John Ruggie
Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Professor John Gerard Ruggie was the Berthold Beitz Research Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and an Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School. From 1997 to 2001, Ruggie served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning, a post created specifically for him by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
He was one of the architects of the United Nations Global Compact as well as of the Millennium Development Goals, the precursor of the Sustainable Development Goals. From 2005-11 he served as the Special Representative to the UN Secretary General on Business and Human Rights and drafted the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. He was the chair of the board of the non-profit organisation Shift, and also a Board member of the Arabesque Group, an ESG data provider, in addition to serving as IHRB's Chair from 2012-2016 and then as its Patron until his passing in 2021.
The various commentaries and statements John produced for IHRB over the years are available in the gallery further below.
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17 February 2017
11 September 2013
04 February 2013
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Commentary: Investment in Africa: Thinking Beyond Stereotypes
This week President Obama will host the US-Africa Leadership Summit, a gathering of 51 Heads of State from across Africa.
The meeting in Washington, DC should discuss the kind of investments that not only promote economic growth, but that also help...
03 August 2014
By Motoko Aizawa, John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: The Past as Prologue? A Moment of Truth for UN Business and Human Rights Treaty
Calls to regulate transnational corporations (TNCs) through an international treaty instrument go back to the 1970s. Pressure for a treaty has come most persistently from activists, and more intermittently from developing countries. A recent civil...
08 July 2014
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: Qatar 2022: Three Rana Plazas in Slow Motion?
The World Cup has been a beloved tradition since 1930 and every four years it attracts millions of fans from around the world to cheer on their teams. Sadly however, the event is no longer just fun and games. Recently FIFA, the organisation that...
14 June 2014
By Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair, OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: A Business and Human Rights Treaty? International legalisation as precision tools
As the business and human rights agenda continues to evolve, further legalization is an inevitable and necessary component of future developments. But we need to ask ourselves what form it should take at the international level. What does experience...
13 June 2014
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: Making Public-Private Partnerships Work
This op-ed was originally published on Thomson Reuters Foundation News channel trust.org.
A full agenda awaits business executives, government officials and civil society representatives attending next week’s U.N. Global Compact leaders summit in...
11 September 2013
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: Progress in Corporate Accountability
Last week Human Rights Watch released its 2013 World Report. It includes an essay by Senior Researcher Christopher Albin-Lackey decrying the hard won and widely adopted UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GPs) as being “woefully...
04 February 2013
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: Aung San Suu Kyi Signals Change in Burma, but Investors Should Proceed with Caution
This op-Ed was originally published on Csmonitor.com.
The recent decision by the Obama administration to ease economic sanctions on Myanmar (also known as Burma) presents an important opportunity to reintegrate that country into the international...
19 June 2012
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
Commentary: Putting the Protect, Respect, Remedy Framework into Practice
Last week, the latest report under my mandate as Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General on business and human rights was released in advance of the June session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. This is my last interim report before I...
29 April 2010
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
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Commentary: Quo Vadis? Unsolicited Advice to Business and Human Rights Treaty Sponsors
In June of this year, a group of countries led by Ecuador succeeded in persuading the UN Human Rights Council to initiate negotiations aimed at regulating the conduct of multinational corporations. Preparations are now under way in Geneva and...
09 September 2014
By John Ruggie, Patron Emeritus, IHRB; Author, UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights