2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights: Full Schedule

8:00am CET

Networking Coffee

Welcome coffee/tea and croissants - Sponsored by the European Union and the Governments of Germany and Norway.

Monday November 26, 2018 8:00am - 8:30am CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

8:00am CET

Conversation with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Join the members of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in an informal conversation about their mandate to promote implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and to chair the Forum.

Working Group members will give an overview of their ongoing work and explain the background for the theme of this year's Forum. The introduction will be followed by a Q&A and an opportunity for participants to make suggestions to the Working Group.

Links to Working Group main page and thematic pages

Interpretation is provided in Korean

Speakers

Surya Deva

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

Elżbieta Karska

member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Ms. Elżbieta Karska is a Professor and the Head of the Department of Protection of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and the Director of the Institute of International Law, European Union and International Relations at the Faculty of Law and Administration, Cardinal... Read More →

Githu Muigai

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Mr. Githu Muigai is current Associate Professor of Law, Department of Public Law, University of Nairobi; Chairman at the Council of Legal Education in Kenya; and Senior Partner, Mohammed & Muigai Advocates. He previously served as a Commissioner with the former Constitution of Kenya... Read More →

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Mr. Dante Pesce holds a Masters in Political Science from the Catholic University of Chile and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the VINCULAR Center for Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development at the... Read More →

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Ms. Anita Ramasastry is the Roland L. Hjorth Professor of Law and the Director of the Graduate Program in Sustainable International Development at the University of Washington School Of Law. She researches and teaches in the fields of law and development, anti-corruption, international... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 8:00am - 9:00am CET
Room XXI

Government action Business action Access to remedy

9:00am CET

Corporate human rights due diligence – state of play and way forward

Organized by the Working Group on business and human rights

Brief description of the session:
This session will feature a presentation by the Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Dante Pesce. The presentation will highlight key findings and recommendations from the Working Group's report to the UN General Assembly in October 2018.
The focus of the report is the concept of corporate human rights due diligence set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The presentation will highlight key features of human rights due diligence and why it matters; gaps and challenges in current business and Government practice; emerging good practices; and how key stakeholders — States and the investment community, in particular — can contribute to the scaling-up of effective human rights due diligence.

Key documents

Working Group report on human rights due diligence to the 2018 General Assembly (available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian)
Executive summary of the Working Group report on human rights due diligence
Companion paper I – Corporate human rights due diligence: Background note and elaborating on key aspects
Companion paper II – Corporate human rights due diligence – Getting started, emerging practices, tools and resources
Overview of references to human rights due diligence in existing State national action plans on business and human rights
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
The Corporate Responsibility to Respect: An Interpretive Guide (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

Interpretation is provided in Korean

Speakers

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

26 Nov 1 WG presentation HRDD pdf

Monday November 26, 2018 9:00am - 10:00am CET
Room XXIII

Human rights due diligence, Human rights due diligence | Business action, Human rights due diligence | Government action, Human rights due diligence | Policy coherence, Human rights due diligence

9:00am CET

Voices from the ground

http://webtv.un.org/search/panel-on-voices-from-the-ground-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971600547001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&sort=date&page=2

Convened by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in collaboration with: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-growing (ECLT), The African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA), Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and Children's Rights, Global Witness and Rafto Foundation for Human Rights

Short description of the session:
This trailblazing session will feature a panel made up of only human rights defenders and community representatives from all regions, who will speak frankly about their stories and experiences of working to improve business respect for human rights in their countries, as well as the attacks they are under because of doing so. The session will be divided into three parts: the first part with focus on ways in which they’ve successfully defended themselves and achieved their goals this year, the second part will identify the common challenges that defenders and community representatives face in their work, and the third part will outline what they want to see between now and the next forum. We will leave enough time for interaction with the audience after each segment.
This session will offer an insight into the lives and struggles of defenders and community representatives, and outline a set of their core challenges and expectations to businesses, investors and governments, thus setting the scene for the 7th Forum on Business and Human Rights.

Session objectives:
The session will provide a “reality-check” early on in the Forum, and outline a set of core challenges and expectations by defenders and community representatives to businesses and governments, thus setting the scene for the 7th Forum on Business and Human Rights. The goal of the first part will be discuss ways that they’ve successfully defended themselves and achieved their goals so far, the objective of the second part will be to identify common challenges that defenders face in their work, and the objective of the third part will be to for defenders and community representatives to voice their expectations to the forum (governments, businesses, and investors).

Key discussion questions:

1st part: focuses on ways in which they’ve successfully defended themselves and achieved their goals so far
Question(s) to speakers: What was your main achievement in your work as a defender or community representatives this year? Why do you do what you do and what keeps you going?
Sub-questions: What were the main things that helped you and your colleagues continue defending human rights in the context of business operations in your country over the past year (coalitions, partnerships, new approaches to work, financial support, new laws, support from community/ family/ friends, religion, etc.)
2nd part: focuses on challenges HRDs face in their work
Question(s) to speakers: Who prevents you from advocating for rights in your country and how? What are the main types of attack you and your colleagues have faced in defending human rights in business operations in your country this year?
3rd part: focuses on what they would like to ask from the forum (govts, businesses, investors) - what do they want to see between now and the next forum
Question(s) to be asked to speakers: What are the main things that you would like to see businesses, investors and governments do in the coming year, that would improve the safety for and prevent attacks on defenders working for human rights in business in your country, and improve business respect for human rights?

Format of the session:
The session will open with a question or two to the audience to get them engaged early on. It will then be divided into three parts: the first part will identify ways in which they’ve successfully defended themselves and achieved their goals so far, the second will identify challenges that defenders face in their work, and the third part will outline what they would like to ask from the forum (governments, businesses, and investors) and what do they want to see between now and the next forum. We will leave enough time for interaction with the audience after each segment, so that governments, investors and businesses, can voice their proposals and feedback, and so that defenders and community representatives that won’t get a chance to speak on the panel, will have the opportunity to also share their stories (time permitting). The role of the moderator will be to engage the audience and to summarize the challenges and the demands voiced by the defenders.
In terms of identifying and voicing expectations, the speakers and the moderator will, to the extent possible, surface and built upon existing demands, such as the Action plan from the World HRDs Summit, the joint statement from 40+ civil society organizations from 2016, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders’ reports on the topic and other relevant material.

Background to the discussion:
Business and civil society operate in and benefit from a “shared space” defined by common, fundamental elements. The rule of law and freedom of expression, association and assembly are essential to the realization of all human rights, to good governance and accountable institutions. These elements are also critical to stable, profitable and sustainable business environments in which companies thrive and economies prosper. Standards and practices have evolved over the last two decades to encourage or require companies to respect human rights. Moreover, company engagement and consultation with local communities and stakeholders is overcoming conflict and confrontation in places and ways that encourage further progress. However, this shared space is under threat, not least through a sustained and growing attack on defenders wherever businesses have failed to comply with and respect due diligence national laws, standards and national and international human rights protocols. Alarmingly, in the last decade, HRDs have increasingly come under massive attack. Since 2015, there have been over 1,300 attacks on HRDs working human rights issues related to business, including almost 400 killings. Workers were exposed to physical violence and threats in 65 countries in 2018 and trade unionists were murdered in nine countries in the first half of that year. Journalists are increasingly being imprisoned and attacked – 262 journalists were imprisoned in 2017 and 29 journalists have been killed in 2018. Civicus data indicates that only 3% of people on the planet live in countries with truly ‘open civic space’. These pressures and attacks undermine the legal and institutional frameworks upon which both business and civil society depend. For the business and human rights agenda to continue moving forward, defenders, and the civic freedoms they need to do their work, must be recognized as a vital and inescapable part of ensuring human rights respect in business operations. Defenders cannot play that role without solid guarantees of safety and security. States have primary role in ensuring corporates respect constitutional frameworks and set in place governance machinery, regulatory mechanisms, legal and policy structures and resources as well as place the upholding of human rights and well-being of all its citizens at the core of its development economy.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Debbie Stothard

Coordinator/Founder, ALTSEAN

Grassroots-centered initiatives, youth activism. Women's leadership, atrocity prevention, BHR.

Speakers

Saeeda Kathoum

spokes-person, Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association

Sadhana Meena

Olman

Olman represents his fellow students and his community in Western Guatemala. Though he has returned to his studies, Olman is a former child labourer who will share about the realities he and other young people like him face accessing education, working from a young age. As the first-ever... Read More →

Venasio Tokatokavanua

Emmanuel Umpula

Directeur, AFREWATCH

M. Umpula Nkumba Emmanuel, est directeur et fondateur de Afrewatch (AFREWATCH), il est juriste et travaille depuis 2002 à la défense et la promotion des droits de l'homme en RDC et en Afrique sur les entreprises et les droits de l'homme. Pendant son parcours, il a occupé plusieurs... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 9:00am - 10:30am CET
Room XX

9:00am CET

Academic Networks in Conversation with Business and Human Rights Stakeholders

Organized by Academic Friends of the OECD Guidelines, BHRights Initiative for Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching on Business and Human Rights, Business and Human Rights Young Researchers, Business Schools Promoting Business and Human Rights, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization, International Law Association Reading Group on Business and Human Rights, Oxford Business and Human Rights Network.

Brief description of the session:
This session will explore the complex role of business & human rights academic networks of research and teaching in the business and human rights field. Building on the diverse roles that academic networks (understood in a broad sense) can fulfil - such as interpreting, training, facilitating, validating, expert cooperation and consulting - the roundtable aims to open the floor for a wide critical engagement with stakeholders in order to unpack the contribution that academic activities bring to various business and human rights stakeholders and in order to explore new ways of enhancing stakeholder engagement as well as impact.

Session objectives:
This session aims to:

Stimulate an interactive discussion with all BHR stakeholders on the role of BHR academic, research and teaching networks and of the multiple perspectives they bring to BHR.
Provide a platform for multi-stakeholder discussion about whether and how the academics and BHR research and teaching networks, themselves as stakeholders, contribute to shaping the BHR discourse, policy and practice.
Explore how the BHR networks shape and advance our understanding of how to effectively address corporate human rights challenges
Reflect on how to preserve critical engagement and independence of thinking in a highly polarised and politicised environment.

Key discussion questions:

How do research and teaching in these networks help advance the BHR thinking and practice? Which audiences and stakeholders do they reach or should aim to reach?
How do they contribute to identifying and building on what works in BHR?
What is the role of ‘action research’ within the BHR scholarly networks? To what extent do the BHR networks engage directly yet critically within the field?
What is the ‘sphere of influence’ of such BHR networks? How could researchers and BHR networks contribute to enhancing the impact of research results and insights within universities and business schools, as well as externally, among other stakeholders such as businesses, NGOs, government, the media?
Where do research and teaching on BHR happen and to what extent do other stakeholders have access to those knowledge platforms? Are there regional distinctions? Where are the gaps?
Should interdisciplinarity be put more firmly on the agenda, promoting systematic collaborations in research and through co-teaching modules? Would (global interdisciplinary) teaching programs (whether in academic or professional settings) be of more use?
What is the social responsibility that is at stake here? To what extent are these networks developing a ‘scholarly due diligence’, that embeds meaningful engagement with stakeholders?
Do BHR networks contribute to creating synergies between research and teaching in the field?
Should research or teaching within these networks be aligned or would this hamper innovative thinking? What is the scope of stakeholder engagement in these activities?
To what extent are BHR research and scholarship being shaped by funding opportunities or the lack thereof? How can the networks engage with stakeholders – government, businesses, funding bodies – in order to secure both sustainability and impact in research?

Tentative agenda:
Part I - Introduction by the represented networks
Representatives from the different BHR networks organizing the session will commence with short introductory remarks, presenting briefly selected issues for reflection and debate.

Part II - Multi-stakeholder dialogue
The questions set out for discussion will be used to stimulate debate and stakeholder engagement, inviting the audience to reflect on those issues and to identify additional ideas for advancing BHR research and teaching within a multi-stakeholder perspective.

Stakeholders that wish to engage with the proposed issues and share their experience and perspective on being part of a BHR network or on engaging as stakeholders with BHR scholarly platforms will be invited to share their perspective during short interventions of 2-3 minutes or by raising questions and taking part in the debate. The BHR stakeholders and networks that are considering participating in the session with a tabled intervention are encouraged to pre-register, by emailing the organisers at a.voiculescu@westminster.ac.uk. Participants may also submit written statements, before or soon after the session. In the hope of continuing the dialogue, following the debate, the roundtable organisers will aim to disseminate a brief report, summarising the session’s key points. This will be based on the discussion, tabled interventions and submitted written contributions.

Background to the discussion:
In the past years, a number of academic, research and teaching networks have emerged in the business and human rights (BHR) arena, becoming both creations and co-creators of the BHR field. Reflecting the complex make-up of the field itself, the focus of these networks varies greatly, yet they all aspire to address the points of tension between business activities and human rights, as well as the global challenges that stem from these points of tension. Some of these networks take a broad approach, engaging actively - through research and teaching - with all fields of BHR reflection, policy and practice, while others support specific instruments, such as the UNGPs, the OECD Guidelines or the Global Compact; some engage specific stakeholders - immigrant workers, indigenous populations, refugees - while yet others focus on growing - in classrooms and amphitheatres - generations of BHR-minded lawyers, business managers, financial advisers or, indeed, researchers; some aim for a global reach, while others have a regional or local focus; some are discipline-anchored (management, organization studies, business ethics or law), while others put forth interdisciplinary approaches. In this context, BHR networks develop – and depend – on complex interactions with multiple stakeholders.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Aurora Voiculesu

Associate Professor in Socio-Legal Studies and Human Rights, University of Westminster

Speakers

Michael Addo

Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly

Research Director, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly is a business ethics scholar with extensive practical experience working on the implementation of human rights in multi-stakeholder settings. Since 2013, she is the Director of Research at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, managing its strategic... Read More →

Björn Fasterling

Professor of Law, Head of Faculty Accounting, Control and Legal Affairs, EDHEC Business School

Raymond Saner

Director CSEND in Geneva and Co-chair of the academic network of the OECD RBC Guidelines, Professor, Basel University and Science Po in Paris

I'm a student of the LLM Program Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. I'm looking for the internship or entry-level position.

Florian Wettstein

Director, Institute for Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen

CRAAD-OI is a Panafrican Organization based in Madagascar which promotes sustainable development alternatives that are centered on the realization of human rights and based on the principles of gender equality, social, economic and ecological justice.

Monday November 26, 2018 9:00am - 10:30am CET
Room XXIV

International standards, Academic research | Stakeholder engagement, Academic research | Human rights due diligence, Academic research

9:30am CET

Introduction to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
The session will provide an overview of the background and key elements of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Session objectives:
To enable newcomers to the business and human rights field to get a good understanding of the UN Guiding on Business and Human Rights.

Background to discussion:
The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework is the authoritative global framework on business and human rights. The mandate from the Human Rights Council for the annual Forum on Business and Human Rights is focused on discussing challenges and lessons learned in implementing the UN Guiding Principles. Participants who are new to field can therefore benefit from this introductory briefing session on the background and key components of the Guiding Principles.

Speakers

Lene Wendland

Chief, Business and Human Rights, OHCHR

Lene Wendland is Chief of the Business and Human Rights Unit in UN Human Rights. She was part of the team of former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie, and contributed to the development and drafting of the UN Guiding... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 9:30am - 10:30am CET
Room XXI

International standards, UN Guiding Principles for newcomers

11:00am CET

Opening plenary

http://webtv.un.org/search/opening-plenary-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971612297001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Interpretation is provided in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Korean.
Watch the video recording in UN WebTV

Programme:
The Forum’s opening will consist of three parts:

(11:00-11:15): Welcome by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and by the Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights Dante Pesce.
(11:15-12:05): Conversation with civil society leaders.
(12:10-13:00): Conversation with business leaders.

Overall aim of opening plenary
The opening plenary of the UN Forum provides leadership and high-level perspectives on the main theme of the Forum. It features leaders from different background who can inspire others and help set the tone for constructive and solution-oriented dialogue over the three Forum days.
The backdrop to the discussions is the Forum’s mandate focused on discussing trends, challenges and emerging good practices in translating the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework into practice, and promoting multi-stakeholder dialogue and cooperation on business and human rights.

Conversation with civil society leaders
Prominent human rights advocates from around the world will share personal and inspiring stories of their struggles to call for business respect for human rights in practice.
Speakers:

Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation
Angkhana Neelapaijit, Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
Leonardo Sakamoto, Member of the Board of Trustees, UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, journalist, member of the Brazilian National Commission for the Eradication of Slave Labour and Chairman of Repórter Brasil.
Phyllis Omido, founder of the Center for Justice Governance and Environmental Action (Kenya)
Moderator: Kate Gilmore, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

Conversation with business leaders
Senior business leaders with share their perspectives on embedding respect for human rights in company practice and the importance of human rights due diligence.
Speakers:

Tania Cosentino, SDG Pioneer; Senior Vice President, Schneider Electric
Gary Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer, Newmont Mining Corporation
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, TOTAL S.A.
Jeannette Von Wolfersdorff, Member of the Board of the Santiago Exchange
Moderator: Dante Pesce, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Kate Gilmore

United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Kate Gilmore was appointed United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights on 1st December 2015.She brings to the position diverse and longstanding experience in strategic leadership and human rights advocacy with the United Nations, government and non-government organizations.Prior... Read More →

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Michelle Bachelet

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

On September 1, 2018 Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 1993 and Ms. Bachelet is the seventh Commissioner.Ms. Bachelet was elected President of Chile... Read More →

Tania Cosentino

Senior Vice President of Customer Satisfaction & Quality, Schneider Electric

Over the last 30 years, Tania Cosentino has dedicated her career to the electric industrial segment. She has occupied several managerial positions and functions in different companies, and this gave her a global and deep vision of the energy sector, its operations and trends.Tania... Read More →

Gary Goldberg

Chief Executive Officer, Newmont Goldcorp

Gary J. Goldberg was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and joined the Board of Directors of Newmont Mining Corporation on March 1, 2013. He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer since July 2012 and as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating... Read More →

Angkhana Neelapaijit

Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)

Angkhana Neelapaijit was born in Bangkok, Thailand where she grow up and graduated from Santa Cruz Convent school and the Faculty of Nurse, Mahidol University. Angkhana became the Human Rights activist after her husband who is a prominent Human Rights Lawyer was kidnapped by a group... Read More →

Phyllis Omido

grassroots environmental activist and co- founder, Center for justice governance and environmental action

Phyllis Omido, is a Kenyan grassroots environmental activist and co- founder of the center for justice governance and environmental action an organization that advocates for the right to a clean and healthy environment and socioeconomic rights of marginalized and ignored communities... Read More →

Patrick Pouyanne

Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, TOTAL S.A.

Chairman of the Board and CEO, Total. He held positions in French administration, including Environment Advisor to the Prime Minister (1993-1995) and Chief of Staff to the Information Technology Minister (1995-1996). He joined Total in 1997 and became Group Representative in Qatar... Read More →

Leonardo Sakamoto

Member of Board of Trustees, United Nations Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery

Leonardo Sakamoto is journalist and has a PhD in Political Science. Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery since 2014 and the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (Liechtenstein Initiative) since... Read More →

Kailash Satyarthi

2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation

Nobel Peace Laureate (2014) and Child Rights Activist Kailash SatyarthiFounder, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation - Ending violence against children globallyMr Satyarthi has been a tireless advocate of children’s rights for more than three decades. He and the grassroots... Read More →

Jeannette von Wolfersdorff

Directora, Bolsa de Santiago

Director of the Santiago Securities Exchange, and President of its Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee. Executive Director of the Chilean Fiscal Observatory, initiative from civil society to promote more effective and efficient public spending, and better accountability... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 11:00am - 1:00pm CET
Assembly Hall

Government action, Leadership perspectives | Business action, Leadership perspectives

Session Format Plenary

1:00pm CET

Lunch break

Sandwich lunch sponsored by the Government of Germany

Monday November 26, 2018 1:00pm - 1:30pm CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

1:30pm CET

Snapshot: Driving human rights due diligence through law - Lessons from the first year of application of the law: major challenges and recommendations for companies

Brief description of the presentation:
The French duty of vigilance law has operationalized the United Nations Guiding Principles by creating a new legal obligation for large French companies to implement a vigilance plan (risk mapping, risk management, warning systems and monitoring systems) to prevent serious violations of human rights and the environment, and to publish this plan in their annual reports. 2018 was the first year that companies published their vigilance plans. EDH has released a study on the first vigilance plans to show the first trends in the application of the French law by the companies concerned and to identify application challenges for the companies in order to accompany them in their approaches.

Presentation objectives:
This presentation aims to discuss the main results and global recommendations on the management and monitoring of the approach, including on risk identification, alert systems and public reporting.

Speakers

Françoise Guichard

President, EDH

Charlotte Michon

Executive Officer, EDH

French Business & Human Rights and duty of vigilance consultant: I support French international companies in the formalization of their global human rights approaches, and in particular in the implementation of due diligence processes as required by the French law and international... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 1:30pm - 1:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

1:30pm CET

Human rights due diligence in the world of sport

Session organized by IHRB, Ergon and Impactt

Brief description of the session:
The aim of the session is to provide a structured discussion, with resource people to support / lead, on the impact of sports in general – including but not restricted to Mega Sporting Events – on human rights. The structure of the event will be through the lens of defined rightsholders and impacts on their enjoyment of human rights. The structure of the session is interactive with only short opening presentations and then discussion groups
Key rightsholders for consideration during the session will include: players and athletes, fans, journalists, workers, community members. Cross cutting issues will include treatment of vulnerable people and children, impact on political and civil rights, LGBTQI+ rights, collaboration and stakeholder engagement.

Format of the session:

Outline of key issues for consideration, some thoughts on how the conversation at tables might be organised – John Morrison. (10 mins)
Group discussions – each person picks 2 out of 4 (2 x 30 mins - 60 mins total)

The room will split into 4 groups focusing on: fans and communities; players and athletes; journalists and human rights defenders; direct and indirect workers.
Each group will have at least two resource people who will give a very brief (5-minute total maximum) outline of what they see the key issues are from their perspective for the group in question.
The group will then either split into smaller groups or stay as one (depending on the numbers) to discuss the following questions: what rights can be impacted and how? How can due diligence be carried out in the sports sector to identify impacts on rightsholders? What actions can be taken to reduce negative impacts and provide remedy? Using stickie notes, the groups will be asked to map their impacts against potential responsive actions and stick them on the wall when the conversation is concluding.

Round up (Steve Gibbons and Rosey Hurst) (10 mins)
Call out of quick interesting points from the discussions based on identified people

Speakers

Gigi Alford

Head of Sport and Human Rights, World Players Association and Sport & Rights Alliance

Gigi Alford is head of Sport and Human Rights for UNI Global Union’s World Players Association, based in Nyon, Switzerland. She also coordinates the Sport & Rights Alliance, a global coalition of leading NGOs and trade unions working to embed human rights in sport. She is a member... Read More →

Steve Gibbons

Director, Ergon Associates

Steve is a founding director of Ergon Associates, a leading business and human rights consultancy. Ergon works with a range of actors including international institutions, development finance, companies, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. Steve has a particular focus on finance, sport... Read More →

Andreas Graf

Head of Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination, FIFA

Andreas Graf is Head of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination at FIFA. Andreas coordinates FIFA's work to embed respect for human rights throughout the organisation's operations and relationships. He holds a PhD in political science.

Rosey Hurst

Director, Impactt

Practical diagnosis, enterprise-level remediation and policy development on human rights issues in supply chains.

John Morrison

Coordinator, CorA Netzwork for Corporate Accountability

William Rook

Regional Manager, IHRB

As Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, William oversees the Centre’s strategic direction and manages day-to-day operations. William co-managed the process towards the creation of the Centre as IHRB Programme Lead for the Mega-Sporting Events Platform... Read More →

Masaki Wada

Director, The Global Alliance for Sustainable Supply Chain (ASSC)

Masaki Wada is a Director of the ASSC. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, Faculty of Economics. Masaki worked for a major, global manufacturer of sports equipment, where he managed CSR procurement and promoted CSR in Japan and Southeast Asia. In 2012, he was invited by... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XVII

Hot topic, Sport | Human rights due diligence, Sport

1:30pm CET

What do “Protect, Respect, Remedy” mean in practice for responsible tax conduct? A special focus on women's rights

Organized by the B Team, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Christian Aid, Financial Transparency Coalition and Oxfam

Brief description of the session:
When working well, business tax contributions fund key programs crucial for gender equality and women’s rights, including education, health, and care services. In contrast, when businesses avoid tax, public services go under-funded and consumption taxes are often increased, both of which disproportionately burden women. This session will drill down on the connection between responsible corporate tax practice and the corporate responsibility to respect human rights set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It will engage discussants from the audience in a multi-stakeholder dialogue on methods for driving responsible corporate tax practice that avoids adverse impacts on human rights.

Session objectives:
This session will draw out practice-based recommendations on how the UN Guiding Principles’ three pillars of “Protect, Respect and Remedy” can be leveraged by governments, companies and communities to ensure responsible tax practice. In order to enable a concrete and solution-oriented discussion the session will have a special focus on connecting responsible tax practice and women’s rights, and in particular how to rectify the often-hidden women’s rights risks posed by certain corporate tax practices. It will also focus on how companies are beginning to understand how paying tax in a transparent and responsible way is an important way in which they can positively contribute to the communities in which they operate.

Key discussion questions:
o What is the relationship between tax policy and human rights, in particular women’s rights?
o What are the duties and responsibilities of governments under the UN Guiding Principles’ Pillar I (State duty to protect) as related to business taxation? What are some examples of good state practice to enable corporate human rights due diligence on tax matters?
o How can Pillar II of the Guiding Principles (corporate responsibility to respect) be leveraged to restore more responsible business taxation in practice? What are examples of good corporate tax behavior in line with the corporate responsibility to respect human rights?
o What is the role of other stakeholders (e.g. investors, civil society organizations) in encouraging companies to view responsible tax practice as a way to meet their corporate responsibility to respect human rights – and that avoiding adverse impacts from irresponsible tax avoidance in fact would be a significant positive contribution to sustainable development in the societies in which they operate?
o What role does political influencing play, and to what degree does business’ tax lobbying affect both the state duty to protect and business’s responsibility to respect women’s rights?
o In light of Pillar III of the Guiding Principles (access to remedy for victims), what would effective remedy for corporate tax abuse look like, in practice?

Format of the session:
After an initial introduction by the moderator, this session will kick off with the presentation of a brief illustrative case of the risks irresponsible corporate tax practices pose to women’s rights. Practitioners from business, civil society, community, and government will then engage in a round-table discussion on how the UN Guiding Principles could be leveraged to address this type of situation.

Background to the discussion:
There is growing consensus amongst governments, the human rights protection system and civil society that taxation—in particular corporate tax policy—is a vital tool for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Ample evidence also suggests that women and girls are hurt the most when the ability of the ability of states to realize such rights is hampered by tax losses. Likewise, more and more companies are recognizing that paying their fair share of tax is a fundamental business responsibility.[1] Business groups are also recognising the importance of good governance in the area of tax incentives in the global South,[2] and some are adopting a set of Responsible Tax Principles.[3] When working well, business tax contributions fund key programs crucial for gender equality and women’s rights, including education, health, and care services. In contrast, when businesses avoid tax, public services go under-funded and consumption taxes are often increased, both of which disproportionately burden women.
In light of the significant human rights risks posed by irresponsible corporate tax practice, how can the UN business and human rights framework be leveraged to ensure responsible corporate tax policy and practice? “There is a need,” according to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, “to better delineate roles, responsibilities and appropriate accountability systems for both States and business enterprises with regard to specific issues, such as … tax avoidance.”[4] The State duty to protect human rights in its corporate tax policies, the business responsibility to respect human rights and carry out due diligence in their tax practices, and the need for effective remedy for tax abuse are all relevant, yet still emerging dimensions of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

[1] KPMG, 2017. ‘Responsible Tax and the Developing World: Is tax a fundamental human right?' at https://responsibletax.kpmg.com/page/responsible-tax-and-the-developing-world-is-tax-a-fundamental-human-right-
[2] ActionAid, CBI, Christian Aid and Oxfam, 2018. ‘Tax Incentives in the Global South: a business and civil society brief’ at https://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/about-us/tax-incentives-global-south-business-and-civil-society-brief
[3] The B-Team, “A New Bar for Responsible Tax: The B Team Responsible Tax Principles”
[4] A/HRC/29/28; See also John Ruggie, 2017: “Neither the income inequality nor the base erosion and profit shifting associated with the current structure of corporate globalization are socially sustainable” at https://www.ihrb.org/other/supply-chains/making-economic-globalisation-work-for-all-speech-by-prof.-john-ruggie

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Irit Tamir

Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam

Speakers

Rajiv Joshi

Managing Director, The B Team

Rajiv Joshi is a social entrepreneur and activist who serves as Managing Director and a founding member of The B Team, based in New York. He is working actively with some of the world’s most influential CEOs to help redefine the role of business in tackling inequality, corruption... Read More →

Manuel F Montes

Permanent Observer and Senior Advisor on Finance and Development and advisor to ICRICT, South Centre

Manuel F. Montes is Permanent Observer to the UN and Senior Advisor on Finance and Development for the South Centre. He was formerly Chief of the Development Strategies Branch, UNDESA; UNDP Regional Programme Coordinator, Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Initiative in Colombo, Sri... Read More →

Jane S Nalunga

Executive Director, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) Uganda

Jane Seruwagi Nalunga is an expert on trade, tax and investment related issues. She has more than twenty years of experience in policy research, analysis and advocacy and has authored a number of policy oriented studies and articles. Jane sits on a number of national policy making... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Hot topic, Responsible tax conduct | Human rights due diligence, Responsible tax conduct

1:30pm CET

Labour rights and human rights due diligence

Organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO)

Brief description of the session:
This session will address corporate human rights due diligence in relation to labour rights, showcasing good practices and lessons learned. It will look into such processes within a company’s own operations as well as in its business relationships with other enterprises.

Session objectives:

Facilitate exchange of experiences on how corporate human rights due diligence processes can help enterprises to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for adverse labour rights impacts, including the fundamental principles and rights at work, working conditions, OSH, hours of work, wages, etc.
Provide examples of meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders, and the central role of freedom of association and collective bargaining as well as industrial relations and social dialogue in this process.

Key discussion questions:

How have the UNGPs been reflected in new international labour standards and the revised ILO Tripartite Declaration concerning multinational enterprises and social policy (MNE Declaration)?
How are business enterprises in all tiers of the supply chain engaging with workers' organizations as part of their efforts to engage in meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups in order to “take account of the central role of freedom of association and collective bargaining as well as industrial relations and social dialogue as an ongoing process” as set out in the ILO MNE Declaration? How does consultation with trade unions differ from engagement with other relevant stakeholders?
What is the role of governments in this consultation and how are governments supporting this engagement?
What have been some of the challenges and lessons learned?
What sustainable solutions have resulted from such due diligence processes? What role did meaningful engagement with, or involvement of, workers and their representatives play in those efforts?

Format of the session:
The session will be in the format of a roundtable discussion with open discussions with the audience.

Background to the discussion :
Under Pillar 2 of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), enterprises should carry out due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts that relate to internationally recognized human rights, understood, at a minimum, as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the principles concerning fundamental rights set out in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW). The 1998 Declaration sets out rights in four categories: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
2018 marks the 20th anniversary FPRW Declaration (1998), which provides an opportunity to look at how effective due diligence processes can help companies to identify and assess the impacts of their operations on labour rights. The 2017 revised text of the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) includes a specific paragraph on due diligence in order to incorporate the concept of due diligence set out in the UNGPs. The MNE Declaration states that "In order to gauge human rights risks, enterprises – including multinational enterprises – should identify and assess any actual or potential adverse human rights impacts with which they may be involved either through their own activities or as a result of their business relationships. This process should involve meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders including workers’ organizations, as appropriate to the size of the enterprise and the nature and context of the operation. For the purpose of achieving the aim of the MNE Declaration, this process should take account of the central role of freedom of association and collective bargaining as well as industrial relations and social dialogue as an ongoing process”.
Additionally, ILO has referenced due diligence in the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, the Recommendation No. 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience, 2017 and the Resolution and conclusions concerning decent work in global supply chains adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2016.

Interpretation is provided in Korean.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Victor Van Vuuren

OIC ADG for Jobs and Protection, International Labour Organization

Victor has a Law Degree. Worked as prosecutor and magistrate and then moved into the private sector as a corporate legal advisor and human resources director at executive level in large corporates. He helped establish a unified South African business federation and was appointed as... Read More →

Speakers

Stefanie Freyberg

Unit CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany

Elaine McKay

International Affairs Director, Japan Tobacco International (JTI)

Elaine is an international development specialist with global experience, applying principles of human rights in the private sector. She has more than 20 years of progressive and demonstrated experience creating and executing CSR and sustainability initiatives. She has achieved global... Read More →

Roberto Suarez Santos

Secretary-General, International Organisation of Employers

Roberto Suárez Santos fue nombrado Secretario General de la Organización Internacional de Empleadores (OIE) el 26 de octubre de 2018, tras haber ejercido como Secretario General Adjunto desde diciembre de 2012. Tras un exitoso periodo como Secretario General Adjunto, durante el... Read More →

Víctor Garrido Sotomayor

International department, International Department, Comisiones Obreras, CCOO Industry (Spain)

Ruwan Subasinghe

Legal Director, International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)

Ruwan Subasinghe is the Legal Director of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). He specialises in labour, human rights and international law. Ruwan represents the ITF at external bodies including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organization for... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXI

International standards, Labour rights

1:30pm CET

Driving human rights performance from the top in the mining sector – the role of the board and investors

http://webtv.un.org/search/panel-on-human-rights-in-mining-sector-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971635102001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Background to the discussion:
In January this year, Blackrock’s Chairman and CEO, Lawrence Fink, wrote an open letter to business leaders noting that, “to sustain… performance, you must understand the societal impact of your business”. Businesses have the potential to impact society in a range of ways, negatively and positively. Implementing the UN Guiding Principles allows companies to understand and address some of these potential impacts as they relate to human rights.
Good governance and a strong board are critical to making respect for human rights part of how business gets done, thereby advancing a range of human rights in society, while protecting and creating value for the business. As Fink noted, “a company’s ability to manage environmental, social and governance matters demonstrates the leadership and good governance that is so essential to sustainable growth.” Board engagement is essential to improved performance over the long term, in providing rigorous oversight and accountability, in developing strategy and articulating purpose and responding to questions that are increasingly important to its investors, its consumers, and the communities in which it operates.

Key questions:

What does the board see from a governance perspective and what expertise do they bring to the table?
What do they discuss and how do they work with their CEO and management team in and out of the boardroom to manage risks to business and risks to people, reputation and long-term value to shareholders?
What challenges and opportunities do they see for improving performance in their sector?

Jane Nelson, Board member of Newmont, will offer her perspective on why this agenda matters to Newmont and how she is working with Newmont’s leadership to drive it forward, including highlighting some of the challenges they face in practice.
Human rights have long been a concern of socially responsible investors, but there are indications that human rights are moving onto the agenda of mainstream investors. Why does this matter to investors and what do they expect to see in terms of board oversight and governance?
Tom Butler, CEO of ICMM, a CEO -led association of 27 global mining companies, will talk to the commitments ICMM member companies make on board oversight and governance and share reflections from the industry on investor engagement on social issues and human rights.

Format:
This session will provide an opportunity for an interactive and constructive discussion where participants are able to engage directly with senior leaders on key human rights topics, with a focus on driving performance through knowing, showing and acting. It will complement the opening plenary session on the role of CEOs/ Senior management on leading from the top (see below).
The format and structure will be guided by input from the speakers and the moderator. One suggestion is that each panel member has 5 minutes for an opening pitch to the floor and then the moderator leads a discussion across the panel on 2-3 substantive issues before opening to the floor. We can gather Q&A from the floor during the session and pull them together for the moderator to select and ask.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Caroline Rees

President, Shift

Caroline Rees is President and Co-Founder of Shift. Shift is a non-profit mission-driven organization that works across all continents and sectors to challenge assumptions, push boundaries, and redefine corporate practice, in order to build a world where business gets done with respect... Read More →

Speakers

Tom Butler

CEO, International Council on Mining and Metals

John Howchin

Secretary General, Swedish Council on Ethics for the AP Funds

I have worked with socially responsible investments and corporate social responsibility for over 20 years, cross all sectors and all around the world. Happy to talk about everything relevant.

Andy Jones

Head of Mining, Hermes Asset Management

Jane Nelson

Director of Corporate Responsibility Initiative and Newmont Board member, Harvard Kennedy School

Jane Nelson has worked in the field of corporate responsibility and public-private partnerships for almost 30 years working with organizations such as The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the UN Global Compact... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XX

Sectoral perspectives, Extractive industries, Leadership perspectives, Investors | Stakeholder engagement, Extractive industries, Leadership perspectives, Investors | Human rights due diligence, Extractive industries, Leadership perspectives, Investors

1:45pm CET

Snapshot: Managing risks at the operational level ; lessons from Vinci in Qatar

Brief description of the presentation:
The French duty of vigilance law requires parent companies to identify and manage human-rights risks. How to take into account the highly operational nature of human rights issues and provide appropriate responses on the ground? This session is a case study as to how companies and international trade unions can work together collaboratively to address human rights risks at the country level in Qatar and find solutions in cases where human risks have risen.

Presentation objectives:
This presentation aims to provide a practical example of human rights risks management at a country level: Vinci’s risk management of living and working conditions in Qatar.

Speakers

Jin Sook Lee

Global Campaign Director, Building and Wood Workers’ International

Jin Sook Lee is the Global Campaign Director of the Building and Wood Workers’ International a global union federation with a membership of 12 million in the construction and building materials, wood and forestry, allied sectors in over 140 countries. As Global Campaign Director... Read More →

Sarah Tesei

Human Rights and Social Innovation Director, Vinci

Monday November 26, 2018 1:45pm - 2:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Regulatory and policy developments | Human rights due diligence, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

2:00pm CET

Snapshot: Lead and deploy the vigilance approach: a challenge for large companies; lessons from BNP and Orange

Brief description of the presentation:
The French law applies to large companies with international activities. It requires the implementation of a global risk prevention process (identification, evaluation, management and monitoring) covering different thematic areas within the company. How can we lead the process, promote cross-functionality and involve all stakeholders?

Presentation objectives:
This presentation aims to give two examples of companies for the deployment of an effective approach within large groups of companies: the example of Orange on how to work together and to build a shared vision; and the example of BNP Paribas on how to support the process through appropriate training actions.

Speakers

Emmanuelle Bru

Head of Stakeholders dialogue and Human rights issues, BNP Paribas

Yves Nissim

VP Head of transformation and operation in CSR, Orange

Yves is deputy Chief CSR Officer of the Orange Group. His main field of expertise is Group CSR transformation, CSR reporting for the Group, stake holder dialogue and Human rights. He has carried Stake holder dialogue based on Orange CSR Strategy, in the main countries of the Orange... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 2:00pm - 2:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Regulatory and policy developments | Human rights due diligence, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

2:15pm CET

Snapshot: The French Duty of Vigilance - Lessons learned and Guidance on Vigilance Plans

Brief description of the presentation:
This presentation will rely on the reference guidance on the duty of vigilance developed by Sherpa (the "VPRG"). It will give an overview of the aspects of published Vigilance Plans that most need improvement for the second round of implementation of the law in 2019. In particular, issues of disclosure and follow-up on implementation of vigilance measures will be addressed.

Presentation objectives:
This presentation should inform civil society’s advocacy strategies around the Vigilance Law. The elements presented could also be of utmost importance for companies wanting to comply thoroughly with the law to circumvent the risk of litigation. Indeed, it should be recalled that the Law’s judicial enforcement mechanisms will be applicable from the spring 2019.

Speakers

Sandra Cossart

Executive Director, Sherpa

Sandra Cossart is an international lawyer and Sherpa’s Executive Director. After starting her career within the EU institutions, she worked as a corporate lawyer and legal consultant in Paris, Russia and England. She joined Sherpa in 2010 and was at the forefront of some important... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 2:15pm - 2:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Disclosure, Leadership perspectives, Regulatory and policy developments | Stakeholder engagement, Disclosure, Leadership perspectives, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

2:30pm CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence: practices in the supply chain. Findings from a cross-sectoral study.

Short description of the presentation:
The legal landscape is developing fast, with increasing focus on a company’s control over human rights impacts of the supply chain. Many companies are only just starting to explore the complexities of such supply chain human rights due diligence.

Presentation objectives:
This session will highlight some of the key findings of a recent study by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) with Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) on existing and emerging practices for supply chain HRDD across a range of sectors. It will also consider these trends against the growing legal framework applicable to supply chain management, and what still needs to be done to achieve the supply chain HRDD envisioned by the UNGPs.

Speakers

Gabrielle Holly

Associate, Omnia Strategy LLP

Gabrielle Holly is a business and human rights specialist and an experienced commercial disputes practitioner having practiced for many years at Magic Circle firms in Australia and the UK. She is currently an Associate at Omnia Strategy LLP, where her practice focuses on business... Read More →

Lise Smit

Associate Senior Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights, British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Lise Smit conducts research on human rights due diligence and legal developments around the implementation of the UNGPs at BIICL. She was previously a litigation practitioner (barrister / advocate) at the Cape Bar in South Africa, and has worked on business and human rights issues... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 2:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Supply chains, Academic research

Session Format Snapshot

2:45pm CET

Snapshot: Documenting Human Rights Due Diligence- Operational-level human rights impacts assessments

Brief description of the presentation:
The UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) indicate the need for regular operational-level human rights impact assessments as part of human rights due diligence (HRDD). In order to hold each other accountable to the global minimum standard for responsible business conduct, the UNGPs, companies need to develop an expected level of information to be exchanged in business relationships, documenting that appropriate HRDD is in place. This way business partners can be mutually assured that the relationship does not expose the partners to unmanaged risks.

Presentation objectives:
This snapshot session centres on the need to be able to document HRDD. Subsequent sessions seek to illustrate what documentation of HRDD may look like in practice, and how the use of the UNGPs as the common reference point can scale up respect for human rights. How to make HRDD concrete, pragmatic, practical and effective? And how to document the work, stressing the importance of building internal capacity for implementation and maintenance of HRDD.

Speakers

Sune Skadegaard Thorsen

GLOBAL CSR, CEO and co-founder

Sune Skadegaard Thorsen is CEO/founder of GLOBAL CSR, and recognised as a leading sustainability consultant advising corporations, governments, multilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations on how to implement CR with an International Principles-Based Approach. Mr... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 2:45pm - 3:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, snapshot sub-type 1, snapshot sub-type 2 | International standards, snapshot sub-type 1, snapshot sub-type 2

Session Format Snapshot

3:00pm CET

Snapshot: Employer Association Relations - Need to Document Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
The session focuses on the advantages of working together; sharing results, developing tools, increasing leverage and how to cater for different sizes of companies in documenting HRDD through operational-level impact assessments.

Presentation objectives:
In this snapshot session, the Danish Restaurateur’s Guarantee Association, REGA, shares experiences on the collaboration, committing and assisting key actors within the industry to conduct and document HRDD.

Speakers

Lea Marie Juliussen

CSR consultant, Restaurateurs’ Guarantee Association, REGA

As program manager of REGA, Restaurateurs Garantee Arrangement, I consult leading companies within the hospitality industry on social, environmental and economic sustainability, using the UN and OECD guidelines for responsible business conduct to create a solid foundation for tomorrow's... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 3:00pm - 3:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence Sectoral perspectives

Session Format Snapshot

3:00pm CET

Are States making progress on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? Challenges, innovations and lessons learned from implementation

http://webtv.un.org/search/part-i-panel-on-progress-on-the-un-guiding-principles-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971665695001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief Description:
This Forum session led by the Working Group will provide an opportunity for States to share updates on progress in implementing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and for all relevant stakeholders to engage in open dialogue on ways forward.

Under the 2018 Forum’s central theme “Business respect for human rights –building on what works”, the Working Group invites States to share information about:

(a) Regulatory and policy developments to provide guidance, incentives and/or requirements for business enterprises to carry out human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts across operations and value chains;
(b) Updates on national action plans on business and human rights (in line with Human Rights Council resolution 26/22, paragraph 4), including assessments of impact of the implementation of existing plans.

The Forum’s regional track will provide further opportunities for exchange about such initiatives and stakeholder perspectives on the ways forward.

Part I – Government leadership to drive business respect for human rights – Lessons learned from around the world and ways forward

Opening remarks by Dante Pesce, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights – Government action to drive business respect – what is the current state of play?
Government panel to share experiences on new developments and commitments for moving the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from paper to practice [broad focus: legislation, regulation, national action plans and other policy frameworks]
Open dialogue: Government action to drive corporate human rights due diligence: what works? Lessons from regulatory and policy action
- Interventions by other states from the floor
- Interventions by other stakeholders from the floor

Background to the discussion:
In its 2018 report to the General Assembly (A/73/163), the Working Group highlights how States are performing in promoting corporate human rights due diligence. It notes that the human rights due diligence standard set out in the Guiding Principles is increasingly reflected in government policy frameworks and legislation, including mandatory disclosure of risks of modern slavery in supply chains. In the 20 national action plans on business and human rights that have been issued to date, Governments have reaffirmed the expectation that business enterprises exercise human rights due diligence.

The report also highlights gaps: A lack of government leadership in addressing governance gaps remains the biggest challenge. A fundamental issue is that host Governments are not fulfilling their duty to protect human rights, either failing to pass legislation that meets international human rights and labour standards, or failing to enforce legislation that would protect workers and affected communities.

While some home Governments have introduced due diligence or disclosure legislation, such efforts also remain patchy or uncoordinated. Governments are not providing enough guidance on human rights due diligence and support tailored to national business audiences, including small and medium-sized enterprises. A lack of policy coherence in government practice is part of the overall picture, and Governments are not leading by example in their own roles as economic actors.
The key message to Governments is that they should use all available regulatory and policy levers, such as: policy tools and frameworks, including national action plans in order to enhance policy coherence overall; legislation, regulation and adjudication; economic incentives in “economic diplomacy” and public procurement; leadership by example in their role as economic actors; provision of guidance (including for SMEs); and promotion of multi-stakeholder dialogue.
The Forum provides an opportunity for States and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue on the emerging practices, shortcomings and solutions highlighted by the Working Group.

How to participate:
States that wish to share their experiences and perspectives are invited to pre-register by sending an email to wg-business@ohchr.org with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line:
“Forum GOVT. ACTION – [country name]”.
Although speaking time is limited (3 minutes for statements), all States will be able to submit statements to be posted on the Forum webpage. States should indicate whether they would like to speak in part I or part II, or both.
States are encouraged to participate with representatives from across relevant Government ministries, departments and agencies.

Other participants wishing to join the multi-stakeholder dialogue on lessons learned and ways forward are also invited to sign up in advance by sending an email to: wg-business@ohchr.org with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line: “2018 Forum GOVT. ACTION session – Multi-stakeholder dialogue - [name of organization]”. Interventions should be no more than 2-3 minutes in order to allow time for as many stakeholder perspectives as possible. Written statements may be submitted for posting on the Forum web page. Those signing up for the speaker list should indicate whether they wish to speak in part I or part II, or both.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Francisco Barbosa

Presidential Adviser on Human Rights, Government of Colombia

Meo Beyan

Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs, Ministry for Economic Affairs, Liberia

Somn Promaros

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

Maylis Souque

Secretaria General del Punto Nacional de Contacto de la OCDE, Direccion General del Tesoro del Gobierno Frances

Maylis SOUQUE is the Secretary General of the French OECD NCP for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) and Senior Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the Directorate General of the Treasury of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance. She organizes the work of... Read More →

Matias Rodriguez Urrutia

Subsecretaria de Derechos Humanos, Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos de Chile

Matías Rodríguez Urrutia es el coordinador, desde enero de 2019, del Plan de Acción Nacional de Derechos Humanos y Empresas de Chile, política pública que lleva adelante la Subsecretaría de Derechos Humanos, del Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos.De profesión periodista... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XX

Government action, Regulatory and policy developments | Policy coherence, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format General debate with States

3:00pm CET

Integrating indigenous peoples rights in human rights due diligence: what does it mean in practice?

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish

Brief description of the session and session objectives:

The objectives of this session are to: (1) discuss good practices from the perspective of the indigenous rights holders, lessons-learned, gaps, and challenges to strengthen the implementation of FPIC, in particular the significance of community protocols in the context of business activities and (2) identify factors for an enabling environment for respecting indigenous peoples’ rights and effective implementation of FPIC process.

Background to the discussion:

Following the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a growing number of investors, financial institutions and businesses in a range of sectors have developed, or are in the process of developing, safeguard policies that require them to respect indigenous peoples’ rights, especially their right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as part of the human rights due diligence expected of them and social license to operate. Furthermore, indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination and to lands, territories and resources have been gaining support and attention at different levels. However, a growing body of decisions of UN human rights bodies, regional and national courts and complaint mechanisms such as the OECD National Contract Points demonstrate that indigenous peoples continue to be the victims of human rights abuses associated with business activities.
At the same time, indigenous peoples are increasingly developing their own protocols and policies, which provide guidance to States and corporations on how to consult with them and seek their FPIC in accordance with their right to self-determination and their customary decision-making practices. Communities from the Murut Tahol Community in Alutok, Ulu Tomani, Tenom, Malyasia as well as the Juruna People in the Brazilian Amazon and the Embera Chami in Colombia, are among those who have developed such protocols. These protocols reflect the community's identity, culture, ways of life and the interconnection of territories, peoples and nature. They highlight the central importance of respect for indigenous peoples’ rights, including their self-determination right to decide their own plans, priorities and visions for their futures and the related right of communities to make decisions on externally proposed projects in or near their territories.
The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights is unique in that it provides all parties involved in such projects, i.e. States, private sector actors and indigenous peoples, a space in which to dialogue and to ensure that the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are effective for indigenous peoples, particularly in relation to their collective rights to self-determination, FPIC and lands, territories and resources.

Key discussion questions:

What were the different contexts that community protocols have played a role (or could play a role) in facilitating meaningful FPIC processes?
To what extent do community protocols address the role of governments in human rights due diligence and FPIC and the corresponding responsibilities of corporations?
What are the experiences of implementing FPIC processes in different regions and are there good practices that can be replicated by other indigenous communities or adopted by States or private sectors in their policies and guidelines?

Format of the session:

The event will consist of a panel discussion with brief case study presentations followed by a 50-minute interactive discussion with session participants. The focus will be on how to ensure the effective implementation of consultation and FPIC in the context of business activities and the role which indigenous peoples’ consultation and FPIC protocols can play in this regard.
Indigenous community representatives from three regions (Asia, Latin America and Africa) will present their experience with consultation and FPIC processes and their views on the importance and benefits of consultation and free prior and informed consent (FPIC) protocols that are developed by indigenous peoples themselves.
The floor will be opened to participants to raise questions and present their perspectives on and experiences with consultation and FPIC processes and on related protocols developed by indigenous peoples. This part of the session will be “talk show format”, with the participants having the opportunity to raise questions amongst each other as in a public dialogue or engage with the panel.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Mary Ann Bayang

the Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education

Cathal Doyle

Research Fellow, Middlesex University London School of Law

Research fellow at Middlesex University London School of Law and member of the European Network on Indigenous Issues (ENIP)

Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie,

Special Advisor for Indigenous Issues to the Canadian government, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations

Lea Nicholas-MacKenzie is a member of the Wəlastəkwey nation (Maliseet First Nation) in New Brunswick, Canada.Ms. Nicholas-MacKenzie has served in a variety of public and private sector capacities. Most recently, she was Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General... Read More →

Speakers

Windel Bolinget

Chaiperson, Cordillera Peoples Alliance, the Philippines, Cordillera Peoples Alliance and KATRIBU, Philippines

I am an Indigenous Bontok-Kankanaey of the Igorot peoples of northern Luzon, Philippines. I am the Chairperson of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and the National Co-Convenor of KATRIBU, the national alliance of indigenous peoples in the Philippines. I have been an activist... Read More →

Nicholas Cotts

Vice President - Sustainability and External Relations, Newmont Mining Corporation

Mali Ole Kaunga

Director/Founder, IMPACT/ PARAN alliance Kenya

Mali Ole Kaunga is a laikipia Maasai, the founder and Director of OSILIGI(Organisation for the Survival of IL- Laikipiak Maasai Indigenous Group Initiatives) that translate to HOPE in Maasai. OSILIGI later transformed into IMPACT (Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict... Read More →

Ana Laynez

Indigenous authority, Ixil indigenous community, Guatemala

Monday November 26, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XXIII

Groups at risk, Indigenous peoples | Stakeholder engagement, Indigenous peoples

3:00pm CET

What human rights responsibilities apply to businesses with respect to climate change?

Interpretation is provided into Spanish

Organized by OHCHR

Brief description of the session:
This session will explore the responsibilities of businesses with respect to climate change, mitigation and adaptation. Businesses must be accountable for their climate impacts, participate responsibly in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts with full respect for human rights, and exercise human rights due diligence in the course of their activities. States must also ensure that their own business activities, including activities conducted in partnership with the private sector, contribute to mitigating climate change while respecting human rights, and ensuring effective remedies for climate and human rights harms. Businesses and governments should go beyond simply avoiding climate harms and actively work to promote development that benefits both people and planet.

Session objectives:
Raise awareness of business responsibilities related to human rights and climate change.
Identify good practices and concrete solutions to human rights challenges faced by businesses in the context of climate change.

Key discussion questions:
1. What is the responsibility of the private sector for climate change?
2. What does a rights-based approach to climate action look like for companies? What responsibilities does the private sector have to limit their carbon footprint (e.g. human right due diligence)?
3. How can companies be held accountable for climate-related human rights harms?

Background to the discussion:
Climate change is a key challenge facing the global community, and one that impacts, directly and indirectly, an array of internationally guaranteed human rights. Private actors, including businesses, contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and thus contribute to the impacts of climate change on human rights. At the same time, international agreements, including the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Financing for Development, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognize that private actors must play a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and in ensuring development that is truly sustainable and in line with the vision elaborated in the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development.

Today, global attention is increasingly trained on the impact that businesses have on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, and businesses are increasingly aware of human rights as both a risk factor and as a moral and legal imperative. Despite strong understanding of the links between climate change and human rights, climate change and business, and business and human rights, there is a lack of action to ensure business accountability for climate change.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Sandra Epal-Ratjen

International Advocacy Director and Deputy Executive Director, Franciscans International

Ms Sandra Epal-Ratjen is the International Advocacy Director and Deputy Executive Director of Franciscans International.She has extensive experience and expertise in international legal and advocacy processes, especially pertaining Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.Prior to her... Read More →

Speakers

Nnimmo Bassey

Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation

Environmental justice and human rights advocate. Concerned about corporate and governance/justice issues in the extractives and food sectors.

Eugenio Roberto T. Cadiz

Commissioner, Philippines Commission on Human Rights

Commissioner Eugenio Roberto T. Cadiz is the focal commissioner for Business and Human Rights; Environment; Suffrage and Civic Participation; International Humanitarian Law; Human Rights Defenders; Peace; and Sustainable Development Goals, at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of... Read More →

Surya Deva

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

Eniko Horvath

Senior Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

My work focuses on the links between climate actions and human rights (including strengthening renewable energy sector's respect for human rights) and efforts to strengthen business respect for human rights in Europe.

Lucielle Paru

Executive Director, Papua Native Landowners Association Inc (PNLA)

I am an Activist from Papua New Guinea and for the past decade have raised issues, awareness and lobbied with the Government and Opposition of our Country PNG. At current the major issues I work on are: the Papuan People Want for Freedom from PNG, Papuan Land Grabbing issues and Environmental... Read More →

Guillermo Pickering

Chairman of the board, Aguas Andinas

Guillermo Pickering de la Fuente is a prominent Chilean lawyer who has held high positions in both the public and private sectors. He is currently President of Aguas Andinas, the most important water utility and sewage management company in Chile, and President of the Association... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XXI

Hot topic, Environment

3:00pm CET

Disruptive technology I: what does artificial intelligence mean for human rights due diligence

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish

Session organized by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and Article One.

Brief description of the session:
Artificial intelligence (AI) will transform how we live, interact, work, do business, and govern. The human rights benefits of these disruptions could be significant, such as improved health diagnostics, enhanced education systems, better fraud prevention, and self-driving vehicles that improve road safety.
However, evidence is mounting about potential adverse human rights impacts too. This includes new forms of discrimination arising from algorithmic bias, increased potential of surveillance using facial recognition tools, and new risks to child rights as the volume of data collected about children increases substantially.
These diverse risks and opportunities are united by three key features: the complexity of the technologies being deployed; the speed with which impacts may take hold; and the considerable uncertainty about how AI will evolve.

Session objectives:
Share the process and findings from human rights impact assessments of AI, increase awareness of how AI can enhance due diligence, and stimulate new thinking about human rights due diligence methods capable of addressing an uncertain future.

Key discussion questions:

Can we build tools and methods equipped to address the complexity, speed, and uncertainty of AI?
What due diligence should be undertaken across the AI value chain, including during the use phase?
What is the respective role of technology and non-technology companies?
How can human rights due diligence be incorporated into product design?
How can AI be used to improve human rights due diligence?

Format
This roundtable discussion will take the form of a participatory dialogue (no speeches) about emerging practices, challenges, and solutions for human rights due diligence in the context of AI.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Dunstan Allison-Hope

Managing Director, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)

Dunstan leads BSR's human rights, inclusive economy, and women's empowerment practice areas. Dunstan's specialist fields are human rights due diligence in the technology sector and sustainability reporting and disclosure. Dunstan facilitated the multistakeholder process which led... Read More →

Faris Natour

Co-Founder and Principal, Co-Founder and Principal, Article One / Director, Human Rights and Business Initiative, University of California, Berkeley

Faris Natour is an internationally recognized expert with over fifteen years of experience working at the intersection of business and human rights. As Principal of Article One, Faris advises corporate and institutional clients across sectors and regions on human rights strategy and... Read More →

Speakers

Steve Crown

Deputy General Counsel, Human Rights, Microsoft

UNGPs. HRIAs. Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.

Olga DiPretoro

Program Officer, Winrock International

Olga has been designing and managing programs that address human trafficking risks and promote human rights for the past decade. Her experience includes direct work with trafficking survivors, governments, civil society and the private sector in tackling systemic issues that enable... Read More →

Eimear Farrell

Advocate and Advisor, Technology and Human Rights, Amnesty Tech, Amnesty International

Hibah Kamal-Grayson

Public Policy Manager, Human Rights and Internet Governance, Google

Minwoo Kim

Research Professor, International Human Rights Center at the GSIS, Korea University

Minwoo Kim is the Research Professor of International Human Rights Center at GSIS, Korea University and the Managing Director of Asia Business and Human Rights Center at Human Asia. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations from Korea University with a focus on business and... Read More →

Padmini Ranganathan

Global Vice President, Products & Innovation, SAP Ariba

- Applying technology to bring transparency in supply chains, to enable socially sustainable supply chains- Real world challenges in the areas of tracking and monitoring labor rights, fair wages and inclusion in all nodes of the supply chain

Sabrina Rau

Senior Research Officer, Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, School of Law Human Rights Centre, University of Essex

Sabrina is a Senior Research Officer in the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology (HRBDT) project based at the University of Essex. Her work focuses primarily on rights, regulation and remedies and the role of business in the digital age. Sabrina’s current research revolves around... Read More →

Kelli Schlegel

Manager, Human Rights, Intel

Human Right and business, Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.

Monday November 26, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XVII

Hot topic, Technology | Human rights due diligence, Technology

3:15pm CET

Snapshot: Employer Association Collaboration - Documenting Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
In this session, Sticks’n’Sushi, part of the REGA initiative, shares experiences conducting its first operational impact assessment as part of documenting HuRi through collaboration with other restaurants; and the potential for addressing systemic challenges for the industry in collaboration with peers.

Presentation objectives:
CEO Kim Rahbek presents on the influence the initiative has and the benefits it brings Sticks’n’Sushi.

Speakers

Kim Rahbek Hansen

Founder & Restaurateur, Sticks’n’Sushi

Founder of Sticks'n'Sushi, present in Copenhagen, London and Berlin, focusing on conducting a sustainable business. Also spokesperson for REGA, Restaurateurs' Guarantee Association; the hospitality industry’s guarantee for responsible business conduct. The first of its kind. The... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 3:15pm - 3:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action Sectoral perspectives Human rights due diligence

Session Format Snapshot

3:30pm CET

Snapshot: Investor Relations - Need to Document Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
This session both introduces the screening tool Polaris uses when assessing the degree of alignment with the UNGPs of potential investments and the process from engaging in partnership with the portfolio company to aligning with the UNGPs.

Presentation objectives:
In this snapshot session, Polaris presents the UNGPs application in investment.

Speakers

Henrik Bonnerup

Partner and CFO, Polaris Management A/S

Monday November 26, 2018 3:30pm - 3:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Investors | Human rights due diligence, Investors

Session Format Snapshot

3:45pm CET

Snapshot: Investor Relations - ICT Company Documenting Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
This snapshot session presents experiences with starting operational-level impact assessments at the headquarters of an ICT company.

Presentation objectives:
Configit shares examples of good practice documentation and the process of implementation of the UNGPs after entering into a partnership with Polaris.

Monday November 26, 2018 3:45pm - 4:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, ICT | Human rights due diligence, ICT

Session Format Snapshot

4:00pm CET

Snapshot: B2B Relations - Need to Document Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
In this session Schur International by referencing its work with the subsidiary Schur Packaging Denmark discusses how documented operational-level impact assessments are used when engaging with key suppliers, Stora Enso, but also downstream partners.

Presentation objectives:
The session also focuses on sharing experiences from creating a corporate culture around the commitment and engaging subsidiaries.

Speakers

Linda Jakobsen

Senior CSR Consultant, Schur International

Monday November 26, 2018 4:00pm - 4:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Business action, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

4:15pm CET

Snapshot: B2B Relations – Mutual Documentation of Human Rights Due Diligence

Brief description of the presentation:
In this snapshot session Stora Enso, an important supplier to Schur Packaging Denmark, presents on their work with HRDD and the need to be able to rely on business partners to respect human rights; and the reactions to the approach from Schur Packaging Denmark.

Presentation objectives:
This session focuses on what is sufficient in order to meet supplier and customer demands, and the potential of documented operational-level impact assessments to become standard to answer B2B expectations.

Speakers

Tiina Pursula

Director, Sustainability, Stora Enso

Monday November 26, 2018 4:15pm - 4:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Business action, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

4:40pm CET

Human Rights in International Supply Chains - Where is the disconnect?

Organized by Global Compact Local Network (Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom) and United Nations Global Compact

The Local Networks engaged in the coordination of this session have developed the following informal pre-read for this session, providing a snapshot of BHR initiatives of Local Networks of the UN Global Compact around the world. You can access the document here

Brief description of the session:
The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, with over 9500 business participants from across all regions of the world. Crucially, Global Compact Local Networks operate in 71 countries to support businesses on their sustainability journey in their own regions. This session will present practical perspectives from across the world on the theme of:
Better connecting responsible businesses across global supply chains
Global Compact Local Networks operate across all regions of the world, and include companies from the bottom to the top of global supply chains. This segment brings together businesses at both ends of the supply chain, to address how responsible businesses on both sides can better connect to promote respect and support for human rights.
The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights clarify that enterprises have an independent responsibility to respect human rights and that in order to do so they are required to exercise human rights due diligence. In a recent report on the state of play of corporate human rights due diligence in practice, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights found that "Translating corporate policies into local contexts, for example in subsidiaries, is a challenge across sectors. There is typically a disconnect between the corporate level and implementation on the ground as well as gaps in internal alignment between functions and incentive structures. ...An apparent gap in current supply chain management is that human rights due diligence tends to be limited to tier-one companies."
The panellists will share their experience in implementing effective human rights due diligence across supply chains, and discuss some of the ways they and their partners are looking to improve supply chain management in the future. From the perspective of headquarters, a local subsidiary, and a local supplier, the panellists will examine how disconnects can arise between these actors - and identify some of the best ways to overcome them.

Session objectives:

Illustrate how the UNGPs are implemented in practice, , including some of the main challenges, existing good practice and potential areas for improvement

Identify the main “disconnects” in respecting human rights along supply chains between headquarters, subsidiaries and local suppliers
Build understanding on the role of human rights in procurement decisions
Portray good practices of companies from different regions

Format of the session:
Tentative Agenda:

Welcome (2 minutes)
Better connecting responsible businesses across global supply chains
- Introductory Remarks by Sustainable Procurement & Human Rights Expert (10 minutes)
- Moderated interactive discussion between business panellists (40 minutes)
- Interventions from the floor from other LNs speakers (5 minutes)
- Q&A and Discussion with the Audience (20 minutes)
Closing & Call to Action (3 minutes)

Audience Engagement
This session will engage the audience by using the Q&A and polling application slido,

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Steve Kenzie

Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network UK

Speakers

Linda Jakobsen

Senior CSR Consultant, Schur International

John Karakatsianis

Corporate Citizenship Director, Avianca (Headquartes, Colombia)

Lise Kingo

CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact

Lise Kingo is the CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative with more than 13,500 signatories from 170 countries that have committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles... Read More →

Nathalie Komatisch

Head of Human Rights Department, Total

Human rightsHuman rights defendersHuman rights due diligenceMyanmarMozambiqueUgandaSaudi Arabia

Claus Teilmann Petersen

Department Director, Human Rights and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights

Claus Teilmann Petersen is Department Director at DIHR’s Human Rights and Business Department overseeing the Corporate Engagement and Business & Accountability programs. Claus is seated in United Nations Global Compact’s “Advisory Network of Experts” and an interim position... Read More →

Tantrie Soetjipto

Marketing Director, Board Of Commissioner of Panin Dubai Syariah Bank, Senior Adviser to IBEKA and Co-Founder Womenprene, PT Kampung Kearifan Indonesia (JAVARA)

Tantrie is a professional banker for over 25 years and for the past 2 years has decided to take the role as an Independent Commissioner for Panin Dubai Syariah Bank, Indonesia. This enables her to proactively support the growth of leading social enterprises and NGO's in Indonesia... Read More →

Yann Wyss

Senior Manager, Social Impact, Nestlé

Yann Wyss joined Nestlé in 2011 as a human rights expert to develop and implement Nestlé’s Human Rights Due Diligence Program across the company’s operations and supply chain. He started his career in the Swiss Foreign Ministry, where he was actively involved in the creation... Read More →

Ramon Zumarraga

Director of Purchasing Services in Iberdrola (Spain), Iberdrola

Although I've been in Purchasing for almost 20 years in Iberdrola, mainly in operative roles, my current role includes Supplier Development and Management. A key area that we've been trying to develop over the last years is CSR and Human Rights development in our supply chain.Resume... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Leadership perspectives, Human rights due diligence | Human rights due diligence, Leadership perspectives, Human rights due diligence

4:40pm CET

Are States making progress on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights? Challenges, innovations and lessons learned from implementation

http://webtv.un.org/search/part-ii-panel-on-progress-on-the-un-guiding-principles-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971981765001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Organized by UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief Description:
This Forum session led by the Working Group will provide an opportunity for States to share updates on progress in implementing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and for all relevant stakeholders to engage in open dialogue on ways forward.

Under the 2018 Forum’s central theme “Business respect for human rights –building on what works”, the Working Group invites States to share information about:

(a) Regulatory and policy developments to provide guidance, incentives and/or requirements for business enterprises to carry out human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts across operations and value chains;
(b) Updates on national action plans on business and human rights (in line with Human Rights Council resolution 26/22, paragraph 4), including assessments of impact of the implementation of existing plans.

The Forum’s regional track will provide further opportunities for exchange about such initiatives and stakeholder perspectives on the ways forward.

Tentative agenda
Part II: National action plans on business and human rights - Impacts, lessons learned and ways forward

NAPs – what has been the impact to date? A quick overview
Getting started, lessons learned
Open dialogue: translating plans to action
- Government interventions
- Other stakeholders
Wrap-up by the Working Group

Background to the discussion:

In its 2018 report to the General Assembly (A/73/163), the Working Group highlights how States are performing in promoting corporate human rights due diligence. It notes that the human rights due diligence standard set out in the Guiding Principles is increasingly reflected in government policy frameworks and legislation, including mandatory disclosure of risks of modern slavery in supply chains. In the 20 national action plans on business and human rights that have been issued to date, Governments have reaffirmed the expectation that business enterprises exercise human rights due diligence.

The report also highlights gaps: A lack of government leadership in addressing governance gaps remains the biggest challenge. A fundamental issue is that host Governments are not fulfilling their duty to protect human rights, either failing to pass legislation that meets international human rights and labour standards, passing legislation that is inconsistent, or failing to enforce legislation that would protect workers and affected communities.

While some home Governments have introduced due diligence or disclosure legislation, such efforts also remain patchy or uncoordinated. Governments are not providing enough guidance on human rights due diligence and support tailored to national business audiences, including small and medium-sized enterprises. A lack of policy coherence in government practice is part of the overall picture, and Governments are not leading by example in their own roles as economic actors.
The key message to Governments is that they should use all available regulatory and policy levers, such as: policy tools and frameworks, including national action plans in order to enhance policy coherence overall; legislation, regulation and adjudication; economic incentives in “economic diplomacy” and public procurement; leadership by example in their role as economic actors; provision of guidance (including for SMEs); and promotion of multi-stakeholder dialogue.

The Forum provides an opportunity for States and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue on the emerging practices, shortcomings and solutions highlighted by the Working Group.

How to participate:
States that wish to share their experiences and perspectives are invited to pre-register by sending an email to wg-business@ohchr.org with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line:
“Forum GOVT. ACTION – [country name]”.
Although speaking time is limited (3 minutes for statements), all States will be able to submit statements to be posted on the Forum webpage. States should indicate whether they would like to speak in part I or part II, or both.
States are encouraged to participate with representatives from across relevant Government ministries, departments and agencies.
Other participants wishing to join the multi-stakeholder dialogue on lessons learned and ways forward are also invited to sign up in advance by sending an email to forumbhr@ohchr.org, cc: wg-business@ohchr.org with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line: “2018 Forum GOVT. ACTION session – Multi-stakeholder dialogue - [name of organization]”. Interventions should be no more than 2-3 minutes in order to allow time for as many stakeholder perspectives as possible. Written statements may be submitted for posting on the Forum web page. Those signing up for the speaker list should indicate whether they wish to speak in part I or part II, or both.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Daniel Morris

Adviser, Human Rights and Business, Instituto Danés de Derechos Humanos

Daniel Morris es un experto en derechos humanos y empresas que trabaja en el Instituto Danés de Derechos Humanos. Tiene una formación académica en derecho y derechos humanos. Trabaja para apoyar a los estados, las instituciones nacionales de derechos humanos y otras partes interesadas... Read More →

Speakers

Wolfgang Bindseil

Head of Division, Business and Human Rights, German Foreign Office

Wolfgang Bindseil is Head of the Division Business and Human Rights in the German Foreign Office since October 2020.On his previous post, he served as Head of Division for Humanitarian Assistance (2019/20), Minister-Counsellor at the German Embassy in Kyiv (2015-19), Deputy Head of... Read More →

Jakob Kiefer

CSR Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden

Ken Okaniwa

Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Japan in Geneva

Fabrizio Petri

President of the Italian Inter-ministerial Committee for Human Rights, The Government of Italy

BHR, HUMAN RIGHTS, LGBTI RIGHTS, ATHEISM

Stella Wangechi

Senior Human Rights Officer, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Kenya

The NAP development process in Kenya

Monday November 26, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XX

Government action, Regulatory and policy developments | Policy coherence, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format General debate with States

4:40pm CET

Connecting child rights and human rights due diligence in practice

Interpretation is provided into Spanish

Organized by UNICEF

Short description and session objectives:
This session will explore different methods of conducting human rights due diligence with consideration of children’s rights and voice, and the role of different stakeholders in making this happen including investors, governments, companies and UN agencies. The session will consider both challenges and solutions to the integration of child rights into business processes by engaging the audience in an interactive and participatory manner.

Format:
Interactive discussion between main panel speakers and different interventions from the floor representing different perspectives and voices.

Background to the discussion:
The focus of the session is to emphasize the need for companies to take specific measures to understand and address their potential impacts on groups and communities that may be at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization. Children are often the most vulnerable population, requiring specific attention to guarantee respect for their human rights. It is possible that one business activity might not impact the rights of adults, but the same activity could adversely impact the rights of a child. Despite this, children have not been adequately considered by business. Companies’ consideration of their impact on child rights is often relegated to the issue of child labour or community investment, yet the impacts of business on children extend to such aspects as product design and advertising, the behaviour of staff towards children, and children’s rights in the supply chain, and the ways that companies operate in the wider community. Moreover, children are usually less well placed to advocate for their own interests and may be silenced within their households or communities. Unless companies make dedicated efforts to understand the risks they pose to child rights, and engage child rights advocates – children may be at risk of exclusion from companies’ human rights due diligence and stakeholder engagement processes.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Chloe Poynton

Co-Founder and Principal, Article One

Chloe is a Principal at Article One, a business & human rights consulting firm that works with companies, institutions, and state agencies to develop and implement strategies to promote corporate respect for human rights.

Speakers

Francisco Barbosa

Presidential Adviser on Human Rights, Government of Colombia

Jaap Bartels

Save the Children

Child Rights & Business advisor with expertise on how to integrate human rights, and specifically children’s rights, by means of innovative and tailor-made projects for and with companies throughout international value chains. Thereby preventing, mitigating and remediating adverse... Read More →

Teresa Fogelberg

Deputy Chief Executive, GRI

Ines Kaempfer

Executive Director, CCR CSR

The Center for Child-Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR) has been a pioneer in advising businesses on child rights since 2009. Our team has extensive experience and expertise in helping companies improve, develop and implement sustainability strategies, programs and... Read More →

Andrew Mawson

Chief of the Child Rights and Business, UNICEF

Andrew Mawson is the Chief of the Child Rights and Business. He leads UNICEF’s work on addressing the impact of business on children, also known as child rights and business. This has four major child impact themes: global supply chains and workplaces, marketing and advertising... Read More →

Wilhelm Mohn

Head of Sustainability Initiatives, Ownership Strategies, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)

Heidi Oliveira

Global Human Rights, Mars, Incorporated

Julia Olofsson

Global Human and Child Rights Manager, Ingka Group

Jazz SinghKhaira

Global Manager, Worker and Community Development, VF Corporation

Driving sustainable development through business. Talk to me about; Child Rights, Garment and Apparel Supply Chains, Reaching the Deeper Supply Chain.

Monday November 26, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXIII

Groups at risk, Children | Human rights due diligence, Children

4:40pm CET

How can climate actions respect rights & contribute to peacebuilding in the transition to a green economy?

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish

Organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Brief description of the session:
Shifting to renewable energy is a fundamental part of the transition towards green economy. The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the SDGs both underline the necessity of a transition toward a sustainable, zero-carbon future for all as a human rights imperative. If undertaken responsibly, this transition has the potential to contribute to peacebuilding and a rights-respecting energy system. However, if managed without human rights in mind, it carries risks harming lives and livelihoods, as well as causing financial and legal costs for companies and investors. In order for it to be successful this transition has to be a Just Transition, leaving no one behind and maximizing climate protection as well as minimizing the risks and hardships for workers and communities.
This session focuses on how companies can ensure their climate actions respect human rights and benefit from the transformative potential of the transition to a green economy. It will unpack the concept of a green economy, explore the concept of a just transition away from fossil fuels in a way that respects the rights of workers and communities, and address how we can support a model of renewable energy that contributes to peacebuilding, provides decent jobs throughout its supply chain, and respects the rights of indigenous communities.

Session Objectives:

Provide participants with space to discuss what a green economy and a just transition entail in the context of companies’ responsibility to respect human rights
Share with participants ways in which rights-based climate action can be a positive force for peacebuilding
Explore factors that contribute to best practice examples of just transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy

Format of the session:

Recap of outcomes of previous session "What related human rights responsibilities apply to businesses with respect to climate change?" and introduction of session (15 mins)
World Café Round 1 (tables 1 and 2) in key question "cafes" (25 mins)
Rotation and World Café 2 Round 2 (tables 3 and 4) in key question "cafes" (25 mins)
Report back from cafes to plenary (15 mins)

Key questions for discussions in World Cafes1
World Cafe Table 1:
Guiding question: How can a rights-based approach to climate action contribute to peacebuilding?
Facilitator: Hannah Peters, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Resource person: Justine Taylor, Quaker United Nations Office
World Cafe Table 2:
Guiding question: What do we mean by a green economy? How does our current economic model contribute to climate change and how can we address this in a rights-based way?
Facilitator: Eniko Horvath, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
Resource Person: Elena Espinoza, Principles for Responsible Investment
World Cafe Table 3:
Guiding question: What do we mean by a just transition to a low-carbon economy? How can a radical reduction of fossil fuels be managed in a just way?
Facilitator: Nabylah Abo Dehman, Principles for Responsible Investment
Resource Person: Philip Gass, International Institute for Sustainable Development
World Cafe Table 4:
Guiding question: How can renewable energy companies ensure their operations respect human rights? What role do investors and companies buying renewable energy have?
Facilitator: Isobel Edwards, Researcher
Resource Person: Melissa Ortiz Massó, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Bacground to the discussion:
Climate change is a key challenge facing the global community, and one that impacts, directly and indirectly, an array of internationally guaranteed human rights. Private actors, including businesses, contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and thus contribute to the impacts of climate change on human rights. At the same time, international agreements, including the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Financing for Development, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognize that private actors must play a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and in ensuring development that is truly sustainable and in line with the vision elaborated in the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development.
Today, global attention is increasingly trained on the impact that businesses have on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, and businesses are increasingly aware of human rights as both a risk factor and as a moral and legal imperative. Despite strong understanding of the links between climate change and human rights, climate change and business, and business and human rights, there is a lack of action to implement proposed solutions to the challenges faced by the private sector in the context of climate change.

LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED PRIOR TO THE EVENT

Speakers

Nabylah Abo dehman

Manager, Social Issues, Principles for Responsible Investment

Catherine’s research intersects international commercial law and business human challenges, such transnational business activities, international corporate governance and the impact of new technologies. She currently researches the role of artificial intelligence in corporate governance... Read More →

Isobel Edwards

Elena Espinoza

Especialista Senior de Asuntos Sociales, Principios de Inversión Responsable (PRI)

Elena es la responsable de cuestiones sociales de los Principios de Inversión Responsable (PRI), donde supervisa el desarrollo y la aplicación de la estrategia de los PRI para apoyar a los inversores en la comprensión de las cuestiones sociales y su incorporación en la toma de... Read More →

Philip Gass

Senior Policy Analyst, IISD

Philip Gass is a Senior Policy Advisor, Energy and Lead, Indonesia with the Energy program, specializing in climate change and energy policy at the sub-national and national level in North America and Indonesia, and international developments within the UNFCCC process.His recent work... Read More →

Eniko Horvath

Senior Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Melissa Ortiz Massó

Regional Researcher Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

Love to learn about other regions and how business & communities and human rights defenders are interacting.Will love to hear about the successful and positive experience.I work in a difficult but interesting area with a lot of improvement opportunities.

Hannah Peters

Justine Taylor

At this event I will be speaking about how a human rights approach to climate change can contribute to peacebuilding.

Monday November 26, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXI

Hot topic, Environment

4:40pm CET

Disruptive technology II: What does automation mean for human rights due diligence?

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish

Organized by Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR)

Description:
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is marked by technological advance of unprecedented scale and velocity—carrying with it tremendous promise and risk. The automation of low-skilled jobs has the potential to bring positive human rights impacts, such as improved workplace safety. However, there is also a risk that the use of machines to increase productivity will result in mounting inequality through downward pressure on wages and loss of jobs. Workers in low-skilled positions, particularly in the apparel and electronics sectors in the Global South, face an increased risk of bearing the negative effects of automation. Women and migrant workers make up large portions of both of these workforces and as they tend to face greater discrimination in the workplace, may be more likely to be displaced by machines.

This session will explore emerging practices, challenges, and solutions for human rights due diligence in the context of automation. It will address the question of whether today’s human rights due diligence tools and methods are equipped to address the impacts of increased automation and explore good practices in human rights due diligence for companies. This session will strongly feature the perspectives and experiences of workers and will also touch on the importance of supportive policies and the role of government.

Objectives:

Catalyze companies, NGOs, government representatives and other stakeholders to acknowledge the human rights impacts of increased automation and mechanization within global supply chains, using apparel and electronics manufacturing as examples and by amplifying the voices of potentially affected workers;
Utilize existing frameworks to determine concrete steps key stakeholders and businesses should take to protect workers in their supply chains as their company or its suppliers increasingly integrate automation; and
Explore the shared responsibility of companies, governments, and other key stakeholders to protect the rights of workers and impacted communities throughout the transition to the future of work.

Discussion Segments

Segment 1 – framing comments on the human rights risks and potential positive benefits associated with automation and mechanization
Segment 2 – worker perspectives
Segment 3 – workshop to explore the application of existing frameworks in the context of human rights due diligence and the human rights risks to automation. Participants will not need to be familiar with the details of each framework, as each group will receive discussion questions, as well as the relevant points about the key concepts within each framework.
- BSR Responsible Automation Framework
- Just Transition Framework
- Factory Closures and Retrenchment Best Practices
Segment 4 – report back and discussion

Format
The session will take place in the form of a workshop and discussion with comments from key discussants representing workers, companies, civil society organisations, and governments. Key discussans will frame the discussion, provide unique perspectives, or lead discussion groups, depending on their role. Key discussants are intended to encourage interactivity and dialogue within workshop groups before the floor is opened up to discussion on the given framework. Moderators will also provide a brief summary of the discussion at the end of the session.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Phil Bloomer

Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Phil Bloomer is Executive Director of Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a digital action platform that empowers human rights advocates in civil society, business, and government.The website attracts 4 million visits each year; tracks the human rights performance of over 9,000... Read More →

Meg Roggensack

MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAMME ANALYST, UN DOS

Mr. An graduated from Peking University. He worked at the China Research Institute of Trade Union Movement, and the Research Office of the ACFTU where he used to be the director. He had been carrying out research on labor and employment, wage and income, social security, trade union... Read More →

Speakers

Yousuf Aftab

Principal, Enodo Rights

Abby Henderson

Advocacy Counsel, ICAR

Padmini Ranganathan

Global Vice President, Products & Innovation, SAP Ariba

Philippe-André Rodriguez

Senior Advisor, Global Affairs Canada’s Center for International Digital Policy

Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Big Data, Automation, Privacy, Data Governance

Ruwan Subasinghe

Legal Director, International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)

Monday November 26, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XVII

Hot topic, Technology | Human rights due diligence, Technology

6:15pm CET

Breathless – Documentary

Organized by Lambo Films, Storyhouse Films, Abeva and Doughty Street Chambers.

Short description of the session:
The session will be a showing of the film “Breathless” (75 mins), which is a film showing how the asbestos industry moved to take advantages of markets and laws in less developed countries and the struggle of people affected by the industry for redress. It centres on the struggle of victims in Belgium and India, where it takes the director to the largest asbestos waste dump in South Asia. The asbestos story is replicated in many other industries and reflects the difficulties in obtaining remedy in a globalised world.

Session objectives:
To illustrate through the issue of the export of asbestos how corporations have exported the most hazardous and exploitative industries to the less developed world, where people struggle to obtain a remedy, but how through such struggles change can come about. The film is linked to a crowdfunding campaign to fund litigation in India to clean up an asbestos waste dump in Central India (breathlessfund.org), which will hopefully have a wider impact in creating awareness of the hazards of asbestos in India.

Key discussion questions:

What has been the reaction of Eternit to the film?
What has been the reaction of the people in Kappelle to the film?
What is the role of the UN is stopping such violations from happening, Rotterdam Convention and the report of hazardous substances in the workplace.
What is the campaign in India to highlight the hazards of asbestos?

Format:
The film will be 75 mins followed by a discussion and a Q&A till 8pm

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Lene Wendland

Chief, Business and Human Rights, OHCHR

Speakers

Eric Jonckheere

President, Abeva

I became an anti-asbestos activist after losing both parents and two brothers. As an airline pilot, I am focussing my energy on the underdeveloped countries were workers are still exposed to the deadly fibers. They deserve a safe working environnement just like their children deserve... Read More →

Krishnendu Mukherjee

Barrister/Indian advocate, Doughty Street Chambers

Krishnendu Mukherjee is a barrister and Indian advocate and currently practises in both jurisdictions. He has extensive experience in advising, litigating and using non-judicial remedies in relation to business-related human rights and environmental violations. Krishnendu has a particular... Read More →

Marcos A. Orellana

Relator Especial sobre las implicaciones para los derechos humanos de la gestión y eliminación ecológicamente racionales de las sustancias y los desechos peligrosos

El Dr. Marcos A. Orellana es experto en derecho internacional y en derechos humanos y el medio ambiente. Ha actuado como asesor jurídico de agencias de las Naciones Unidas, gobiernos y organizaciones no gubernamentales, incluso en cuestiones de desechos y productos químicos en los... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Access to remedy, Access to remedy

Session Format Documentary

6:15pm CET

How indigenous people can "renew" renewable energies

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Organized by ENEL

Brief description of the session:
This session will explore the nexus between renewable energies and Indigenous people. Enel Green Power will be publishing a book to give a voice to some of the indigenous communities hosting renewable plants in different countries with regard to the cultural aspects of water, earth, wind and sun, all of which, from the company’s point of view, are primarily energy sources. This will serve as a starting point for the session.

Session objectives:
To open a multi-stakeholders’ dialogue on the implications of Indigenous people rights and renewable energies deployment.

Key discussion questions:
Analyzing how renewable plants relate to indigenous peoples, with a focus on cultural identities and natural resources. Underlying themes of this session are both the relation between indigenous peoples' rights and the impacts of business activities, as well as the link between climate change and the transition to a green economy.

Format of the session:
Roundtable and Q&A

Background to the discussion:
On the one hand, renewable energies are key to fight climate change whose negative impacts are particularly strong on those emerging economies where indigenous communities are more concentrated; on the other hand, the same technologies still have environmental, socio-economic and cultural impacts.
The private sector in general, and Enel Green Power in particular, has been focusing its efforts on mitigating socio-environmental impacts, through its sustainable construction site and plant models.
The panel will concentrate on how renewable energies can be integrated in an environment, which is not only a physical entity but also a cultural landscape where, for example, “energy sources” have cultural/spiritual meanings. The discussion will be led by representatives of indigenous communities EGP is working or will be working with, institutional representatives and one artist who has been working on art as a tool for social inclusion.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Antonella Santilli

Speakers

Martyn Ellis

Indigenous representative, Enel Green Energy

Renewable Energy and indigenous involvement

Marco Frey

Global Compact Italian Network

Jesus Gomez

Guatemala

Roba Bulga Jilo

Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, Ethiopia

Lise Kingo

CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact

Mohammadi Saleh Mahmoud

Artist, winner of Cairo Prize

My Name is Mahmoud Saleh Mohammadi,Contemporary artist born in 1979 in Tehran.I live in Milan, the center of my art and my study.My communication is not only through painting, but also through Social-Art , installations and performances.these art forms intervening in our Contemporaneity... Read More →

Gloria Serobe

Community Representative Khomani San, South Africa

Bernarda Amolef Silva

Presidenta de la Comunidad Indígena Mapu Pillmaiquen, Chile

Monday November 26, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XXI

Groups at risk, Indigenous peoples, Renewable energy

6:15pm CET

Forum debate: Are tech companies a threat to human rights?

Organized by the German Institute for human Rights

Background to the discussion:
Blanket statements about the internet’s role in society now and over the last twenty-five years almost all come across as banal. Whether in the global north or south, in developed or developing countries, in urban or rural areas, the vast majority of human lives are touched in some way by the internet. Even if its political implications originally seemed limited to things like freedom of speech, it is now clear from the events of the last ten years that the internet can topple dictatorships and serve as the catalyst for sweeping social movements—and that it can also fuel violence against minorities and derail elections by propagating conspiracy theories.
Private companies play a central role in all this. The internet itself is just a technical standard; it is private companies—social networks, chat software, news sites, payment providers—that determine what can be done with it, how, and by whom. They are the entities that shape what we really refer to when we talk about the societal phenomenon that is the internet. And so this session asks: are these companies a threat to human rights? Are they tools of liberation or surveillance service providers for oppressors? Experts in the field will step away from their normal positions and institutional roles and have a debate about first principles in a way rarely allowed for by panel discussions.

Session format:
The debate will follow the British parliamentary debate format, similar to the format used at the Oxford Union and elsewhere. The session will begin with four speakers, two in support of and two in opposition to the question. There will then be a brief period in which the floor is open to audience interventions in response to the speeches. The debate will be concluded by a final speech from each side, followed by an audience vote on the question.
The result of the vote will be announced at a drinks and canapes reception following the debate.

How to participate:
No advance registration is required. Audience members will have the opportunity to make spontaneous interventions during the middle part of the debate.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Christopher Schuller

German Institute for Human Rights

Speakers

Isabel Ebert

OHCHR B-Tech / University of St. Gallen

Adviser UN Human Rights' Business, Human Rights and Technology (B-Tech) project and Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen. Isabel served as the former EU representative of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and holds a PhD in Business Ethics, with a focus on data governance in the state-business nexus from the U... Read More →

Coraline Ada Ehmke

Software engineer and creator of the Contributor Covenant, Contributor Covenant

My work centers on making the technology industry more welcoming and inclusive of people from marginalized populations.

Faris Natour

Co-Founder and Principal, Co-Founder and Principal, Article One / Director, Human Rights and Business Initiative, University of California, Berkeley

Luis Neves

Managing Director and CEO, Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

Luis Neves was born in Covilhã, Portugal. In 1975 he finished his University degree in History. He worked for Marconi (today Portugal Telecom) as Head of Department and at the Corporate Office. Later he started an international career in Switzerland and developed an intensive activity... Read More →

Monday November 26, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XVII

Hot topic, Technology | Human rights due diligence, Technology

Session Format Debate

6:15pm CET

Special film screening with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi: The Price of Free

Organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media

Short description of the session:
Join us for a special screening of THE PRICE OF FREE, followed by a conversation with Nobel Peace Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi (other panelists TBD).
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, THE PRICE OF FREE is a suspenseful yet intimate look at one man’s groundbreaking struggle to liberate every child possible from slavery. From director Derek Doneen and Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “He Named Me Malala”), the film follows Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his team of leaders around the world through gripping secret raids and quests for missing children in the hopes of ending the cycle of poverty that forces them and their families into dreadful circumstances. Refusing to be daunted by the impossible, they have succeeded in rescuing over 87,000 children and created a global movement which has resulted in legislation which helps protect young children. The film was co-produced by Concordia Studio and Participant Media, and will be released by YouTube Originals.

Session objectives:

Introduce / re-introduce Kailash Satyarthi and his movement to the audience
Illuminate the persistence of child labor, hidden in supply chains
Discuss the role of business in child labor and slavery in supply chains
Describe the film’s social impact campaign and how companies in the room can screen this film for their employees, leaders and partners.

Key discussion questions:

What can the private sector do to help solve this problem?

Background to the discussion:
The film will be launched globally on November 27th by YouTube Originals.
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media (in partnership with YouTube and Concordia Studio) will empower students, policymakers, and business leaders to take action toward a future that is child-labor free. The campaign will provide audiences across the U.S. and around the world with an opportunity to understand and reflect on how many of the products we use in our daily lives — from our coffee, to our clothes, to our mobile devices — could include the work of children. The campaign will provide pathways for audiences to invest, advocate and lead change.
Recognizing the key role that business plays in eliminating forced and child labor, Participant Media is offering the film to companies with global supply chains, so that they might screen for their employees, leadership, customers or shareholders. Companies may choose a date between October 2018 and April 2019 to screen all or a portion of the film and use the event as an opportunity to spark a conversation about improving supply chain practices. Participant Media will provide tools for hosting a successful screening event.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Amanda Chen

VP, Social Impact, Participant Media

As VP of Social Impact, Amanda is responsible for the design and successful execution of social impact campaigns for Participant Media's documentary and narrative media slate. Amanda works to build strategic partnerships with non-profits, government and private sector organizations... Read More →

Speakers

Kailash Satyarthi

2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation

Monday November 26, 2018 6:15pm - 8:00pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, Children

Session Format Documentary

8:00am CET

Networking Coffee

Welcome coffee/tea and croissants - Sponsored by the Governments of Germany and Norway.

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:00am - 8:30am CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

8:15am CET

Snapshot: Exiting responsibly - Respect for human rights in circumstances of urgent exit

Brief description of the session:
Human rights due diligence is an ongoing process that requires companies to maintain a “true picture” of its human rights risks over time. In particular, commentary to UN GP 18 notes that human rights impact assessments should be undertaken at regular intervals and specifically prior to “major decisions or changes in the operation”. While not explicitly mentioned in the commentary, one of the major decision a business can take is that of leaving a market and reducing or winding up operations. While this decision can be taken for purely commercial reasons, it can also be conditioned by changing political, economic or physical circumstances such as the eruption or intensification of war, the occurrence of natural disasters, the instatement of economic sanctions or even health crises. These events might impact the capacity of the company to identify, avoid and manage human rights risks and present renewed challenges for the company to fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights. How can companies wind down or exit operations responsibly under such circumstances?

Session objectives:
While the business and human rights debate has been focused on key corporate decisions such as market entry, new investments or the launching of new products or services, less attention has been given to questions of sales and market exit – especially in circumstances of urgent exit. The purpose of the snapshot session will be to raise awareness of this issue and spur interest in exploring the implications of the UNGPs.

Speakers

Andrea Saldarriaga

Visiting Fellow (LSE) and director SILA Advisory, London School of Economics and Political Science and SILA Advisory

Andrea Saldarriaga is an international lawyer and expert on business and human rights with broad experience working with companies, industry groups and international organisations to ensure respect for human rights in the context of business activities. Andrea is the founder and principal... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:15am - 8:30am CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Academic research, Conflict | Business action, Academic research, Conflict

Session Format Snapshot

8:30am CET

Snapshot: New insights. Projects from BHR Young researchers (I)

Brief description of the presentation:
This snapshot sessions will be based on a forthcoming report compiled by four participants of our 2018 BHR Young Researchers Summit, titled Good Business: The Economic Case for Promoting Human Rights. The objective of this report is to offer a more nuanced, evidence-based assessment of the ‘business case’ for human rights. More specifically, the session engages with two clusters of arguments: The first cluster looks at the costs and benefits associated with embracing or ignoring human rights in the workplace and in community relations. It provides insight, for example, in the relation between employee loyalty and human rights respect, or the cost of conflict resolution measures in case of worsening community relations. The second cluster demonstrates how governments are increasingly using economic leverage as a tool to promote corporate respect for human rights. The utilization of human rights standards in public procurement contracts or in the provision of export credits will be among the examples of how countries implementing the UNGPs have started to create economic incentives for businesses to respect human rights.

Presentation objectives:
The session will present the arguments underscoring the growing evidence that respecting human rights is not only a moral imperative for business, but is increasingly turning into an economic necessity.

Speakers

Basak Baglayan

NCP, Ministry of the Economy (Lu)

Marisa McVey

PhD Candidate, University of St. Andrews

I'm a second year PhD Researcher at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. My research focuses on the UNGPs, corporate accountability and communities.

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:30am - 8:45am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Academic research, State as an economic actor

Session Format Snapshot

8:30am CET

Human rights due diligence approaches for safeguarding migrant workers

Organized by Association of Labour Providers (ALP) and Stronger Together

Brief description of the session:
There are 150 million migrant workers globally, according to the ILO. Migrant workers contribute to the economies of their host countries, and the remittances they send home help to boost the economies of their countries of origin. Yet at the same time human rights’ abuses involving migrant workers continue to be widespread. Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery at all stages of the employment cycle: recruitment, employment and termination.

In this session, attendees will discuss safeguarding migrant workers, particularly through responsible recruitment practices. Speakers from business, civil society and international organisations will enter into conversation with the audience whilst sharing their experiences and insights from working in the agricultural, food, garment, mining, construction and engineering sectors in a range of countries. They will explain models of good practice, collaboration and key lessons learned, with the intention to scale up the good practices and address remaining gaps and challenges, as per the conclusion of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises report to the General Assembly that this is much needed.

Session objectives:

Explore key human rights challenges regarding migrant workers across sectors, in particular regarding recruitment
Identify the practical steps different stakeholders should/can take to safeguard migrant workers across supply chains
Discuss what remediation should look like when incidents have been identified in the supply chain
Share good practice of collaborative initiatives and solutions

Key discussion questions:

What are the key human rights challenges regarding migrant workers?
What is the role of businesses regarding safeguarding migrant workers at different points in the supply chain?
What are the challenges to brands, employers and recruiters of poor recruitment practices in supply chains?
What role can businesses play in safeguarding migrant workers in countries where relevant legislation and/or enforcement is limited?
Are industry approaches rather than company-specific approaches more effective for addressing the most serious human rights risks for migrant workers?
Do we need compliance-based or beyond compliance solutions to create change?

Format of the session:
The session will be opened with a brief introduction by the moderator and the speakers, followed by an interactive, conversational session with the audience. The moderator will ask a question, provide speakers with the opportunity to respond with short remarks to frame discussions, after which the floor will be opened to the audience.

Background to the discussion:
Labour recruitment is now rightly identified as one of the greatest human rights risk areas in businesses and supply chains. Recruitment channels often operate across borders and exploitation of vulnerable workers can be hidden in informal and/or complex labour supply chains.
Momentum is rapidly growing to focus on this issue with brands, contractors and retailers’ ethical trading and sustainability programmes expanding to look not only at the conditions in the workplaces of the businesses that supply them or are subcontracted by them, but also at the conditions faced by jobseekers and workers throughout their recruitment journey.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Hannah Newcomb

Head of Responsible Recruitment, Association of Labour Providers

Speakers

Henrietta Lake

Founder, Director, Lake Advisory

Dr Henrietta Lake is an independent consultant advising brands and retailers on human rights in their global supply chains.For the last 5 years Henri has been responsible for designing and delivering Sainsbury's Supermarkets ethical trade strategy across its global supply chain in... Read More →

Mathieu Luciano

Head of the Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Mathieu Luciano is the Head of the Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants Unit at the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva. Within IOM’s Migrant Protection and Assistance Division, he is in charge of IOM’s anti-trafficking programming, as well... Read More →

Peter Nestor

Director, Human Rights, BSR

Peter leads BSR’s consulting and collaborative initiative efforts on human rights, including BSR’s cross-industry Human Rights Working Group. He has supported companies through a range of human rights consulting projects, with expertise in the information and communications technology... Read More →

Vani Saraswathi

Associate Editor and Director of Projects, Migrant-Rights.Org

Vani Saraswathi is the Associate Editor and Director of Projects, Migrant-Rights.org and the author of Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf. The book is an anthology of reporting from seven origin countries over a period of three years.Vani moved to Qatar in 1999, working with several local and regional publications, and launching some of Qatar’s leading periodicals during her 17-year stint there. During her stay in... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXI

Groups at risk, Migrant workers

8:30am CET

Building coherence on essential elements of human rights due diligence

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-human-rights-due-diligence-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972028985001/?term=

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in collaboration with the OECD

Short description of the session:
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights clarify that all business enterprises have an independent responsibility to respect human rights, and that in order to do so they are required to exercise human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address impacts on human rights. The introduction of this concept was one of the major contributions of the Guiding Principles.
The 2018 release of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct provided another important step forward in helping clarify what human rights due diligence involves in practical steps. As it is in full alignment with the UN Guiding Principles, these two frameworks together provide a solid foundation promoting and scaling up responsible business conduct in a coherent and effective way. Also issued in 2018, a report by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on to the UN General Assembly further highlights key features of human rights due diligence and why it matters; gaps and challenges in current business and Government practice; emerging good practices; and how key stakeholders — States and the investment community, in particular — can contribute to the scaling-up of effective human rights due diligence.

Session objectives
This Forum session takes place against this background with a view to:

Highlight the essential elements of human rights due diligence set out in the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.
Demonstrate the close alignment between these two frameworks.
Engage stakeholders in a discussion on the way forward for achieving wider and comprehensive uptake of human rights due diligence in standard business practice.

The discussion will also set the stage for the 27 November plenary session involving senior leaders from international organizations charged with the task of promoting corporate responsibility and responsible business, with business respect for human rights as a bedrock.

Background
The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises clarify that all business enterprises have an independent responsibility to respect human rights, and that in order to do so they are required to exercise human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address impacts on human rights.
Human rights due diligence is a way for enterprises to proactively manage potential and actual adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved.
It involves multiple overlapping components, including (i) embedding responsible business conduct int policies and management systems; undertaking due diligence by (ii) Identifying and assessing actual or potential adverse human rights impacts that the enterprise may cause or contribute to through its own activities, or which may be directly linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationships; (iii) Integrating findings from impact assessments across relevant company processes and taking appropriate action according to its involvement in the impact; (iv) Tracking the effectiveness of measures and processes to address adverse human rights impacts in order to know if they are working; (v) Communicating on how impacts are being addressed and showing stakeholders – in particular affected stakeholders – that there are adequate policies and processes in place; and (vi) providing and supporting remediation as appropriate.
The prevention of adverse impacts on people is the main purpose of human rights due diligence. It concerns risks to people, not risks to business. It should be ongoing, as the risks to human rights may change over time; and be informed by meaningful stakeholder engagement, in particular with affected stakeholders, human rights defenders, trade unions and grassroots organizations. Risks to human rights defenders and other critical voices need to be considered.
Since 2011, corporate human rights due diligence has become a norm of expected conduct. It has been integrated in other policy frameworks for responsible business. The recent OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, adopted by 48 OECD and non-OECD countries at Ministerial level in May 2018, provides practical guidance on due diligence, including for managing human rights risks and impacts, alongside other concerns for responsible business conduct, such as anti-bribery, environment and employment and industrial relations. This Guidance was developed in close consultation with business, workers, and civil society, as well as the International Labour Organisation, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. As such it seeks to promote a common global understanding among governments and stakeholders on due diligence for responsible business conduct.
The human rights due diligence standard is increasingly reflected in government policy frameworks and legislation, including mandatory disclosure of risks of modern slavery in supply chains, and sector specific due diligence obligations, for example on responsible mineral supply chains. In the 20 national action plans on business and human rights that have been issued to date, Governments have reaffirmed the expectation that business enterprises exercise human rights due diligence. A growing number of investors are starting to ask enterprises how they manage their risks to human rights. Also, among business lawyers there is a growing recognition that they should advise corporate clients to exercise human rights due diligence. In the world of sports, human rights due diligence processes have become an integral part of the selection process for mega sporting events. Among business enterprises, a small but growing number of large corporations in different sectors have issued policy statements expressing their commitment to respect human rights in line with the Guiding Principles and OECD Guidance. Several such enterprises are developing practices that involve ongoing learning and innovation around the various components of human rights due diligence.
However, while a small group of early adopters are showing the way and good practices are building up, considerable efforts are still needed, as the majority of enterprises around the world remain either unaware of their responsibility, or unable or unwilling to implement human rights due diligence as required of them in order to meet their responsibility to respect human rights. The fundamental challenge going forward is to scale up the good practices that are emerging and address remaining gaps and challenges. That will require concerted efforts by all actors. Evidence of what constitute some of the strongest drivers for changing business practice suggests that governments and investors have a key role to play. For Governments in particular, addressing and closing market and governance failures is an inherent part of their duties.

Interpretation is provided in Korean

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Lene Wendland

Chief, Business and Human Rights, OHCHR

Speakers

Tyler Gillard

Head of Sector Projects and Legal Adviser, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

Tyler Gillard is the Head of Due Diligence and Senior Legal Adviser in the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct. He leads the OECD’s work on due diligence in the financial, textiles, mining & metals, oil & gas and agriculture sectors. Tyler joined the OECD in 2009 to lead... Read More →

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Viviane Schiavi

Global Policy Lead - Anti-corruption and Corporate Responsibility, International Chamber of Commerce

Viviane Schiavi is Senior Executive for Corporate Responsibility and Anti-corruption with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), overseeing ICC’s work to promote anti-corruption, responsible business conduct and corporate responsibility worldwide. These objectives are pursued... Read More →

Joseph Wilde-Ramsing

Senior Researcher, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and OECD Watch

Senior Researcher, SOMO, and Coordinator, OECD Watch networkDr. Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, Ph.D., was born in Wilmington, North Carolina (USA). In 2001, Joseph graduated from the University of North Carolina with two Bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish, both with honors... Read More →

Key documents Building coherence on essential elements of human rights due diligence pdf

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XX

International standards, Policy coherence | Human rights due diligence, Policy coherence

8:30am CET

Crowd-drafting: Designing a human rights-compatible international investment agreement

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

Brief description
International investment and trade agreements (IIAs) can foster economic development. At the same time, IIAs could impact adversely the realisation of human rights in diverse ways: e.g., constraining the legal or policy space available to states to regulate the conduct of investors, divorcing rights of investors from their human rights responsibilities, and limiting affected communities’ right to seek effective remedies against investors for project-related human rights abuses.
Principle 9 of the UNGPs therefore reminds States to “maintain adequate domestic policy space to meet their human rights obligations when pursuing business-related policy objectives with other States or business enterprises, for instance through investment treaties or contracts.” But how could states maintain such domestic policy space? What provisions should be explicitly included in IIAs to make them compatible with international human rights law? How could such changes in IIAs contribute to developing an international investment governance framework conducive to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)?

Session objectives
This session aims to:

Invite experts dealing with the intersection of investment law and human rights law to develop concrete proposals to inform the current IIAs regime’s reform;
Provide a platform to brainstorm collectively and critically the potential as well as limitations of developing human rights-compatible IIAs; and
Inform the UN Working Group’s work concerning guidance to states in implementing Principle 9 of the UNGPs.

Key considerations
While developing reform proposals, the following considerations should be kept in mind:

One may work individually or in a team to develop a reform proposal;
In terms of length, each proposal should not be more than 2-3 pages;
Person(s) submitting a proposal are free to focus on any one or more relevant aspects of IIAs (e.g., rights of states, obligations of investors, exceptions to expropriation, impact assessment, dispute settlement);
If the proposal is inspired by an existing model IIA or reform proposals mooted by an organisation/academic, this should be expressly acknowledged;
In developing proposals, person(s) submitting proposals are strongly encouraged to consult and/or consider the views of communities affected by investment projects and
Email the proposal to forumbhr@ohchr.org latest by 5 November 2018.

Format of the session
The UN Working Group will issue an open call to invite reform proposals for this session. All received proposals will be posted on the project webpage. However, due to time constraints, the proposers of only 3-4 proposals selected by the Working Group will be invited to introduce their ideas. This will be followed by brief comments by expert panellists on the viability of presented proposals and then an open discussion in view of comments or questions from the floor.

Background information
Outcome Document on the Roundtable on “Impacts of the Investment Regime on Access to Justice”
Investment Policy Blog: Managing States’ “Fatal Attraction” to International Investment Agreements
UNCTAD’s Reform Package for the International Investment Regime

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Surya Deva

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

Speakers

Alessandra Arcuri

Professor, Erasmus School of Law

Alessandra Arcuri is Professor of Inclusive Global Law and Governance at the Department of International and European Union Law, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on international economic law and the relationship with human rights and environmental... Read More →

Tara Van Ho

Senior Lecturer, University of Essex

Markus Krajewski

Professor, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg

Markus Krajewski is is University Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and holds the Chair in Public Law and Public International Law. He is one of the programme directors of the MA in Human Rights and chairperson of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Human Rights... Read More →

Elisabeth Tuerk

Chief International Investment Agreements Section. Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD

Ms Elisabeth Tuerk is Chief of the Section on International Investment Agreements (IIAs) in UNCTAD's Division on Investment and Enterprise (DIAE). She leads the Section's work across the three pillars of UNCTAD activities: research and analysis, capacity-building and consensus-building. The... Read More →

Joe Zhang

Senior Law Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development

As a Senior Law Advisor for IISD’s Economic Law and Policy Program, Joe's work focuses on international investment law and policy. He has been advising developing country governments on international investment law issues, investment treaty negotiations, investment contract negotiations... Read More →

Proposal for a human rights compatible IIA. Arbitration for all. pdf

Proposed investment treaty provisions. Prepared by Tara Van Ho, Anil Yilmaz Vastardis and Luis Felipe Yanes pdf

INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN IIAs. IISDs Submission to the Crowd drafting Session pdf

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XVII

Policy coherence, International investment agreements

8:30am CET

Human rights due diligence in practice in the ICT sector

Session organized by the Global Network Initiative.

Brief description of the session:
Please join the Global Network Initiative (GNI) for a discussion on "Understanding and Addressing Human Rights Impacts in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector." There has been relatively little public guidance developed that is specific to the ICT-sector. The GNI Principles and Implementation Guidelines provide some guidance, and other guidance has been provided by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, as well as Business for Social Responsibility.

Key discussion questions:

What are the key elements of HRDD in the ICT sector?
What are the key differences between HRDD in the ICT sector and in other sectors (factories, extractives, security services, etc.)?
What practical considerations facilitate and/or raise challenges for conducting HRDD in the ICT sector (in other words, lessons learned)?
What concerns do users/civil society have about how HRDD in the tech sector?

Format of the session:
This session will be an open "roundtable" with the audience, facilitated by GNI's Independent Board Chair, Mark Stephens.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Mark Stephen

Independent Board Chair, Global Network Initiative

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXIII

Sectoral perspectives, ICT | Human rights due diligence, ICT

8:45am CET

Snapshot: New insights. Projects from BHR Young researchers (II)

Brief description of the presentation:
This snapshot sessions will be based on a forthcoming report compiled by four participants of our 2018 BHR Young Researchers Summit, titled Good Business: The Economic Case for Promoting Human Rights. The objective of this report is to offer a more nuanced, evidence-based assessment of the ‘business case’ for human rights. More specifically, the session engages with two clusters of arguments: The first cluster analyzes the costs and benefits associated with corporate abuse-related lawsuits, such as information-disclosure cost or reputational damage and it shows the effects of lawsuits on the share price of companies. The second cluster assesses the complex role of consumers and investors in driving responsible business behaviour as well as of new legislation that increases not least the demands of businesses towards each other.

Presentation objectives:
The session will discuss the arguments underscoring the growing evidence that respecting human rights is not only a moral imperative for business, but is increasingly turning into an economic necessity.

Speakers

Ingrid Landau

Lecturer in the Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash Business School

Dr Ingrid Landau is a Lecturer in the Department of Business Law and Taxation at Monash Business School. Ingrid teaches Employment Law, and Human Rights and Global Business. She researches in the areas of Australian employment law, and comparative and transnational labour regulation... Read More →

Kebene Wodajo

PhD Candidate, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Tuesday November 27, 2018 8:45am - 9:00am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Academic research, Investors

Session Format Snapshot

9:00am CET

Snapshot: New insights? Labour governance in the garment industry

Brief description of the presentation:
We provide insights from the Garment Supply Chain Governance Project (www.garmentgov.de), a global coalition of academic researchers, researching the evolution of labour governance in garment value chains since the shocking collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. We present findings based on original survey and interview data from Bangladeshi workers, factory managers and global garment brands and retailers. Our worker survey provides a unique insight into workers’ perceptions of the changes brought by the Accord and Alliance in Bangladesh. We report on improvements perceived by workers, as well as areas where they note little change. Factory managers describe a transformation of safety culture, but also serious concerns regarding the implications of the Accord and Alliance. Finally, we outline the key trends and challenges in the labour governance practices of global brands and retailers identified by our research.

Presentation objectives:
To report on the impact of post-Rana Plaza changes on Bangladeshi garment workers, factories and global brands.

