Name: Trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in Asia
Start: 2018-11-28T10:00:00+0100
End: 2018-11-28T13:00:00+0100

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Trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in Asia

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Interpretation is provided in English and Chinese.

Session led by UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and UNDP

This Forum session is part of the Forum track on trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in different regions of the world.
The aim is to facilitate peer learning and multi-stakeholder dialogue around lessons learned. Innovative ideas shall be showcased with a view to scale up emerging good practices and reinforce a race to the top among governments and businesses in the Asia region.

This interactive session will be divided in two parts:
After a brief scene setting from civil society and business representatives, Part I will present key examples of how Governments in the Region are promoting business respect for Human Rights. Representatives of the Governments of Thailand, India, Indonesia, Vietnam among others, will illustrate how they are setting expectations for companies to carry out human rights due diligence (HRDD), changing corporate laws to promote responsible business conduct, creating incentives through public procurement, and taking steps to ensure a bouquet of remedies is available to victims.
In Part II, several inspiring ideas on how to turn HRDD from paper to practice will be presented in TED-Style snapshot sessions. After interaction with the participants, mobile technology will be used to survey the opinion of those present. This will involve solutions considered most innovative, most impactful and worth replicating in other contexts. Initiatives most inspiring and innovative will be given additional dedicated space to illustrate their impact in the two Regional Forums on Business and Human Rights (for South Asia and Southeast Asia) planned for the first half of 2019.

Program

Opening/setting the scene (30 mins)
Part I: Fostering Government Leadership to Set Expectations for Companies to Respect Human Rights (60 mins)
Break (15 mins)
Part II: Pitch Deck: Innovative and Inspiring Solutions to take the UNGPs from Paper to Practice: Snapshot sessions (5 minutes each) followed by Qs and As (80 minutes) through mobile technology to survey their opinion on the innovative value, replicability and scalability of the initiatives
- Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact: FPIC Policies into action
- Caux RT/ANA: Technology to monitor supply chains, Japan
- UN Global Compact Network Indonesia: HRDD in the Agri-Food Business Sector
- Terre des Hommes: Multi stakeholder partnerships to end child labour
- China Labor Watch: Access to Remedy for workers, China
- Earth Rights International: NGOs and NHRIs monitoring HR abuses by outbound investments, SEA
- University of Sussex: National employment injury insurance (EII) schemes in Bangladesh and Pakistan
- FORUM ASIA: Good practices and possible collective actions to counter legal harassment of Human Rights Defenders

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Harpreet Kaur

UNDP - Asia Pacific

Harpreet Kaur is a Business and Human Rights Specialist at the UNDP’s Regional Bureau of Asia and the Pacific, where she oversees a regional project aiming at promoting responsible business practices through partnerships in Asia. She provides technical and advisory support to governments... Read More →

Sean Lees

Business and Human Rights Specialist, UNDP Asia-Pacific

Sean Lees is a Business and Human Rights Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangkok Regional Hub. Prior to his work at UNDP, Sean worked on Asia-Pacific trade and investment policy at the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the East-West Center (1994-1996... Read More →

Livio Sarandrea

Global Adviser, Business and Human Rights, UNDP

Mr. Livio Sarandrea, is UNDP’s Global Lead on Business and Human Rights and the Team leader of: “Business and Human Rights in Asia promoting Responsible Business practices through regional partnerships (B+HR Asia)”. A Human Rights lawyer with 20 years of field experience in... Read More →

Speakers

Surya Deva

Vice-Chair, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Binota Dhamai

Executive Member, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

Jiang Hui

Vice-President, China Chamber of Commerce of Metal, Minerals and Chemicals

Hiroshi Ishida

Executive Director, Caux Round Table Japan

Hiroshi Ishida is the Executive Director of the Caux Round Table Japan (CRT Japan).He taught at the Institute of Business and Accounting, Kwansei Gakuin University between 2005 and March 2014, where he served as promoted to Professor on April 2013. He also taught at Aoyama Gakuin... Read More →

Y.W. Junardy

President, Global Compact Network Indonesia

Y.W. Junardy is the Deputy President Commissioner of PT Rajawali Corpora, an Indonesian national holding investment Company operating in diverse industries i.e. hotel & property, land and air transportation, plantation, mining, infrastructure and IT Services.Prior to his current position... Read More →

Elaine Lu

Program Officer, China Labor Watch

Chao MA

Deputy Division Chief, China Enterprise Confederation

Ma ChaoDeputy Section Chief, Employers Department, China Enterprise ConfederationFor 15 years, he is involving and responsible for international cooperation projects with ILO, IOE, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNGC, National Employers Organizations such as NHO(Norway), VCCI(Vietnam),APINDO(Indonesia... Read More →

Bobbie Sta Maria

Director for Labour Rights and Asia, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Thanh Tu Nguyen

Director General, Ministry of Justice, Government of Vietnam

Mr. Tu Thanh Nguyen (Nguyễn Thanh Tú) is Director General of the Department of Civil and Economic Laws, Ministry of Justice of Vietnam. He holds the degrees of: Doctor of Laws (Lund University, Sweden), Licentiate of Laws (Lund University, Sweden), Master of Laws (Lund University... Read More →

Rebecca Prentice

Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Sussex

Rebecca Prentice is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and International Development at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. She is author of the report, Workers’ Right to Compensation after Garment Factory Disasters: Making Rights a Reality (2018), and co-editor, with Geert... Read More →

Benny Agus Prima

Human Rights Defenders Programme Officer, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Benny is the Senior Programme Officer of Human Rights Defenders Programme at FORUM-ASIA. He holds LLM degree in public international law from the University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to joining human rights defenders programme of FORUM-ASIA, he was working on ASEAN human rights advocacy... Read More →

Somn Promaros

Director-General of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Ministry of Justice, Thailand

Natthakanya Saengpho

National Human Rights Commission of Thailand

Wora Suk

Earth Rights International

Vidya Tikoo

Senior Vice President, Aditya Birla Managemnet Corporation Pvt Ltd

Developed the Sustainable Business Framework for the Aditya Birla Group that aligns to IFC, OECD, OSHA, UNGC, UNGPs, UNPRI and many other international standards. A vital role to guide the Group businesses to implement the standards. This includes building the business management... Read More →

Government action, Region in focus, Asia | Business action, Region in focus, Asia

2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights