Mary Robinson, Chair of the Centre, noted:

“I can think of no better leader who has mastery of both the sports industry and human rights agenda. Mary Harvey is deeply experienced in both and will play a crucial role in bridging these two often disparate worlds.”

Mary Harvey commented:

“Sport can unite, inspire, and entertain, but its ability to do this is undermined when harm comes to the athletes playing, workers building, and communities hosting these sports and events. Having been on the inside of sport for many years, my intention is to bring to life another way of working, supporting sports organisations to fundamentally improve their ability to embed respect for human rights throughout their activities. In this way, the Centre will be a powerful enabler toward realising the full positive power of sport.”

John Morrison, Chief Executive of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, added:

“It takes work to ensure complex organisations are not causing harm in their activities and operations. Some leading sporting organisations are starting to show what respect for human rights looks like in practice, but the majority are still not even on the field of play. The Centre, led by Mary Harvey, is here to get them in the game.”

Harvey will officially start in the role in January 2019.

The announcement comes on the eve of the Centre’s third annual Sporting Chance Forum. Hosted this year in Paris at UNESCO on December 12th and 13th and coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Sporting Chance Forum brings together hundreds of leaders from across the sport and human rights communities to assess progress, highlight effective responses to recent impacts, and share strategies for identifying and preventing risks to human rights from happening.

 

Read an exclusive interview with Harvey in the Associated Press as well as further background in the Sport Sustainability Journal.

The 2018 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights takes place in Geneva from 26 - 28 November. The central theme of this year's forum is "Business respect for human rights – building on what works".  IHRB is co-organising and/or speaking at the following sessions:

 

Human Rights Due Diligence in the World of Sport

Monday 26 November
1.30pm - 2.45pm

Organised by IHRB, Ergon, Impactt and Institute of Developing Economies, IDE-JETRO, the aim of this session is to provide a structured discussion on the impact of sports in general – including but not restricted to Mega Sporting Events – on human rights.

Read more here.

 

 

How Can Benchmarks, Rating Agencies and ESG Researchers Drive More and Better Human Rights Due Diligence

Wednesday 28 November
10am - 11.20am

Organised by the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), this round-table session focuses on the roles of benchmarks, rating agencies and ESG researchers can, or are, having in driving improvements in human rights due diligence conducted by companies.

Read more here.

 

 

Human Rights Due Diligence in Practice in the Commodities Trading Sector

Wednesday 28 November
1.30pm - 2.45pm

This session brings together representatives from regional organisations, civil society, business sector and governments to discuss the challenges of implementing effective human rights due diligence in the commodity trading sector.

Read more here.

Political events, social movements, technological innovations, and rapid economic growth and crises can undermine or uphold human rights, affecting the dignity and the lives and work of billions of people. The effects can sometimes be swift and global. Yet, those in the business and human rights community rarely get to reflect on how their work is influenced by, or should influence, such macro developments.

On November 14th-15th, IHRB hosted its second annual Circle of Innovators event, this year hosted at the offices of Clifford Chance in New York. The Circle of Innovators is a Chatham House rule dialogue that seeks to build new opportunities and capacities to make sense of these big picture developments, as well as informing IHRB's own strategy and priorities.

The dialogue was opened with a keynote address by the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad al Hussein. Following his recent departure from the UN's top human rights job, Zeid offered his reflections on shifting power balances, the landscape for human rights advocacy, and the future of leadership that he hoped to see in the world.  

Additional sessions covered themes focused both on gender as well as trade, featuring entirely female panels (excluding moderators):  

  • A fireside chat with Catrin Einhorn and Melena Ryzik of the New York Times and Purna Sen of UN Women
  • A business briefing on Gender, Business and the Human Rights Landscape
  • Sexual Violence in Global Supply Chains 
  • Discrimination and Empowerment in the Sports Industry 
  • Safeguards for China's Belt and Road Initiative 
See the full Agenda here.

Kevin Hyland OBE, the former UK Independent Anti Slavery Commissioner, is to become the new chair of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment. Kevin who is now the Chief Executive of ChildFund Ireland has always been a strong supporter of the Leadership Group from its launch in 2016.

The Leadership Group now features 14 global brands supported by non corporate members and has been a significant initiative advocating for the inclusion of responsible recruitment in wider strategies to prevent forced labour and trafficking. In particular the Group seek to eradicate the practice of workers paying recruitment fees to secure employment. All members of the Leadership Group committing to the Employer Pays Principle:

 

No worker should pay for a job

The costs of recruitment should be borne

Not by the worker but by the Employer

 

Kevin takes over the role of Chair from Ed Potter, former Head of Global Compliance at The Coca Cola Company.

Commenting on taking on the role of Chair Kevin Hyland commented:

I am delighted to be appointed as the Chair of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment at the Institute of Human Rights and Business. IHRB has a proven record of achievement in improving business cultures and standards globally such as in the 'employer pays' principle. I look forward to working with John Morrison and his team to bring change, where employment provides dignity and never exploitation.

IHRB Chief Executive John Morrison welcomed Kevin to his new role noting:

Kevin was an outstanding Anti-Slavery Commissioner and always a strong supporter of the Leadership Group. We are delighted he will be helping us continue to promote responsible recruitment as a key challenge and area of action for business.

Today three more major multinational companies - Nestlé, Nike, and Target - have joined the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment.

Launched in May 2016, the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment is a collaboration between leading companies and expert organisations to drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited. Recruiting migrant workers into global supply chains involves a range of fees and charges. The charging of these costs to workers can create situations of debt bondage and leave them vulnerable to further exploitation including forced labour.

Together, the aim of the Leadership Group is bold - the total eradication of fees being charged to workers to secure employment. Members of the Leadership Group are committed to improving global recruitment practices based on the Employer Pays Principle:

No worker should pay for a job - the costs of recruitment should be borne not by the worker but by the employer.

The three companies have all affirmed their commitment to prohibit the practice of, and help prevent, the payment of recruitment fees by workers in their own operations and in those of their global suppliers.

The addition of the three brings the total number of international companies in the Leadership Group to fourteen, including: The Coca-Cola Company, GE, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., IKEA, M&S, Mars Inc., Tesco, Unilever, Vinci, and Walmart.

The Leadership Group also welcomes civil society organisation Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) as an expert advisory organisation alongside IHRB, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and Vérité. MFA is a regional network of NGOs, associations, and trade unions of migrant workers and individual advocates in Asia who are committed to protect and promote the rights and welfare of migrant workers.

Commenting on the addition of the new companies to the Leadership Group, IHRB's Chief Executive John Morrison said:

The strong and bold stance of Nestlé, Nike, and Target is exactly what is required, and they will be collaborating with other  leading companies across sectors to turn the business model of worker recruitment on its head.  

The three companies will be taking part in a range of activities including work with their suppliers and the recruitment agencies they use, advocating within their business associations, with government, and within international fora to promote the Employer Pays models of recruitment.

Further information about the Leadership Group can be found on the Responsible Recruitment Gateway at www.employerpays.org.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has strengthened its commitment to human rights by accepting an invitation to join the Advisory Council of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights.

The Centre works towards a vision of a world of sport that fully respects human rights by sharing knowledge, building capacity and strengthening the accountability of all actors through collective action and promotion of the Sporting Chance Principles

The IPC’s acceptance was formally received at a meeting held at the United Nations’ Palace of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 1 October. 

IPC President Andrew Parsons and UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division Peggy Hicks were in attendance.

Parsons said: “Human rights are at the forefront of the International Paralympic Committee’s mission. Through our work across the world we aim to respect and protect the rights of people with impairment as well as their fundamental freedoms in line with the UN Convention on Rights for People with Disabilities.

“The Paralympic Movement has a unique unifying power, inspiring social change and bringing people from different backgrounds together in a celebration of diversity.

“At the IPC we understand sports as a means to achieve social inclusion as part of our human rights agenda. The Paralympic Games are an instrument of change.

“Combining forces with the Centre for Sports and Human Rights by joining their Advisory Council is another important step towards our ultimate goal of making for more inclusive societies through Para sports.”

John Morrison, acting Chief Executive of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights said:

All of us involved in the Centre for Sport and Human Rights are delighted to welcome the International Paralympic Committee to the Centre's Advisory Council. The Advisory Council is made up of leading sports bodies, governments, sponsor companies and broadcasters, trade unions and other civil society actors all dedicated to the Centre's mission. The Advisory Council sets the agenda for the Centre's emerging work and we are fortunate to have the IPC joining our growing coalition of partners dedicated to ensuring respect for the human rights of all people throughout the world of sport.

 

Photo: Flickr/Bromiskelly

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights, hosted by IHRB, has launched a recruitment process for a Chief Executive. Chaired by Mary Robinson, the Centre was launched in Geneva in June 2018 and works towards a world of sport that fully respects human rights by sharing knowledge, building capacity, and strengthening the accountability of all actors through collective action and promotion of the Sporting Chance Principles.

The Chief Executive will be working at the forefront of the sport and human rights agenda, driving change in the world of sport and in the delivery of mega-sporting events. They will be responsible for building an organisation and growing a team, supporting the Centre’s vision of a world of sport that fully respects human rights.

The Centre has retained the services of Odgers Berndtson to help identify from a global search the widest possible  field of suitable candidates and assist in the assessment of candidates against the requirements for the role. An executive search exercise is being undertaken alongside the public advertisement of the post. The full candidate pack and details on how to apply is available at www.odgers.com/68903 and will close for applications on Friday 12th October 2018 at 17:00 London time.

The Centre is also advertising for a consultant based in Japan. The post-holder will be responsible for supporting and promoting the work of the Centre to Japanese and Asian stakeholders, as well as transferring this local work and knowledge internationally. For details of this vacancy please consult our Recruitment page.

The UK's independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Kyland, has today published a joint statement backed by IHRB as part of a multistakeholder coalition consisting of the private sector, business and human rights organisations, parliamentarians, trade unions and influential individuals, calling on the UK Government to create a central registry for companies' modern slavery statements.

Of the 25 million people estimated to be in modern slavery around the world today, 16 million are thought to be working within the private sector. It is therefore vital that businesses take action to eradicate this terrible abuse.

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act requires businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish an annual statement explaining what, if anything, they are doing to address slavery and trafficking within their business and supply chains. Whilst some businesses are showing leadership, compliance with the requirement has been patchy. It is time for this to change. A central registry is key to achieving this. 

 

The full statement and signatories can be found here.

Today, a first of its kind centre to foster respect for human rights in the world of sport was launched in Geneva.

The new Centre for Sport and Human Rights has been under development over the past two and half years by a diverse coalition including FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Federation, and UEFA, as well as a broad range of intergovernmental organisations, governments, athletes, hosts, sponsors, broadcasters, civil society representatives, trade unions, employers associations, and national human rights institutions.

Administered by IHRB, the Centre will be based in Geneva, Switzerland and operate globally, supporting all actors including host organising committees and sports bodies, and affected groups such as workers and unions, athletes, communities, journalists, volunteers and fans, to share knowledge, build capacity, and strengthen accountability.

The nearly 40 founding members of the Advisory Council of the new Centre met today for the Centre’s inaugural bi-annual strategic meeting. Marking the official launch, they were welcomed with remarks by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the Director-General of the ILO Guy Ryder, and the Centre’s founding Chair Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights).

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said at the launch:We are aiming high. Our vision is a world of sport that fully respects human rights. I am convinced that the Centre for Sport and Human Rights will take up the challenge and promote better governance, accountability and sustainability when it comes to major sports’ events around the globe.” 

“This independent Centre is an important step in scaling up our efforts to ensure that sports and mega sporting events are grounded in respect for the equal dignity and rights of every human being, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid ra’ad Al Hussein.

Mary Robinson, Chair of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, concluded: “The new Centre is the product of several years of development and collaboration by actors across the value chain of sport. Our collective vision is a world of sport that fully respects human rights. The Centre will be a public good, working with sports bodies, event hosts, affected groups, and others to share knowledge, build capacity, and strengthen accountability.”

For more information please visit the new Centre for Sport and Human Rights website

A year on from the launch of the pilot Benchmark, CHRB has published its 2018 Progress Report that focuses on the headway CHRB has made towards achieving its objectives.  The report also highlights where improvements can be made and looks ahead to the next iteration of the benchmark. It serves to demonstrate the validity of the CHRB approach and also acts as a call for action to governments, investors and civil society to continue their support of the CHRB. An executive summary is also available.

CHRB has also published its 2018 Methodology.  A revised version of the 2016 Pilot Methodology, it is the result of several months of internal reflexions and consultations, and will serve as the basis of the 2018 assessment.

Five years ago today, on April 24th, 2013, one of the worst workplace disasters in history occured. Over 1,100 garment workers in the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh were killed when the building collapsed, despite having walked out the day prior due to safety concerns.  

Over the ensuing five years, IHRB and guest contributors have reflected on the root causes, drivers, and responses to the tragedy, which are compiled below.


Sanchita Saxena on Worker Safety

10 December 2017

Initiatives targeting working conditions in Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have sometimes been cited as the way forward to address issues of health and safety of workers. In this podcast, IHRB’s Salil Tripathi talks to Sanchita Banerjee Saxena, Executive Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies (ISAS) at the University of California at Berkeley, about the pervasive problem and the absence of an effective remedy. While noting the progress of initiatives like Accord and Alliance which were designed to help prevent the recurrence of tragedies like the collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saxena argues that such initiatives do not go far enough, and foreign brands and the home state have to play a more active role.


Beyond Rana Plaza: Next Steps for the Global Garment Industry and Bangladeshi Manufacturers

13 November 2015

IHRB's Motoko Aizawa and Salil Tripathi write in the Business & Human Rights Journal about the next steps for the global garment industry and Bangladeshi manufacturers. [paywall]


As Companies and Governments Dither over Compensating Rana Plaza Workers, Victims Suffer

9 April 2015 

IHRB's Salil Tripathi reflects on a major international campaign seeking to fill the significant remaining gap in compensation funds for the victims.


Social Impact Bonds For Factories In Bangladesh

24 March 2015

IHRB's Motoko Aizawa writes in Forbes about the critical question of who should pay for the work needed to ensure basic factory safety standards in Bangladesh?


Sadaf Siddiqi on Rana Plaza

2 February 2015

Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi is a director at Sidko Limited, a Bangladeshi garment exporter. She is also one of Bangladesh's leading poets in English. Sadaf spoke with IHRB's Salil Tripathi about the Rana Plaza tragedy and its aftermath. She pointed out how Bangladeshi garment sector is working hard to improve standards and emphasised the need for major brands to squeeze the suppliers less, if they wanted standards to improve. She also stressed how Bangladeshi workers were united with the industry to ensure that the industry thrives, and highlighted one of the main gains of Bangladesh's garment export boom - the empowerment of women.


Nazma Atker on Rana Plaza

30 December 2014

The Bangladeshi activist Nazma Akter started working at a garment factory in 1984 at the age of 11. Three years later, she protested against the conditions garment workers faced. In 1994, she decided to stop working in garment factories, and dedicated herself to improving working conditions for her co-workers. Atker spoke to IHRB's Salil Tripathi in Bangladesh, at her busy office, about the Rana Plaza and Tazreen tragedies, the international responses - Accord and Alliance - and reinforced the importance of consumer activism.


Sara Hossain on Rana Plaza

26 November 2014

Sara Hossain is a leading human rights lawyer in Bangladesh. In a conversation in Dhaka with IHRB's Senior Advisor on Global Issues, Salil Tripathi, Hossain talks about the lack of compensation for the victims of the Rana Plaza Tragedy, and the earlier Tazreen Factory fire; the inadequacy of remedy for victims; the difference between Bangladeshi and international standards; and the practical limitations of auditing as the way to improve human rights performance of businesses.


Rana Plaza – Rebuilding more than the Factory

9 June 2014

IHRB's Salil Tripathi reflects on the laudable moves to protect workers since the Rana Plaza disaster, but argues a more fundamental rethink of the market remains the only solution.


Statement from the B Team 12 Months on from Rana Plaza

28 April 2014

The B Team issues a statement on the one-year anniversary of the collapse.


The Rana Plaza Tragedy in Bangladesh - One Year On

24 April 2014

IHRB's Salil Tripathi reflects on the disaster one-year on, reviewing experiences from around the world, what the world has learned so far, and whether things are any better.


Bangladesh: Society of Fabric

3 June 2013

IHRB's Salil Tripathi writes in EthicalCorp about the initial responses to the tragedy and what more is needed.


Another Factory Tragedy - How Will the Bangladesh and the World React?

26 April 2013

IHRB's Salil Tripathi reflects on the immediate aftermath of the disaster, and tries to anticipate the reaction from the Bangladesh authorities.

The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark has been given the CFA Society Sweden's ESG Award for 2017.

The ESG Award is given to persons and organisations that contribute to "raising awareness of the importance of ESG issues in the investment process". ESG (environmental, social and governance) refers to the three main areas of concern that have developed as central factors in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of investments.

"With the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights setting a de-facto standard on the responsibilities for business, investors and governments, the need for transparent tools both to clarify expectations, and to quantify to the extent it is possible the efforts of companies, in this area is much needed." said CFA Society Sweden. 

"The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, a consortium of Aviva, APG, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, EIRIS, Institute for Human RIghts and Business, VBDO and Nordea, addresses corporate human rights reporting in an ambitious manner and takes the topic to the financial markets through transparency, accessibility and a form of standardisation previously missing."

The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark aims to measure the human rights performance of the world’s 500 largest publicly listed companies. The Benchmark provides a comparative snapshot from year to year of the human rights policies, processes and practices of the world's largest companies, in order to systematise their work on human rights and how they respond to allegations of human rights violations. CHRB is publicly available to all stakeholders at no cost. 

The award was accepted by Magdalen Kettis PhD, Head of Thematic Engagement, Group Sustainable Finance, Nordea, and CHRB Advisory Council Member.

At the 37th session of the Human Rights Council, John Morrison of IHRB chaired a side event entitled “Hosting Mega Sport events: Strengthening the Respect for Human Rights”. The session, co-hosted by the Qatari and Japanese Permanent Missions to the UN Office in Geneva, focussed on how Qatar, Japan, and other upcoming host countries are working to ensure respect for human rights in mega-sporting events.

Opening statements were delivered by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Mr Manabu Horii, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and Mr Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO).  

The panel comprised H. E. Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of Qatar, Ms Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Ms Rita Schiavi, Chair of International Women's Committee of BWI, as well as Mr Morrison.

In a major victory for freedom of expression, the High Court in Islamabad, Pakistan, has found that mobile network shutdowns as carried out by the Pakistani government are illegal.  The Court found that such shutdowns are contrary to the provisions of Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organization) Act, which states that the government can exercise this power only when a Proclamation of Emergency has been issued. 

The case came before the court thanks to the work of Umer Gilani, of the Law and Policy Chambers in Islamabad.  Gilani based his case on IHRB's research report Digital Dangers - The Impacts of Mobile Network Shutdowns, which examined the human rights impacts of mobile network shutdowns in Pakistan. The report, co-authored by Lucy Purdon of IHRB, Arsalan Ashraf from Bytes for All and Dr. Ben Wagner from CIHR, focussed in particular on the network shutdown that took place in Pakistan in March 2015, and detailed the security and human rights implications of that and similar shutdowns. 

Please refer to the judgement sheet for full details.  

On 12th January 2018, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour visited the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square to promote the United Nations’ new global LGBTI equality standards for business.  In honour of the occasion, the Assistant Secretary-General rang the Opening Bell. 

The LGBT Principles, developed in partnership with the Institute for Human Rights and Business, are a new set of global standards aimed at helping business play a larger role in tackling discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in the workplace and beyond. The standards are the product of a year-long process of consultation, including regional meetings with business leaders and representatives of LGBTI communities in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. 

Read more at Business insider

Birmingham, England, has been named by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) as the host city for the XXII Commonwealth Games in 2022. 

Making the announcement at a school in Birmingham, Louise Martin, CGF’s president, said "with its rich history, cultural diversity, youthful dynamism and ambitious spirit, Birmingham embodies all that we cherish about the Commonwealth".

The city's bid was the only one submitted by the deadline of 30 September 2017, after it was chosen ahead of Liverpool as Britain's candidate. A central aspect of the bid was a proposal to increase the capacity of Alexander Stadium. In addition, a new aquatics centre will be built for swimming, para-swimming and diving events.

At an estimated cost of £750 million, it will be the most expensive sports event to be held in Britain since the London Olympics in 2012. It is thought the government will pay 75% of the cost of hosting the Games, with the other 25% - about £180m - raised locally.

The event is expected to take place from 27 July – 7 August 2022.

Read more on the BBC website and on the CGF website.

 

Photo: Birmingham 2022

To mark International Migrants Day on 18 December 2017, as well as the fifth anniversary of the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity, IHRB has re-launched designed translations of the Dhaka Principles, together with a revised implementation guide at www.dhaka-principles.org.

Now available in 18 languages, the Dhaka Principles are a set of human rights based principles to enhance respect for the rights of migrant workers from the moment of recruitment, during overseas employment, and through to further employment or safe return to home countries.

They are intended for use by all industry sectors and in any country where workers migrate either inwards or outwards.

Widely adopted into company policies worldwide over the past five years, the Dhaka Principles frame IHRB's work on Migrant Workers, including a deep focus on responsible recruitment (Principle 1 of the Dhaka Principles, expanded upon at the Responsible Recruitment Gateway). 

Today, the world’s leading player associations unveiled the Universal Declaration of Player Rights (the Declaration) to protect players from ongoing and systemic human rights violations in global sport. The Declaration, the first comprehensive articulation of athletes’ rights, sets a benchmark for international sporting organisations to meet their obligations to protect, respect and guarantee the fundamental rights of players.

“The rule books of world sport impose thousands of pages of onerous obligations, but none clearly spell out the internationally recognised human rights of athletes,” said Brendan Schwab, Executive Director of the World Players Association. “The result is an unjust system of sports law that lacks legitimacy and fails to protect the very people who sit at the heart of sport. We are making it clear that athlete rights can no longer be ignored. They must be able to quickly access justice.”

The implementation of the principles set out in the Declaration will introduce long overdue reforms to the governance of sport. Some examples include:

  • Every player is entitled to equality of opportunity in the pursuit of sport without distinction of any kind and free of discrimination, harassment and violence.
  • Every player has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
  • The rights of every child athlete must be protected.
  • Every player has the right to share fairly in the economic activity and wealth of his or her sport which players have helped generate, underpinned by fair and just pay and working conditions.
  • Every player has the right to organise and collectively bargain.
  • Every player is entitled to have his or her name, image and performance protected. A player’s name, image and performance may only be commercially utilised with his or her consent, voluntarily given.
  • Every player has the right to a private life, privacy and protection in relation to the collection, storage and transfer of personal data.
  • Every player must be able to access an effective remedy when his or her human rights are not respected and upheld. This is particularly crucial given the highly skilled yet short term and precarious nature of the athletic career.
Further information can be found on the UNI Global Union website.

On the eve of international Human Rights Day (December 10th), a commitment was made today to launch a new independent Centre for Sport and Human Rights in 2018.

Announced at the Sporting Chance Forum in Geneva, the planned Centre will be the first of its kind, aimed at helping build a world of sport that protects, respects, and upholds the human rights of athletes, workers, communities, children, fans, volunteers, and the press.

The Centre plans are backed by a diverse coalition, including FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Federation, and UEFA, as well as a range of intergovernmental organisations, governments, athletes, hosts, sponsors, broadcasters, civil society representatives, trade unions, employers associations, and national human rights institutions.

This broad coalition known currently as the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform), today published a joint statement affirming their commitment to establish a Centre that will help to share knowledge, build capacity, and ensure transparency and accountability of the range of actors involved in sport and mega-sporting events.

The opening session of the Sporting Chance Forum also included speeches from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the Secretary General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Guy Ryder, and the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, and was broadcast live.

Follow IHRB and the MSE Platform for further details throughout 2018.

Read the full Joint Statement here (and in French and German)

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) has joined the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform). 

The MSE Platform is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Chaired by Mary Robinson, the MSE Platform is facilitated by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB). Through dialogue and joint action its mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.

TOCOG will work closely with the MSE Platform on operationalising respect for human rights in the run up to the 2020 Games, building on a successful multi-stakeholder workshop held in Tokyo in September on the measures TOCOG is introducing around responsible sourcing and ensuring access to effective remedy.

The 2017 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights takes place in Geneva from 27 - 29 November. IHRB is co-organising, moderating or speaking at a number of sessions.
 

Implementing the UN Guiding Principles in the Commodities Trading Sector

Monday 27 November
13.30 - 14.45

This session organized by the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs will focus on discussing the sector guidance for the commodities trading sector on implementation of the UNGPs, being elaborated by a multi-stakeholder group created by the Swiss Government and composed of representatives of the commodities trading sector, civil society and government.

Read the full session concept note here.

 

Remedying, redressing and preventing attacks against human rights defenders working on business and human rights

Tuesday 28 November
10.00 - 13.00

The session will showcase innovative approaches to collaboration on remedy for victims and for human rights defenders themselves - by defenders, business, and investors. The panelists and the audience will explore examples of leadership and leverage by states, business, civil society, and investors, formulating recommendations for future actions which will inform theUN Working Group's Guidance document on Business and Human Rights Defenders.

Read the full session concept note here.


Worker-Paid Recruitment Fees – Reimbursement as Remedy?

Tuesday 28 November
13.30 - 14.45

This session focuses on the reimbursement to workers of recruitment fees, and what interventions can be made by companies, governments and civil society to prevent the charging of recruitment fees to workers in the first place. At the session, an important new research paper on reimbursement of fees will be presented and discussed with two companies from the apparel/electronics and construction sectors which have undertaken reimbursement of worker fees, and one representative of a migrant worker rights organization with experience in providing remedy to debt-bonded workers.

Read the full session concept note here.

 

UN Corporate Standards of Conduct on Tackling Discrimination Against LGBTI: Bringing an LGBTI “Lens” to the UNGPs 

Tuesday 28 November
13.30 - 14.45

This session will discuss the recently launch UN Corporate Standards of Coduct on Tackling LGBTI Discrimination. It will include opening remarks by Peggy Hicks, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of OHCHR including announcing new companies joining as early supporters of the Standards. Fabrice Houdart, Human Rights Officer, OHCHR and coauthor of the Standards on behalf of the UN Human Rights Office will briefly present the standards themselves, following by a 2-minute screening of UN Free & Equal campaign video, “Price of Exclusion” narrated by Zachary Quinto, describing the business end economic case for LGBTI inclusion. Finally, a discussion between business leaders and activists including IKEA Group and ILGA will discuss the Standards with a particular accent on remedy.

Read the full session concept note here.

The Tokyo Organising Committee for the 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games (TOCOG) is soliciting public comments regarding the planned grievance mechanism for its Sustainable Sourcing Code

TOCOG has committed to  working to ensure the broad sustainability of the Tokyo 2020 Games, including in environmental, social and economic terms. As part of that effort, TOCOG has focused on making sustainability a major consideration in the procurement process during preparations for, as well as the hosting of, the Games.  

TOCOG has published an outline of the proposed grievance process for dealing with cases of non-compliance with the Sourcing Code, and is welcoming comments between 15 November - 4 December 2017 up to 17:00 JST.

Comments in Japanese or English can be made in the supplied submission form and attached via email to sustainability(at)tokyo2020.jp

 

All documents and instructions also available on TOCOG's consultation page.

A Human Rights Advisory Board to FIFA - the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer - today published its first report. The board was created in early 2017 to provide independent advice on FIFA’s human rights responsibilities. 

In their first report, the expert group of eight representatives from the UN System, civil society, trade unions, and FIFA sponsors discusses FIFA’s work on human rights in a number of priority areas and outlines a set of specific recommendations to FIFA.    

Commenting on their work with FIFA and on their part of the report (Part A), the advisory board stated:

“Our first report sets a baseline: it evaluates FIFA’s human rights progress to date and outlines where FIFA needs to focus in its efforts to prevent and address risks to people connected to its operations. We recognise that FIFA has taken important steps, particularly by adopting a new Human Rights Policy, fighting discrimination connected to matches, and integrating human rights requirements into the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding documents. We also make 33 detailed recommendations on issues FIFA should focus on, including, as a priority, building on what has been done to date by continuing to strengthen efforts to address risks to workers’ rights on FIFA World Cup stadium construction sites in Russia and Qatar."

In Part B of the report, FIFA provides an update on its work on the priority areas identified by the board. 

Read the full report here.

 

Photo: Care of FIFA

The Qatari Government has announced a series of labour reforms, in a commitment to the International Labour Organization (ILO) to institute a minimum wage, allow the monitoring of labour practices by independent experts, and reform the kafala (sponsorship) system that can prevent migrant workers from fleeing abusive employers.

The reforms indicated in the ILO document were announced ahead of an ILO meeting in Geneva in November 2016. Qatar has been under investigation by the International Labor Organization (ILO) “concerning non-observance by Qatar of the Forced Labour Convention”. 

Qatar hosts nearly two million migrant workers, who comprise approximately 95 percent of its total labour force. 

The ILO outlined a technical cooperation agreement with Qatar that will focus on extensive reforms of the kafala system, institute a nondiscriminatory minimum wage, improve payment of wages, end document confiscation, enhance labor inspections and occupational safety and health systems, refine the contractual system to improve labor recruitment procedures, and increase prevention of forced labour.

The announcement does not include detail on which specific laws will be amended and how the commitments will be implemented, with associated timescales. The reforms have therefore been strongly welcomed by the human rights community, but with calls for clarification and greater detail as to when and how the reforms will be implemented.

The kafala system is practiced throughout the Gulf. The Qatari reforms therefore serve as an important signal for other Gulf countries. 

These proposed reforms, if accompanied with adequate implementation and enforcement, also represent a promising basis for ensuring the level playing field that businesses seeking to operate responsibly in the region need in order to operate with respect for human rights.

 

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has adopted its first-ever human rights policy statement.

The Statement outlines the Commonwealth sports movement’s ambition and responsibility to champion human rights, with programmes, activities, and agreements with future host cities and partners aimed at promoting the protection and enjoyment of human rights. 

David Grevemberg, the chief executive of the CGF, noted. 

"This human rights statement represents the next step in the CGF’s commitment to embed human rights within our governance, management systems, development, events, fundraising and marketing.

The Statement notes that the CGF Governance and Integrity Committee will continue to evaluate human rights impacts as part of the process of reviewing the CGF's wider governance structure, including how such considerations impact CGF's work with global sponsor and broadcast partners.

The aim of this work is to publish a CGF Human Rights Policy and human rights Due Diligence Strategy ahead of the CGF General Assembly in March 2018 for ratification.

 

Key Provisions of the Statement include: 
  • It was approved in Colombo, Sri Lanka following a two-day meeting of the CGF Executive Board.
     
  • The CGF Pledge section states: "The CGF in its daily operations and relationships is committed to implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) and embraces the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998). We recognise our responsibility to respect human rights and to provide or contribute towards access to effective remedy where adverse human rights impacts occur."
     
  • Affirms the expectations outlined also apply to its partners, including: Commonwealth Games Associations, the Local Organising Committees for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games (the Games), commercial partners and suppliers, and others linked to the CGF through business relationships.
     
  • Notes that the CGF is mapping its business relationships to identify where CGF activities and those of its partner organisations might adversely impact people’s human rights and to prevent and mitigate the most salient risks, noting the principal relationships at present are with: the Commonwealth Games Associations, and the Games Local Organising Committees. 
     
  • Outlines CGF's commitment to follow international human rights standards in the face of conflicting national legal requirements. 
     
  • Highlights the steps it is taking to embed its commitments into its governance and culture, including working with Unicef UK to carry out a human rights gap analysis and revise existing policies and procedures, including of the Candidate City Manual and Host City Contracts.
     
  • It notes CGF has also published a revised Candidate City Manual, and consulted with human rights and transparency experts to strengthen its portfolio of bid-related documents.

IHRB has today published a Japanese translation of the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity. The Dhaka Principles provide a roadmap that traces migrant workers from recruitment, through employment, to the end of contract, and provides key principles that employers and recruiters should respect at each stage in the process to ensure migration with dignity.

Since the Dhaka Principles were launched in 2011 they have been extensively used by business, governments and civil society organisations to understand and address the challenges facing migrant workers, and the responsibilities of those who recruit and employ them. This new Japanese translation means that the Dhaka Principles are now available in a total of 18 languages, helping to ensure migration with dignity across a range of sectors and geographic locations.

The Japanese translation has been prepared to coincide with the 2017 Tokyo Business and Human Rights Conference, co-hosted by Caux Round Table Japan, IHRB, and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. IHRB's Chief Executive John Morrison provided the closing remarks of the conference, launching the translation to a gathering of nearly 100 Japanese businesses across a range of industries.  

For more information on IHRB's Migrant Workers Programme and implementing the Dhaka Principles, contact Neill Wilkins at [email protected].

On Wednesday 13th September 2017, the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform), IHRB, and Caux Roundtable Japan will convene a workshop on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights in the context of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

The workshop will take a particular focus on implementation of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee's (TOCOG) Sustainable Sourcing Code published in March 2017, as well as emerging plans for an associated grievance mechanism.

Participants will include a range of Japanese Government departments, TOCOG, Japanese and international Olympic sponsor companies, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and international organisations including the former head of the London 2012 Sustainability Commission, Ergon Associates, IHRB, Human Rights Watch, UNICEF Japan, BWI, ITUC-AP, World Players Association, the Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and OECD.

The objective of the workshop is to support all actors involved in preparing and delivering the Tokyo 2020 Games to fully embrace and operationalise their human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the event’s lifecycle. The MSE Platform aims to help the collective efforts between TOCOG and sponsor companies to respect human rights by specifically focussing on three subjects of significance: human rights risks, best practices, and grievance mechanisms. 

 


About the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights

The Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights is a multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors broadcasters, and civil society groups. The Institute for Human Rights and Business serves as its secretariat. Over the past two years the MSE Platform has worked develop more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from mega-sporting events, and overcome the barriers to better knowledge transfer and good practice within and between sport traditions and events. 

About Caux-Roundtable Japan

The Caux Round Table Japan (CRT-Japan) is the Japanese arm of an international network of principled business leaders working to promote a moral capitalism. We offer practical advice to corporations in the area of business and human rights in Japan. 

 

 

Image: IOC

The University of Bergen, in partnership with Rafto and IHRB, is offering a new masters course in Business and Human Rights this autumn in Norway. The course has been developed with the Department of Comparative Politics at the University, and is suitable for anyone working or interested in the business and human rights field.

