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...

A Business and Human Rights Treaty? More immediate actions would make a bigger difference

In the fifth and final part of our series on the implications of a proposed new international treaty addressing human rights abuses involving businesses, IHRB's Salil Tripathi offers his reflections on the road ahead.

Imagine if all governments...

Tipping Point? Could the new ILO protocol on forced labour and human trafficking make a lasting difference?

Last week the US State Department produced its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The TIP report, as it is known, ranks 188 countries according to the prevalence of forced labour and trafficking and their efforts to curb it.

The global nature of...

Time for action on human rights and mega-sporting events

Last week Mary Robinson and John Ruggie wrote a letter of behalf of IHRB to FIFA President ‘Sepp’ Blatter in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup, urging football’s governing body to fully integrate human rights considerations into its decision-making....

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...

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...

Vodafone’s Transparency Report: Breaking New Ground in the ICT Sector

Last week, UK-based telecom operator Vodafone released its first transparency report as part of the company’s wider 2013-2014 Sustainability Report. It is the latest example of a growing trend among telecommunications companies to explain publicly...

A Business and Human Rights Treaty? We shouldn’t be afraid to frighten the horses

Those of a certain age may remember that quintessentially British comedy Fawlty Towers where the hotel owner, Basil Fawlty, has to keep reminding himself not to upset his German guests by mentioning The War. This is the position civil society...

Rana Plaza – Rebuilding more than the Factory

Moves to protect workers since the Rana Plaza disaster are laudable but a more fundamental rethink of the market remains the only solution.

Over a year ago, 1,129 workers lost their lives and more than 2,500 were injured in a catastrophic...

A Business and Human Rights Treaty? Why Activists Should be Worried

This commentary is the second in a series.

The call by a group of states at the UN Human Rights Council to begin diplomatic deliberations towards a UN treaty on business and human rights has drawn the backing of a growing list of civil society...

A Business and Human Rights Treaty? Smart strategies are needed to close accountability gaps

This is the first contribution in a series.

Despite the progress of recent years in advancing understanding and action on the relationship between business and human rights, gaps in legal accountability continues to be a subject of much heated...

Ensuring Respect for Human Rights at Sea

The international “Human Rights at Sea” (HRAS) initiative was recently launched with the aim of raising the profile, awareness, implementation and accountability for human rights protections throughout the maritime industry, especially where they...