Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference: Not your ordinary discussion on business and human rights

Call me an optimist. Over the past decade I have attended several conferences dealing with business and human rights in many parts of the world, and at many places the conversation stays on the ground floor.

Do human rights matter to business? Is...

Teaching Business and Human Rights: Challenges and Opportunities

In 1994, I stumbled upon a business course, “Transnational Business and International Human Rights,” that highlighted the relevance of international human rights standards for business managers. It was an eye-opening subject for a human...

Continuing a Dialogue with Vodafone on Human Rights Due Diligence

Media coverage of last week’s Labour conference speech by Ed Miliband, in which the UK opposition leader criticised “predatory” companies” prompted me to write to the Financial Times with the straightforward but too often forgotten message that even...

Good Companies Can Do Bad Things

This Letter to the Editor was originally published in the Financial Times (subscription needed).

Sir,

We welcome a call for greater corporate responsibility from a UK party leader (Miliband’s business crusade draws fire, September 28) but worry...

Trade Unions Building Bridges to Protect Migrant Workers

Bangladesh is a major country of origin of migrant workers. With workers specifically skilled in the garment industry, many Bangladeshi women migrate for work in textile and garment manufacturing in Mauritius or Jordan. Whereas migrant workers in...

One Day in South Africa, Two Events, and a Major Milestone for Financial Institutions

Johannesburg, July 19, 2011. I wish I could have been in two places at once.

On that day, I was part of a workshop, convened by the law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, the University of Witwatersrand, and the Institute for Human Rights and Business, on...

What Are Rights Without Enforcement?

For most of us, the idea of being deliberately misled over the content of our contracts, having our wages spuriously docked, or even having our wages withheld without reason, is something that we don’t expect to happen. Yet such workplace...

Cash, Crisis, Conscience: How can the financial sector ensure it respects human rights?

When I speak with bankers, they all say they want financial institutions to be recognized as respected members of society. Is it enough for the sector to be able to better address risks management, ESG sustainability, business ethics, and...

How can media companies ensure they live up to their responsibility to respect human rights?

Public outrage in Britain against intrusive journalism has reached boiling point. Disclosures concerning actions taken by the tabloid News of the World alongside new allegations that two newspapers from the same company, the Sun and the Sunday...

Cleaning Up Recruitment and Return Practices to Protect Migrant Workers

This op-Ed was originally published on TheDailyStar.net.

As tens of thousands of Bangladeshi workers fled the conflict in Libya, their plight exposed the vulnerability of migrant labour. It also laid bare the gaps in protecting the human rights of...

China Deals Must Not Come at the Cost of Human Rights

This op-Ed was originally published on News.Sky.com.

Economic growth and prosperity have lifted millions of people out of poverty since China reformed its economy four decades ago. A peaceful, stable, and prosperous China is in the interest of the...

Human Rights - The Case for Regulation

This op-Ed was originally published on L4bb.org.

It is not unknown for business leaders to call for increased or better regulation in relation to environmental or social issues. In 2002, Mark Moody-Stuart (the former CEO of Shell and Chair of...