The course explores the links between human rights violations and corporate activity, and the importance of international standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in strengthening state and business performance regarding these issues. The course will focus on what corporate human rights due diligence means in practice, including how companies can address key dilemmas faced when seeking to ensure respect for human rights in business operations globally.

Participants will explore emerging sector-specific and thematic issues on the human rights and business agenda, and assess the effectiveness of existing efforts of relevance in Norway and globally. The course will provide students not only with a deeper understanding of how human rights concerns relate to a range of industry sectors but also with practical guidance in developing strategies consistent with international human rights standards.

Course information

  • The course counts 15 credit points and will be offered in English as part-time study
  • Classes held over three weekends (8-10 Sept, 6-8 Oct, 1-3 Dec 2017). 
  • The fee will be NOK 16.000. 
  • A bachelors degree or the equivalent and a minimum of two years’ work experience is required. 
  • Application deadline: 20 Aug 2017. 
  • Course code SAMPOL610.

Course topics

  • Foundational Principles
  • The UN Guiding Principles
  • Sectoral Approaches
  • Companies and the Law
  • Critical Issues 
More information on the course can be found on the Rafto website.

On 5th July 2017 the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Evaluation Commission 2024 published its assessment of the LA and Paris bids for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Evaluation report focuses on four broad categories: Games Concept, Games Experience, Sustainability and Legacy, and Games Delivery.

 

 

This briefing offers an overview of what the Evaluation says about each candidate city’s approach to human rights, with a summary table at the end drawing out the main ‘strengths’ and ‘challenges’ from the Evaluation.

 

 

This briefing has been produced by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) as the secretariat to the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform). The information in this briefing does not necessarily reflect the views of MSE Platform members.

 

 

 

 

 

Image: IOC

UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) and the OIF (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie) and the have joined the Steering Committee of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform). 

The MSE Platform is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Through dialogue and joint action its mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.

MSE Platform members are working together to develop more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from MSEs, and overcome the barriers to better knowledge transfer and good practice within and between sport traditions and events. This collective action seeks to raise awareness, innovate, advocate, educate, drive positive change, and give a voice to those most affected.

Chaired by Mary Robinson, the MSE Platform is facilitated by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB). The MSE Platform is driven by the efforts of a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee of more than 25 organisations, supported by a high-level Advisory Group. Throughout 2017, the MSE Platform’s work is being implemented through four Task Forces.

Peter Gilliéron, Chairman of the UEFA Fair Play and Social Responsibility Committee, commented:

After having included Human Rights criteria into the EURO-2024 bidding process it was for UEFA a logical move to join the MSE Platform.  It is a UEFA  social responsibility objective to make the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) an integrated part of all our activities. Through our membership at the MSE Platform we are looking forward to contributing to the respect of the UNGPs in European Football and beyond”.

John Morrison of IHRB, the MSE Platform's secretariat, added:

OIF brings together 84 States (58 members and 26 observers) from the five continents. With the upcoming 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and Paris bid for the 2024 Olympics, as well as the range of upcoming sports events in francophone nations such the 2017 Francophone Games in Abidjan and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, the participation of the OIF will add great value to the MSE Platform’s work. 

This week, the Sixth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS VI) adopted the “Kazan Action Plan”, which sets priorities for the implementation of sports policy in the coming years.

The Kazan Action Plan aims to address the integrity of sport and includes the safeguarding of the rights of athletes, workers, spectators and other groups. It specifically provides that “the fundamental human rights of everyone affected by or involved in the delivery of physical education, physical activity and sport must be protected, respected and fulfilled in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.”

...the fundamental human rights of everyone affected by or involved in the delivery of physical education, physical activity and sport must be protected, respected and fulfilled in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.
Kazan Action Plan

The World Players Association, a member of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights, took the opportunity in Kazan to release the World Player Rights Policy.

The policy builds on the UN Guiding Principles and articulates the importance of international sporting organisations and other relevant sport stakeholders in adopting a player rights policy and spells out the necessary commitments and obligations which any such policy must contain.

 

The MINEPS VI conference documents are available here.

 

 

Image: MINEPS VI (infocus_jpizarro_drupal)

Four international brands today join the roster of seven other global companies in the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment.

GE, Mars Inc., Tesco, and Vinci join The Coca-Cola Company, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IKEA, M&S, Unilever, and Walmart in committing to the “Employer Pays Principle” and calling for collective action and bold leadership to achieve its vision of eradicating worker fees within the next 10 years.

The Employer Pays Principle states:

No worker should pay for a job, the costs of recruitment should be borne not by the worker but by the employer.

Payment of recruitment fees by migrant workers is a key cause of forced labour, creating cycles of debt and leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation.

The announcement was made at the inaugural Annual Leadership Forum on Responsible Recruitment in Berlin, co-hosted by IHRB, the Leadership Group, and Humanity United. The Annual Leadership Forum brings together global brands, suppliers, recruitment agencies, governments, and NGOs to discuss and examine how to advance ethical recruitment and combat the exploitation of migrant workers in global supply chains.

The opening session of the Forum was livestreamed and featured representatives from IHRB, Humanity United, M&S, and the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Commenting on the announcement, GE pressed the importance of real and practical solutions:

Forced labor is a challenging and complicated problem that must be tackled with urgency through the joint efforts of governments, corporations, and civil society around the world. GE is proud to join this select group of companies looking for real and practical solutions to one of the core causes of this problem – unethical recruitment. Alex Dimitrief, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, General Electric Company.

Mars Incorporated emphasised the ability to learn from other leaders across sectors: 

“We believe everyone touched by our business should be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. We’re here to learn with other leaders who are ready to move from conversation to collective action on responsible recruitment practices that will make a meaningful difference for vulnerable workers around the world.”
Barry Parkin, Chief Sustainability and Health and Wellbeing Officer, Mars, Incorporated

VINCI added that collective action is crucial to wholesale change in the business model for migrant worker recruitment: 

“Our business sector must get involved on these vital issues. Working collectively and sharing best practices and tools is the best way to promote the Employer Pays Principle across the industry.
Franck Mougin Executive Vice-President, Human Resources and Sustainable Development, VINCI

FIFA, the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer, has published its first Human Rights Policy. According to FIFA, the document embodies Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes, which states “FIFA is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights”.

FIFA’s Human Rights Policy was developed by the FIFA administration in collaboration with FIFA’s Governance Committee and “specifies and strengthens FIFA’s human rights commitment and will serve as guidance for FIFA’s human rights work”.

The document was reviewed by FIFA’s Human Rights Advisory Board and a range of external stakeholders, including international organisations, trade unions, civil society organisations, academia and FIFA sponsors.

FIFA has also published an Activity Update Report detailing its progress on human rights. The report focuses on FIFA’s activities in the year proceeding its statutory human rights commitment of April 2016.

Key Provisions of FIFA's Human Rights Policy include: 
  • It is signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura
     
  • section 1: Commits FIFA to "respecting human rights in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" and outlines its commitment to embedding the policy internally and implementing the ongoing due diligence and remedy processes outlined in the Guiding Principles.
     
  • section 5: Provides examples of FIFA's salient human rights risks, covering: labour rights; land acquisition and housing rights; discrimination; security; players' rights
     
  • section 7: Outlines FIFA's commitment to follow international human rights standards in the face of conflicting national legal requirements  
     
  • Outlines "FIFA's Approach to Human Rights" consisting of four pillars: i) Commit and embed ii) Identify and address iii) Protect and remedy iv) Engage and communicate

The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has endorsed the Sporting Chance Principles on Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights.

Produced to further the efforts of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (“MSE Platform”), the Principles aim to underpin the common goal of ensuring that human rights are central to mega-sporting events throughout their lifecycle.

WFSGI is an independent association made up of sports brands, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, national/regional federations, industry and trade associations and all sporting goods industry related buisnesses.

The MSE Platform is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Through dialogue and joint action its mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.

WFSGI is endorsing the Principles to further its efforts to develop and promote an understanding within the World Federation about the relevance of global social and environmental challenges for each individual member company. 

All stakeholders, including non-MSE Platform members such as WFSGI, are invited to reference the Principles, and expressions of support or endorsement are welcome.

Commenting on the announcement, Robbert de Kock, WFSGI President & CEO said:

“The WFSGI supports the work of the IHRB and the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights to address the human rights challenges of running sports events and we are pleased to endorse their ‘Sporting Chance Principles’, which were established in 2016 to promote and embed human rights considerations into the planning, delivery and legacy of sporting events.”

John Morrison, Chief Executive of IHRB, added:

“We are very pleased to have WFSGI’s endorsement of the Sporting Chance Principles. These Principles inform our common goal of ensuring that all actors fully embrace respect for human rights at every stage in the lifecycle of mega-sporting events.“

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the 2020 Olympic Games (TOCOG) have agreed a unique partnership agreement aimed at advancing “decent work” through socially responsible labour practices amongst the Games’ delivery partners.

