Rights and Wrongs - Questioning Free Expression in the Workplace
How can companies negotiate their way around deeply divisive political issues where their employees, contractors, suppliers, and associates may have strong convictions and opinions? Can companies keep politics out of their offices? Can they restrain...
17 September 2019 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Collective Action Needed to Defend the Defenders
Companies that take their responsibility to respect human rights seriously understand the crucial role human rights defenders play in campaigning to make society more transparent, inclusive, and based on the rule of law.
Some companies have begun...
29 May 2019 | Commentary
Commentary by John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Rights and Wrongs - Business as Usual in Saudi?
One by one, global companies are trying to distance themselves from the Saudi Arabian Government.
The immediate provocation is the shocking disappearance and murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On October 2, Khashoggi went to the Saudi...
22 October 2018 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
A Landmark Standard for LGBTI Rights
Over the past year, we at the Institute for Human Rights and Business have worked closely with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to develop a new initiative to support companies in respecting and promoting...
26 September 2017 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Beyond a Simple Trading of Powers: An Alternative Future for the Global Mining Industry?
Observers of the mining industry, including those who are watching from the inside, have witnessed a growing demand for governments to safeguard people and the environment, and for business leaders to take greater responsibility in the prevention...
Killing Investigators Blinds Us All
For those who follow the news, the horrors that people suffer in war seem more visible now than ever before. Yet, there are moments when the hidden contours of war’s violence are driven home to us through the sacrifice of outsiders.
There are...
04 April 2017 | Commentary
Commentary by Mark Taylor, International Advisory Council, IHRB
A Contentious Connection - Business and Women’s Rights
The relationship between business and women’s rights activists and advocates has always been contentious, and more frequently, rife with suspicion and hostility, especially in the global South. This is not, unfortunately, without reason.
Not only...
08 March 2017 | Commentary
Commentary by Srilatha Batliwala
Sir Nigel Rodley - A Pioneer in the Struggle for Human Rights
When I started work at Amnesty International in 1999 (I worked there till 2005), my assignment was to help develop thinking, campaigning, and research on business and human rights. It was there that I first met Sir Nigel Rodley, a champion of the...
27 January 2017 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Standing Rock Sioux - A Model for Protection of Planet and its People
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe met with representatives of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) on October 30, 2014 and learned of their plans to build the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,172 pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois that would carry...
21 December 2016 | Commentary
Commentary by David Schilling, Senior Program Director, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Protecting Workers Building Sporting Venues – Progress in Qatar
Mega-sporting events focus attention on human rights, however, it is often for a fleeting moment. It requires a great sense of urgency if improvements are to take place. In construction, it means a big, but temporary surge in activity for stadiums,...
28 November 2016 | Commentary
Commentary by Jim Baker
Dakota Access Pipeline and the High Cost of Violating Indigenous Rights
Growing concern in the United States over the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) – a 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois – has resulted in a...
26 September 2016 | Commentary
Commentary by Rebecca Adamson, Indigenous Economist, serial social entrepreneur, and trustee Calvert Social Investment Funds
Can Business Leaders Be More Effective Human Rights Advocates?
Here are some of my personal thoughts as I take up the role of Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights.
Recent events have once again posed questions about business’ role in society, particularly when it comes...
06 October 2020 | Commentary
Commentary by John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB