Telenor’s Exit from Myanmar - A Cautionary Tale for the Just Transition

On the day of publication, SOMO's joint complaint regarding Telenor's exit from Myanmar was officially accepted by the Norwegian National Contact Point. This article is part of a series focused on "responsible exits" and how the human rights...

Salil Tripathi on John Ruggie’s Legacy

John Ruggie was the man in a hurry. Nobody who knew him could tell when he slept or if he slept. I remember sometimes sending him a question soon after waking up at 6:30 or so in London, assuming that the busy man that he was – the UN Secretary...

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights Starts its Engines as an Independent Entity - After Years in the Making 

On 8 July 2021, the Centre for Sport and Human Rights (CSHR) fully separated from its founding body The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), becoming a standalone legal entity under Swiss law with a new board of independent Directors. As...

The Elephant And The Mouse: How Corporate Giants Can Avoid Trampling On Their Stakeholders

In this age of emerging ESG priorities for business, one essential question is how those with the legal and financial responsibility for running a company (i.e. the board members) engage directly with those upon whom their company’s actions have...

Thai Government Proposals To Restrict Civil Society Demand A Response – Including From Business

Over the past few years, more than 60 countries including India, Kenya, and Egypt among others, have enacted laws restricting freedom of assembly and civil society access to funding. Laws limiting or suppressing civil society’s operating space in...

On the Side of Humanity? Human Rights a Missing Link in COVID-19 Vaccine Strategies

Heartbreaking scenes in India, of people facing serious illness and death during a record-breaking surge in COVID-19 infections now spreading to other countries in South Asia, are a painful reality check on how much work is still ahead to stop the...

Better Building(s) - A Rights-Based Approach to Decarbonisation

As governments gather this week for the Porto Social Summit, they should consider the many ways that climate action in the built environment must be shaped to advance, rather than undermine, human rights.

Across the EU, momentum is growing to...

How the Pandemic is Affecting Bangladesh’s Garment Workers

The readymade garment (RMG) industry employs millions of workers in Bangladesh and has contributed to the nation's development. The COVID19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the sector as malls and factories had to close and still today...

Reflections from the 2021 Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment

Hosted by IHRB, the ILO, and IOM, the 2021 Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment (GFRR) took place from 12-15 April. The annual GFRR is a thought leadership platform for accelerating the fair, ethical, and responsible recruitment of migrant...

21 April 2021 | Commentary

Making Facebook’s New Human Rights Policy Real

The world’s biggest social media platform, Facebook, recently unveiled its human rights policy. It is a step in the right direction. But declaring a policy is one thing; implementing it is quite another.

In a recent podcast with the Institute for...

What It’s Like to be a Seafarer During a Pandemic

In this article, through photos, we highlight the voices of some of the seafarers at the centre of the Crew Change Crisis who for months on end have been unable to disembark their ships because of global port and travel restrictions linked to the...

How EU Trade Policy Can Better Promote Sustainability Standards in Supply Chains

The European Union has almost finalised its public consultation on a new regulation around the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). There are several measures that could be taken to improve the GSP’s effectiveness in incentivising positive human...

30 March 2021 | Commentary

Commentary by Radboud Reijn