The milestone partnership, announced during a visit to Japan by Guy Ryder, the ILO’s Director-General, will be formalised by a Memorandum of Understanding.

This constitutes Tokyo 2020’s first partnership with a UN organisation, and the first time that the ILO officially partners with an Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee. The partnership will encourage enterprises to play a positive role in promoting decent work through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

 

Read full article here.

FIBA - basketball's world governing body - today announced that it will allow basketball players to wear headgear from October 2017.

In an important decision, FIBA's Mid-Term Congress unanimously ratified the new headgear rule after its first ever Mid-Term Congress. The decision to overturn the longstanding ban, which particularly impacted religious observant players requiring headgear such as a hijab or dastar in order to play whilst following their faiths.

FIBA’s decision follows a sustained lobbying effort from advocacy groups involved in the MSE Platform for Human Rights, including Human Rights Watch, Shirzanan, and the World Players Association (formerly UNI World Athletes). Shirzanan, which promotes and advocates for Muslim female athletes, along with Athlete Ally, a campaigning organisation dedicated to fostering inclusive sports communities, have championed the cause of American Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir (pictured), a former star player at the University of Memphis, who was barred from playing for three seasons due to her commitment to wearing a hijab during games.

The decision comes at the end of two and a half years of internal review, and followed an historic FIBA test game in Iran in April that featured women wearing hijabs and marked the first time men watched a women's sporting event in person.

 

Photo: ISU Athletic Media Relations

European football's governing body UEFA has outlined specific criteria on human rights risk management for the first time in its requirements for hosting Euro 2024, developed with input from the Sport and Rights Alliance.

In March, UEFA confirmed that either Germany or Turkey will be awarded the rights to host the competition. The two countries must now put together bid dossiers by April 2018 meeting Uefa's criteria, including the new human rights requirements as well as anti-corruption measures.

The Tournament Requirements refer to the key international standards on human rights including the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, as well as the MSE Platform for Human Rights and its research into remedy mechanisms in particular. 

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin reflected on the importance that human rights will have moving forward for the organisation and its events:

"The protection of human rights and labour rights is of the utmost importance for UEFA. It was imperative for us to introduce specific articles on the respect and protection of human rights in the bidding requirements for all of our competitions. From now on, bidding nations will have to adhere strictly to these articles in the framework of the organisation of all our tournaments and finals."

Key provisions of the 2024 Tournament Requirements include: 

The Bidders have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms, with a duty to respect human, labour and child rights during the Bidding Procedure and, if appointed, until the end of the dismantling of UEFA EURO 2024.
In order to respect at best human rights, the Bidders should aim at:
  • culturally embedding human rights;
  • proactively addressing human rights risks;
  • engaging with relevant stakeholders and implementing means of reporting and accountability.
Reporting indicators could for instance be:
  • Measures to prevent child labour in supply chains involved in UEFA EURO 2024 delivery or to prevent labour rights violations, in particular when building or renovating the Stadiums.
  • Evidence of meaningful consultation of stakeholders and vulnerable groups affected by UEFA EURO 2024.
  • A complaint mechanism and effective remedies for human rights infringements (including labour standards and corruption due diligence) in direct relation with the organisation of UEFA EURO 2024.
Compliance indicators could be:
  • ethic code comprising basic values;
  • comprehensive risk assessment with regard to corruption, fraud and any other criminal acts and unethical behaviour;
  • compliance management system according to the risk assessment and in line with international standards, including: code of conduct; guidelines on gifts, invitations, conflict of interest; secure reporting system (including mechanism to protect and secure the anonymity of whistleblowers and complainants who do not want to be publicly identified).

FIFA – the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football) – football’s global governing body, has joined the Steering Committee of the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform).

The MSE Platform is an emerging multi-stakeholder coalition of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups. Through dialogue and joint action its mission is to ensure all actors involved in staging an event fully embrace and operationalise their respective human rights duties and responsibilities throughout the MSE lifecycle.

MSE Platform members are working together to develop more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from MSEs, and overcome the barriers to better knowledge transfer and good practice within and between sport traditions and events. This collective action seeks to raise awareness, innovate, advocate, educate, drive positive change, and give a voice to those most affected.

Chaired by Mary Robinson, the MSE Platform is facilitated by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB). The MSE Platform is driven by the efforts of a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee of more than 20 organisations, supported by a high-level Advisory Group. Throughout 2017, the MSE Platform’s work is being implemented through four Task Forces.

John Morrison, Chief Executive of IHRB, remarked:

“We are very pleased to have FIFA join this collective endeavour to make human rights central to mega-sporting events and their legacies. FIFA and some other major sports governing bodies have been taking significant steps to commit to respecting human rights in their events, and begin embedding those commitments into their internal systems and processes. The work of the MSE Platform this year is very much focused on implementation in practice, and we look forward to FIFA’s contribution to this important work."

 
Image: Getty Images

The UK House of Lords and House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights has published its report entitled "Human Rights and Business 2017: Promoting responsibility and ensuring accountability". 

IHRB's submission and verbal evidence to the Joint Committee was quoted in relation to the following issues:

  • Governmental approach to and hierarchy of business and human rights (Para 70);
  • Inadequecies of the reporting requirements in the Modern Slavery Act (Para 95);
  • Adequate resourcing of the new Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (Para 126).

IHRB's comments on the UK National Action Plan on Business & Human Rights were also referenced, particularly in relation to the lack of future measurable commitments (Para 53), and the perceived lack of ministerial leadership (Para 61). The Report urges the Government to address concerns about the NCP as a matter of urgency (Para 217).

The Joint Committee also expressed explicit support for the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, a collaboration led by investors and civil society organisations including IHRB, that measures the human rights performance and due diligence of the world's largest corporations (Para 150).

In the report, the Joint Committee makes several recommendations, including that the Government should:

  • exclude from all public sector contracts companies that have not undertaken appropriate and effective human rights due diligence, and companies that have been found guilty of abuses (Paras 87, 88);
  • bring forward legislative proposals to make reporting on due diligence for all relevant human rights compulsory for large businesses, with a monitoring mechanism and an enforcement procedure (Para 114);
  • bring forward legislative proposals to grant powers to and fully resource local authorities to close down premises which are found to exploit workers through underpayment of wages, lack of employment contracts or significant disregard of health and safety regulations (Para 137);
  • bring forward legislation to impose a duty on all companies to prevent human rights abuses, as well as an offence of failure to prevent human rights abuses for all companies, including parent companies (Para 193).
  • use the opportunity of Brexit to set higher human rights standards in future trade agreements, to include workable provisions on enforcement, and to undertake human rights impact assessments before agreeing trade agreements (Para 239).
See the full report here.

The UK Modern Slavery Act has increased the focus in the UK on the conditions of workers in both direct and extended supply chains. Facilities management is a growing sector within the UK and globally, but more awareness is needed of the ways in which companies in the sector can positively and negatively impact the rights of their workers, including their temporary and migrant workers. 

IHRB is embarking on a project to engage with companies in the facilities management sector in the UK to better map the structure of the sector, the policies facilities management companies use to set out their responsibilities, and the practical challenges they face in implementing them. 

The aim of the project is to develop recommendations and tools to support companies in the facilities management sector to implement their human rights responsibilities.

Companies with significant facilities management operations and related industry associations are invited to participate and provide direct insights into the sector, good practices, and key challenges. For further details, please contact IHRB's Waleria Schuele.

The first-ever public ranking of corporate human rights performance launched today, seeking to incentivise companies in a race to the top for the moral and commercial advantages of a strong human rights record.

BHP Billiton, Marks & Spencer Group, Rio Tinto, Nestle, Adidas and Unilever are among the small group of leading performers. Costco Wholesale, Macy’s, Grupo Mexico and Yum! Brands are among the much larger group with lower scores.

The methodology the product of two-years consultation with over 400 companies and organisations, and its application another year of research and consultation, the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark is supported by 85 investors, accounting for $5.3 trillion in assets under management. The Benchmark is led by eight organisations, including IHRB, and analyses 98 companies from three high-risk industries – agricultural products, apparel and extractives – but will grow year-on-year to cover the world’s 500 largest listed enterprises.

The Benchmark examines companies’ policies, governance, processes, practices, and transparency, as well as how they respond to serious allegations of human rights abuse. This is done by scoring the companies on 100 indicators across six measurement themes. A small number of companies emerged as leaders scoring between 55-69%, but the results skew significantly to the lower bands. A clear majority, 63 out of 98 companies, score below 30%.

A detailed briefing on the 2017 results is available on the new CHRB website, where you can find the highest and lowest scoring companies in each industry by measurement theme, analysis of trends, and emerging practice.

Explore the 2017 results here.

The International Olympic Committee announced today that as of 2024 new host city contracts will for the first time include explicit human rights protections. The new contracts make specific reference to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which outline the human rights responsibilities of business enterprises and affirm the human rights duties of states with respect to business and other non-state actors. The contracts also include new references to anti-corruption standards.

The step marks a historic point in integrating human rights considerations into the earliest stages of the Olympic lifecycle. Implementation of the new clauses will be critical to preventing and remediating impacts in practice. Attention must also focus on Games coming before the contracts go into effect and lacking similar protections, including the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.  

The 2024 Olympics will be hosted by either Paris or Los Angeles, following Budapest’s withdrawal. The International Olympic Committee will announce the winning bid at a vote in Lima, Peru, in September 2017, and there has been speculation that the other city will be awarded the 2028 Games at the same time.
 

Key provisions of the revised Olympic Host City Contract include:

13. Respect of the Olympic Charter and promotion of Olympism

13.1. The Host City, the Host NOC and the OCOG undertake to abide by the provisions of the Olympic Charter and the IOC Code of Ethics and agree to conduct their activities related to the organisation of the Games in a manner which promotes and enhances the fundamental principles and values of Olympism, as well as the development of the Olympic Movement.

13.2. Pursuant to their obligations under §13.1, the Host City, the Host NOC and the OCOG shall, in their activities related to the organisation of the Games:

a. prohibit any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status;

b. protect and respect human rights and ensure any violation of human rights is remedied in a manner consistent with international agreements, laws and regulations applicable in the Host Country and in a manner consistent with all internationally-recognised human rights standards and principles, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, applicable in the Host Country; and

c. refrain from any act involving fraud or corruption, in a manner consistent with any international agreements, laws and regulations applicable in the Host Country and all internationally-recognised anti-corruption standards applicable in the Host Country, including by establishing and maintaining effective reporting and compliance.

13.3. The IOC, through its Coordination Commission referred to in §27, shall establish a reporting mechanism to address the obligations referred to in §13.1 and §13.2 in connection with the activities of the Host City, the Host NOC and the OCOG related to the organisation of the Games.

15. Sustainability and Olympic legacy

15.1. The Host City, the Host NOC and the OCOG undertake to carry out all activities foreseen under the HCC in a manner which embraces sustainable development and contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) is asking stakeholders to complete a short survey.  The aim of the 15 minute survey is to help the Centre to improve its efforts to encourage more responsible business practices in Myanmar.

The survey covers attitudes to MCRB's strategy, publications, activities, and effectiveness in its brief to improve and promote responsible business practice in Myanmar.

 

Visit the MCRB website to participate in the survey.

Today, the Mega-Sporting Events Platform for Human Rights (MSE Platform) publishes the Sporting Chance White Papers, a series of 11 white papers that present the latest thinking, practice, and debate in relation to key human rights issues involved in the planning, construction, delivery, and legacy of mega-sporting events. Each paper also considers the case for, and potential role of, an independent centre of expertise on MSEs and human rights.

MSE Platform members are working together to develop more comprehensive, consistent, and accountable approaches to managing social risks and adverse human rights impacts arising from MSEs, and overcome the barriers to better knowledge transfer and good practice within and between sport traditions and events. This collective action seeks to raise awareness, innovate, advocate, educate, drive positive change, and give a voice to those most affected.

The Sporting Chance White Papers are the first step in this process, and the MSE Platform will be regularly updating the new dedicated portal at megasportingevents.org throughout the year to highlight the latest work, news, and events on MSEs and human rights.

Each White Paper has been published as “Version 1” and the MSE Platform would welcome comments, input, and expressions of support with regard to future iterations or research on each topic, as well as other critical topics for development in 2017 such as gender, LGBT+, and more.

 

The Sporting Chance White Papers

1. Sports Governing Bodies
2. Host Actors
3. Sponsors and Broadcasters
4. Affected Groups

Today, IHRB and the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment launch the Responsible Recruitment Gateway at www.employerpays.org.

The Responsible Recruitment Gateway is home to the Employer Pays Principle increasingly being adopted by companies across sectors and around the world.

The Gateway hosts a growing resource bank to help companies move towards an ethical recruitment.

It is also a platform for the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, convened by IHRB. All members of the Leadership Group are publicly committed to the Employer Pays Principle and its implementation throughout their supply chains. The Leadership Group's aim is bold - the total eradication of fees being charged to migrant workers to secure employment.

The Employer Pays Principle:

No worker should pay for a job – the costs of recruitment should be borne not by the worker but by the employer.

The Leadership Group acts as a vehicle for advocacy and collaboration, and serves as a knowledge hub for sharing good practice, tools, and guidance in relation to responsible recruitment. To achieve its vision of a world where no worker pays fees to secure employment, the Leadership Group seeks to catalyse leadership among an expanding membership base of companies committed to responsible recruitment.

Explore the Responsible Recruitment Gateway now.

The ninth Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh from December 8th-12th 2016. The GFMD is a United Nations Member States Initiative to explore and address the challenges and opportunities relating to migration and its impacts on development. The two day informal government process is preceded by two civil society days where the views of a range of civil society stakeholders are expressed. Both civil society and government also share one day, known as Common Space, where interaction and exchange between the two groups can occur.

On December 10th, international human rights day, IHRB's Neill Wilkins will be taking part in a side event to the Common Space on "Promoting Fair and Ethical Recruitment in the Global Economy". Organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Verite this panel discussion will showcase and examine recent initiatives to promote responsible recruitment. The panel will also include Greg Priest from IKEA who will be describing his company’s commitment to the IHRB-led Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment.

The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) is happy to announce that the results of the CHRB Pilot Benchmark 2016 will be published on the 13th March 2017.

The 2016 Pilot Benchmark will rank the top 100 companies in the agricultural products, apparel, and extractive industries using a rigorous methodology, developed over two years and in consultation with over 400 companies, industry associations, investors, governments, civil society representatives, academics and lawyers.

APG Asset Management joins the CHRB Steering Committee

APG Asset Management (APG) has joined the CHRB Steering Committee. APG, entrusted to invest EUR443 billion (August 2016) for several pension funds in the Netherlands, considers environmental, social and governance factors an integral part of their investment process. Anna Pot, Manager of Responsible Investment & Governance, represents APG on the CHRB Steering Committee: “In order to make informed investment decisions, APG requires sound, company-specific research measuring performance on important areas like respect for human rights. CHRB will make relevant research on human rights performance more visible and useful to investors by making it comparable across companies.” She adds, “As a long-term investor, we are committed to working with the companies we invest in. The benchmarking results will be a credible tool for our conversations with our portfolio companies and encouraging boards to further disclose material information on their company’s human rights performance.” 

The CHRB Steering Committee currently has 8 members: Aviva Investors, Calvert Investments, Nordea Wealth Management, APG Asset Management, The Institute for Human Rights and Business, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, VDBO and Eiris Foundation.

Investor Coalition

The investor coalition supporting the CHRB has grown to include 85 investors representing $5.3 trillion assets under management. Their statement of support is here. The investor coalition aims to continue to grow in the future. New signatories are invited to join the coalition through this website.

Research

Since launching the CHRB Pilot Benchmark in March 2016, we have been very busy. Following the end of initial disclosure period in May 2016, research began on the 106 selected companies. We were pleased with level of the information found in companies’ own documentation and websites as well as the level of disclosure that companies provided through the CHRB disclosure platform. These expansive disclosures led us to extend the research phase to October 2016.

Company Engagement

We are currently engaging with companies selected for the CHRB Pilot Benchmark on their draft company assessments. This is an opportunity for companies to review their profile, discuss and clarify any issues with us and provide additional information that they would like us to review. The engagement phase will end on the 2nd December 2016.

IHRB and the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment are delighted to welcome M&S and Walmart to the Leadership Group's steering committee and core membership.

The Leadership Group is a collaboration between leading companies and expert organisations to drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited. Its aim is bold - the total eradication of fees being charged to workers to secure employment over the next ten years as a means of tackling forced labour and human trafficking.

M&S and Walmart join IKEA, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise in committing to collaborative leadership to abolish workers' paying fees for jobs.

Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, announced the news on 4 November. Vice President of Responsible Sourcing, Jan Saumweber, added:

"Combating forced labor remains a key challenge throughout the world, and regardless of where it occurs in the global supply chain, Walmart is committed to working with industry groups, governments, NGOs and suppliers to help eliminate forced labor. Walmart is proud to become a core member of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, so we can work with others passionate about this important issue in order to create solutions.”

Head of Responsible Sourcing at M&S, Louise Nicholls, commented that collaboration is crucial in tackling debt bondage:

“We believe we can achieve far more by working with others. The Employer Pays principle is a good example of this – by bringing our voices together, we have the opportunity to create momentum and awareness on an important issue which to date has not been well understood, working to promote a model of ethical recruitment and fairer treatment of migrant workers.”

The 2016 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights takes place in Geneva from 14 to 16 November. IHRB is co-organising, moderating or speaking at a number of sessions.
 

The Role of Companies in Addressing Legal and Societal Discrimination Against LGBTI People

Monday 14 November
15:00 - 16:20
Room XXVII

In many countries companies have been at the forefront of tackling discrimination against gay and lesbian people by establishing firm policies internally and advocating for change at national and international levels. The Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and IHRB conducted consultations in Mumbai, New York, Kampala, and Brussels, with a view to gathering examples of good practice in this field and preparing guidance for companies, to be launched in early 2017.

This session will explore how companies operate in difficult environments where discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people persists. It will showcase the experiences of companies and activists. It will provide examples of what companies can do to provide meaningful, practical support to LGBTI communities, as well as the role that companies can play in promoting laws, policies and actions that advance human rights. Participants will also discuss what can be done to improve respect for human rights and what Governments need to do to eliminate discrimination and promote diversity and protect human rights. Finally, the session will provide an overview of the corporate principles for Human Rights of LGBTI people under preparation.
 

Human Rights in the Context of Mega-Sporting Events 

Tuesday 15 November
09:00 - 10:20
Room XXI

Sport has a unique capacity to inspire humanity, and mega-sporting events (MSE) have great potential to positively impact the lives of people in the countries that host them.  But such large-scale events also involve significant risks to human rights and labor rights. After years of rising public concern in the arena of major global sports tournaments new collaborative efforts are needed.

On 13th-14th October 2016, the U.S. Department of State, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and IHRB co-hosted the global “Sporting Chance Forum on Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights”, which sought to highlight and devise effective strategies to address the human rights challenges associated with every stage of the lifecycle of mega-sporting events.

The aim of this session is to present the ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue process on this matter as well as a set of principles on collective action to address human rights challenges related to Mega-sporting events and answer to questions from the audience.


Eradicating Worker-Paid Recruitment Fees

Tuesday 15 November
16:40 - 18:00
Room XXVII

In this session, IHRB's John Morrison will lead a conversation to discuss what concrete action is required to tackle one of the root causes of modern slavery - worker fees. IKEA and Marks & Spencer, both members of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, will make a bold call to action for collaborative leadership by global companies to eradicate worker-paid recruitment fees in the next ten years, based on the Employer Pays Principle. The US State Department will discuss the importance of the role of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and the discussion will explore what part investors and workers’ organisations can and must play in pushing for higher standards.
 

Leadership, Leverage and the Special Challenges of Big Data

Wednesday 16 November
15:00 - 16:20
Room XXIII

Big Data will be one of the greatest human rights challenges for societies in the future – across many areas of government and business. Yet public awareness of the way in which information concerning them is collected, held and used is very low and businesses have tended to focus on the many advantages of such data more than the associated responsibilities. Obtaining and deploying large sets of data by businesses present unique challenges for embedding human rights into the internal workings of the corporation, and into the company’s role in a supply chain. Leadership in standard setting and the duty to exercise leverage both have special profiles when Big Data is the concern.

This session will draw on the work being carried out by the multi-disciplinary 'Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project' at the University of Essex, Human Rights Centre. The session will also make use of the insights and recommendations resulting from the IHRB-Wilton Park meeting on the issue in June 2016.

The  construction and engineering sector, along with many other industries, are being subjected to increased scrutiny regarding forced labour and trafficking within their operations. Individual companies, professional bodies and industry trade associations are undertaking substantial work to better understand where the risks of exploitation lie within their operations and how they can be prevented.

On 10th November, Neill Wilkins of IHRB will join with industry representatives and other stakeholders at the House of Commons for a Symposium on the UK Modern Slavery Act and Ethical Labour in Construction. 

This industry event, organised by the Building Research Establishment, will focus on the requirements, implications, challenges, risks, responses and opportunities raised by the Modern Slavery Act's Transparency in Supply Chains clause in order to drive continuous improvement at construction, worksites and within associated supply chains and explain the contribution the industry  must make to prevent trafficking and forced labour.

Further details of the event can be found here.   
 

Image: msa4constructoin.com

IHRB, the U.S. Department of State, and Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs co-hosted the global “Sporting Chance Forum on Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights” on 13th-14th October 2016 in Washington, D.C.

The Forum convened more than 130 senior officials, executives, and experts to highlight and devise effective strategies to address the human rights challenges associated with mega-sporting events at every stage of the event lifecycle, from planning through legacy. 

The Forum was introduced by Forum co-hosts US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Swiss Deputy State Secretary Alexandre Fasel and Honorary Chair of the Forum Mary Robinson. The Forum's opening session was live streamed, featuring presentations from International Labor Organization Deputy Director-General Greg Vines, International Olympic Committee Executive Board Member Anita DeFrantz, Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Executive David Grevemberg, and UNI World Athletes President Donald Fehr. The keynote speech was given by Martina Navratilova, legendary Czech-American tennis champion, coach, and advocate for LGBTI and women’s rights. 

The Forum introduced the Sporting Chance Principles on Human Rights in Mega-Sporting Events. These Principles – put forward by the Forum co-hosts – aim to underpin the common goal of ensuring that mega-sporting events showcasing the best in humanity are built on respect for human rights throughout their lifecycle. All stakeholders are invited to reference the Principles, and expressions of support or endorsement are welcome.

 


Pictured above (from left): Donald Fehr (President, UNI World Athletes); Greg Vines (Deputy Director-General, International Labor Organization); David Grevemberg (Chief Executive, Commonwealth Games Federation); Linda Kromjong (Secretary General, International Organisation of Employers); Tony Blinken (US Deputy Secretary of State); Virginia Bennett (US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State); Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, honorary Chair of Sporting Chance Forum); Alexandre Fasel (Swiss Deputy State Secretary); Anita DeFrantz (Executive Board Member, International Olympic Committee); Tim Noonan (Campaigns and Communications Director, International Trade Union Confederation).

Today, on international anti-slavery day, IHRB's Neill Wilkins will be speaking about forced labour and responsible recruitment at a Modern Slavery Workshop for the Construction Industry and its Suppliers.

With the Modern Slavery Act 2015 over a year old, there is growing awareness relating to the challenges of labour exploitation both within construction workforces and the supply chain.

Hosted by the Building Research Establishment, Neill will join stakeholders from the construction and engineering industry to discuss how the sector can face up to the challenge of forced labour in its business operations both in the UK and abroad. In particular Neill will focus on the impact of flawed recruitment practices in construction and many other industries and explain the work that IHRB are undertaking to promote responsible recruitment as a key way of preventing exploitation.

IHRB's Migrant Workers Programme Manager Neill Wilkins is in Berlin this week taking part in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) workshop on the prevention of trafficking in human beings, hosted by the Government of Germany.

The workshop will be looking at the importance of preventing trafficking within public procurement processes. The workshop is a precursor to a wider conference later this week where over 180 representatives of government, international organisations, business and wider civil society will discuss the same  issue. IHRB's Chief Executive John Morrison will help lead part of the conference discussion.

Both John and Neill will be promoting IHRB's key messages about the importance of responsible recruitment in preventing forced labour and trafficking and advocating for the Employer Pays Principle - no worker should pay for a job- the costs of recruitment should be borne not by the worker but by the employer. They will also help raise the important role that public procurement can play in promoting awareness of  trafficking and forced labour and its prevention as identified in IHRB's analysis of the 2015 EU Public Procurement Directives.  

Photo: Yasmin Fahimi, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, speaking at a two-day high-level conference focusing on the prevention of human trafficking for labour exploitation in supply chains, Berlin, 7 September 2016. 

Credit: OSCE

Today IHRB's Migrant Workers Programme Manager Neill Wilkins is taking part in the First Symposium on Promoting Regulatory Harmonization of Recruitment Intermediaries in Colombo Process Member States (23rd August). 

The Colombo Process is an intergovernmental consultation process between South Asian countries to regulate and better manage the recruitment and deployment of migrant workers. The Symposium is taking place in advance of the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Colombo Process to be held in Sri Lanka later this week.

The Symposium is intended to review initiatives born out of global standards on ethical recruitment, such as ILO Conventions 181 on private employment agencies and 189 on domestic workers, relevant human rights instruments, and the International Confederation of Private Employment Services (CIETT) Code of Conduct. Panelists, including IHRB's Wilkins, will then share case studies that highlight issues reflecting certain global standards and the inherent challenges associated with the practical implementation around ethical recruitment and fair recruitment practices.

Neill will be highlighting the role of the private sector in ensuring ethical recruitment, in particular highlighting the work of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment and their commitment to the Employer Pays Principle.

 Specific recommendations that emanate from the presentation and the discussions will be reflected in the outcome of the regional preparatory meeting.