Speakers

Rachel Alexander

Research Officer, London School of Economics and Political Science

Sarah Ashwin

Professor of Comparative Employment Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science

I am a Professor of Employment Relations in the Department of Management at the London School of Economics. My research interests are in Corporate Social Responsibility and International Labour Standards; employment relations; gender, employment and households, as well as employment... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 9:00am - 9:15am CET
Room XXIV

Sectoral perspectives, Supply chains, Academic research | Stakeholder engagement, Supply chains, Academic research

Session Format Snapshot

9:15am CET

Snapshot: New insights After Rana-Plaza: Business, Labor, and Global Supply Chains in Bangladesh

Watch live https://unog.webex.com/unog/j.php?MTID=m348204de54827ff86dddc81016b390ac
Brief description of the presentation:
April 24, 2013 will be known as the day of the deadliest garment factory accident in history. More than 1,100 people died when an eight story building in Bangladesh, Rana Plaza, collapsed. This tragedy was significant because the horrific and preventable nature of the disaster made global stakeholders realize that it could no longer be “business as usual” for the garment industry. In the aftermath, Western companies invested in two organizations designed to strictly monitor and inspect a portion of Bangladesh’s registered factories.

Presentation objectives :
This presentation will critique the strategies employed over the last five years by Western retailers focused on monitoring and compliance, while neglecting issues around the entire global supply chain, as well as propose solutions to further improve the sector and to prevent horrific tragedies like Rana Plaza from occurring in the future.

Speakers

Sanchita Banerjee Saxena

Executive Director, Institute for South Asia Studies; Director, Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Sanchita Banerjee Saxena is the Executive Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies (Institute) at UC Berkeley and the Director of the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies under the Institute. She is the author of Made in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 9:15am - 9:30am CET
Room XXIV

Sectoral perspectives, Supply chains, Academic research

Session Format Snapshot

9:30am CET

Snapshot: Human Rights Due Diligence in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

Brief description of the presentation:
The right to health, and the underlying access to medicine, is one of the obvious salient human rights in the pharmaceutical sector. However, pharmaceutical companies recognize that there are other salient human rights issues that need to be addressed when considering right-holders across the entire value chain, in their own operations and throughout their supply chains.

Presentation objectives:
This session will provide some insights into the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) and how the member companies are collaborating to define, implement and champion responsible supply chain practices, including the respect for human rights.

Speakers

Connie Low

Head Third Party Labor Rights, Novartis

Tuesday November 27, 2018 9:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Supply chains | Sectoral perspectives, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

9:45am CET

Snapshot: Samsung - Human rights due diligence across the supply chain – Experiences from practice

Brief description of the presentation:
This snapshot presentation will discuss key elements of Samsung Electronics’ continuous journey on human rights due diligence, including practical experiences in aligning its business activities with the UN Guiding Principles.

Presentation objectives:
Samsung Electronics will share selected cases of the implementation of its commitment with regards to human rights due diligence, with examples from our global operations.

Speakers

Linda Kromjong

Global Labor & Human Rights Director, Samsung Electronics

Caleb Lee

VP Corporate Affairs Europe, Samsung Electronics

Tuesday November 27, 2018 9:45am - 10:00am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Supply chains, Technology | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains, Technology | Sectoral perspectives, Supply chains, Technology

Session Format Snapshot

10:00am CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence across the supply chain – Experiences from practice

Description of the presentation:
The second pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights requires businesses to conduct human rights due diligence not only within its business activity but also for those with whom the business may be directly linked. To name a few, these are the contractors, transporters, and those within the supply chain and value chain.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will cover the challenges faced in conducting human rights due diligence in the supply chain. Aditya Birla has initiated work towards human rights due diligence in the supply chain. Some practices followed to overcome the challenges will be presented.

Speakers

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 →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:00am - 10:15am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

10:00am CET

Plenary II: Building coherence and reaching scale on human rights due diligence – International organizations' leadership perspectives

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/plenary-ii-building-coherence-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972065478001/?term=

Interpretation is provided in English, French, Spanish and Korean.

Under the title “Building coherence and reaching scale on human rights due diligence – International organizations' leadership perspectives”, the plenary convenes senior leaders from the UN and international organizations working to promote responsible business conduct and sustainability.
The high-level plenary provides an opportunity for signaling alignment of international standards and action to promote corporate respect for human rights, as well as for reinforcing the message that business respect for human rights must be at the heart of corporate contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A central aim is to signal alignment on the importance of corporate human rights due diligence to enable business enterprises meet their responsibility to respect human rights.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Michelle Bachelet

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Lise Kingo

CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact

Masamichi Kono

Deputy Secretary-General, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Mr. Masamichi Kono was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD in August 2017. His portfolio includes the strategic direction of OECD policy on Environment, Development, Green Growth, Science and Technology Policy and Innovation, Financial and Enterprise Affairs and Anti-C... Read More →

Guy Ryder

Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder took office on 1 October 2012. Guy Ryder sees the ILO as absolutely central to the questions of the day: jobs, social protection, the fight against poverty, and equality. For this reason, he wants to reinforce the ILO's place at the centre of international... Read More →

Haoliang Xu

Assistant Administrator and Director for the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Haoliang Xu was appointed Assistant Administrator and Director for the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific by the United Nations Secretary-General in September 2013. Previously, Mr. Xu was Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:00am - 11:15am CET
Room XX

International standards, Leadership perspectives | Policy coherence, Leadership perspectives | Human rights due diligence, Leadership perspectives | Stakeholder engagement, Leadership perspectives

Session Format Plenary

10:15am CET

Snapshot: How can business association promote human rights due diligence. Experiences from Japan

Brief description of the presentation :
The presentation will introduce how Keidanren, one of the main business organizations in Japan, plays an active role in leading Japanese corporations to respect human rights as well as to promote human rights due diligence (HRDD) in accordance with the UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights.

Presentation objectives:
To explain Keidanren's Charter of Corporate Behavior and the concept of "Society 5.0 for SDGs".
The presentation will also share some data on how Japanese companies respect human rights and promote HRDD in their business.

Speakers

Tomoko Hasegawa

Director, SDGs Promotion Bureau, Keidanren (Japan Business Federation)

Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:15am - 10:30am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Human rights due diligence, SDGs | Human rights due diligence, Human rights due diligence, SDGs

Session Format Snapshot

10:30am CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence - Challenges and business pathways (case of the project operator)

Brief presentation of the presentation:
Sakhalin Energy will present the main challenges that a large project operator encounters when introducing and implementing human rights standards across supply chain partners, as well as the practical tools from the company’s experience allowing to address these challenges.

Presentation objectives:
The session will focus on thorough bidding process, human rights inclusive contract management, trainings/awareness raising for internal/external stakeholders, tools of contractors’ monitoring and audits.

Speakers

Valentin Zhovtun

Social Performance Specialist, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.

Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:30am - 10:45am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Sectoral perspectives, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Stakeholder engagement, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

10:45am CET

Snapshot: Strengthening human rights due diligence with in-depth assessment and radical transparency

Brief description of the presentation:
S Group is a Finnish consumer owned cooperative group operating in the supermarket, department store and hardware trade, service station store and fuel sales and the travel industry and hospitality business. Expectations on human rights due diligence of businesses are growing, while implementing supply chain due diligence practices can be very challenging in practice. S Group has explored existing practices and identified innovative tools and methods for practical implementation of human rights due diligence.

Presentation objectives:
In this snapshot presentation, S Group will share its experience and showcase concept for in-depth human rights impact assessment. The human rights impact assessment concept was developed to strengthen supply chain due diligence and to gain information of the root causes of the human rights issues.

Speakers

Lea Rankinen

SVP Sustainability, SOK Corporation

Tuesday November 27, 2018 10:45am - 11:00am CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Supply chains, innovations | Business action, Supply chains, innovations

Session Format Snapshot

11:00am CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence in a large supply chain

Brief description of the presentation:
UPM is committed to sustainable forest management and monitors the origin of wood to ensure it is sustainably and legally sourced. The presentation will describe human rights due diligence process in large supply base covering several sourcing categories, involving more than 25000 suppliers. It will also bring practical examples of risk assessment within chemicals sourcing.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will describe UPM's approach in managing human rights risk in supply chain. It will introduce a practical case on chemicals sourcing and elaborate on opportunities for further development.

Speakers

Nina Norjama

Director, Social Responsibility, UPM

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:00am - 11:15am CET
Room XXIV

Sectoral perspectives, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Business action, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

11:15am CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence - Building on what works in a global supply chain. An overview of risk assessment

Brief description of the presentation:
Outotec develops leading technologies and services for the sustainable use of Earth’s natural resources in the mining, metal, energy, and chemical industries. The presentation will provide an overview of how to manage the human rights risks in a global supply chain, focusing on the practices and challenges of a globally operating technology company.

Presentation objectives:
The objective of the presentation is to describe the current practical ways of assessing supply chain risks and related approach adopted at Outotec. This includes finding the key assessment areas and managing the classification, assessment and audit process, and the related challenges.

Speakers

Tea Maasalo

Director, Corporate Legal and Corporate Responsibility, Outotec

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:15am - 11:30am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains | Sectoral perspectives, Human rights due diligence, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

11:30am CET

Snapshot: Human rights due diligence across supply chain starts with due diligence with internal stakeholder groups

Brief description of the presentation:
Neste is an important producer of renewable diesel and a refiner of high-quality oil products that enable customers to reduce their climate emissions. Neste’s approach on human rights due diligence is centered on activities to assess and identify the potential impacts on human rights of our various internal functions and business areas, including those that concerns sourcing. This is followed by actions to increase the preparedness of internal management systems to mitigate human rights risks.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will shade light on the current activities aimed at, amongst others, improving Neste’s sourcing practices on due diligence that is strengthened with human rights criteria, coupled with capacity building and supplier engagements.

Speakers

Yan Peng Ng

Senior Manager, Human Rights, Neste Corporation, Finland

I am interested in everything related to human rights, CSR and sustainable development.

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:30am - 11:45am CET
Room XXIV

Sectoral perspectives, Renewable energy, Supply chains | Business action, Renewable energy, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Renewable energy, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

11:30am CET

Role of NHRIs in facilitating access to remedy for business-related human rights impacts

Interpretation is provided into English, French and Spanish

Organized on the Working Group on businness and human rights

Background to the discussion:
The UN Guiding Principles on the Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) envisage a role for the following three types of mechanisms to provide access to effective remedy in business-related human rights abuses: state-based judicial mechanisms, state-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms (NJMs), and non-state-based grievance mechanisms. While judicial mechanisms are “at the core of ensuring access to remedy”, NJMs such as national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have “an essential role in complementing and supplementing judicial mechanisms”. Like other NJMs, NHRIs should meet the effectiveness criteria set out in Principle 31 of the UNGPs.
Building on its prior work on access to remedy (A/72/162 and A/HRC/35/33) and to complement the OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project, the Working Group on Business and Human Rights (Working Group) is starting a new project to focus on the important role of NHRIs in improving access to effective remedy for business-related human rights abuses, in line with the aspirations expressed in the Edinburgh Declaration. NHRIs can facilitate access to remedy both directly (e.g., by handling complaints concerning human rights abuses by companies) and indirectly (e.g., by raising awareness, building capacity, assisting affected rights holders and recommending legal reforms).
The Working Group has recently received an explicit mandate about this project from the Human Rights Council. In July 2018, the Council (A/HRC/38/L.18) requested the Working Group “to analyse further the role of national human rights institutions in facilitating access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses, and to convene a two-day global consultation on these issues, open to all stakeholders, and to inform the Council by its forty-fourth session as appropriate”.

Session objectives:
The session aims to achieve the following objectives:

to gain a better understanding of the existing mandates, policies and practices of NHRIs concerning access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses;
to know more about the challenges and limitations that NHRIs face in dealing with business-related human rights abuses; and
to discuss steps that could be taken to strengthen the role of NHRIs in providing effective remedies for business-related human rights abuses, especially in cases with a transnational dimension.

Session format
The session will be organised as an interactive dialogue with NHRIs and other stakeholders. There will not be any panel: rather, all interested speakers will offer brief remarks from the floor. The dialogue will be facilitated by Mr Surya Deva, the Working Group member leading this project, who will keep a list of speakers.
Discussion questions
Speakers may share information about one or more of the following questions:

Does your NHRI have a mandate to investigate or conduct inquiry about alleged human rights abuses by businesses?
Does your NHRI have an explicit mandate to handle complaints concerning alleged business-related human rights abuses?
What types of remedies could your NHRI offer to individuals or communities harmed by businesses?
What are the three most critical challenges that your NHRI has experienced in providing access to effective remedies in business-related human rights abuses?
How does your NHRI deal with complaints which have a transnational dimension?
Can you share any good practice examples in which your NHRI was able to facilitate, directly or indirectly, effective remedies for business-related human rights abuses?

How to participate:
NHRI representatives or other interested stakeholder who wish to participate in the dialogue are invited to pre-register by sending an email to mgarciatorrente@ohchr.org with cc to forumbhr@ohchr.org by including in the subject line:
“Dialogue with NHRIs – [NHRI name]”.
The speaking time allocated to each NHRI will depend on the number of requests received (information on this will be provided closer to the Forum). All NHRIs will, however, be able to submit a statement to be posted on the project webpage.
Deadline: 20 November 2018

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Surya Deva

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

Speakers

Aishah Bidin

Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

Human Rights Commissioner and Law Professor at the National University of Malaysia. Corporate Law , human rights and energy law

Eugenio Roberto T. Cadiz

Commissioner, Philippines Commission on Human Rights

Angkhana Neelapaijit

Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)

Tuenjai Deetes

Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)

Tuenjai Deetes or "Kru Daeng" (Techer Daeng) graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand in 1974, then she had joined the Gradute Volunteer Program, Thammasat University, during 1974-1976. She started to be a "hill teacher" at Pangsa Villages... Read More →

Rev. Usman J. Fornah

Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL)

JHO Kyoung-Jae

Deputy Director, National Human Rights Commission of Korea

Sarah McGrath

Director, International Engagement, Business and Human Rights, Australian Human Rights Commission

Carlos Alfonso Negret Mosquera

Ombudsman, Defensoría del Pueblo de Colombia

Peace Process and Post ConflictHuman Rights DefendersFieldworkBusiness and Human Rights

Jan-Christian Niebank

Policy Adviser, German Institute for Human Rights

Jan-Christian Niebank is a researcher and policy adviser in the international department of the German Institute for Human Rights. His main areas of expertise include business and human rights, human rights-based development policy, human rights as a criterion for the licensing of... Read More →

Ambuj Sharma

Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission of India

Prakairatana Thontiravong

chair of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights and SDGs, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT)

Prakairatana Thontiravong is the Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Her mandate is covering the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Human Rights Education. She also the Chair of the Working Group on Business, Human Rights and SDGs within the NHRCT... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:30am - 1:00pm CET
Room XXI

Access to remedy, NHRIs

11:30am CET

Human rights due diligence across value chains - addressing systemic challenges

Interpretation is provided into Spanish and Korean.

Organized by the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights in collaboration with the Responsible Business Alliance

Brief description of the session:
This session will focus on how and why companies approach implementing human rights due diligence across their value chains to identify and address (in coordination and collaboration with others) systemic human rights impacts.
Participants will gain an opportunity to explore the complexity of value chains in today’s globalised economy, and how business practitioners map and seek to understand their company’s value chain. We will also examine how practitioners conduct human rights due diligence across vast and complex value chains – with an emphasis on opportunities to promote collaboration and communication across entities in the value chain to more efficiently identify and address adverse impacts. The session will incorporate emerging practice and perspectives from panellists and members of the ‘audience’. The session will conclude with observations as to what is needed to enhance and scale value chain due diligence.

Session objectives:
Through this session, we will seek to:

Strengthen understanding of the complexity of today’s value chains and business relationships – and how this complexity impacts efforts to implement human rights due diligence.
Explore how business practitioners are mapping and visualising their value chains, including key challenges and innovations.
Share how companies across industries are working to enhance their due diligence in key parts of the value chain, including by strengthening communication and coordination.
Identify practical opportunities to enhance and scale value chain due diligence going forwards.

Key discussion questions:

How can business practitioners strengthen their (and stakeholders’) visibility of complex value chains?
How are business practitioners (individually and collectively) working to identify and respond to human rights impacts across their companies’ value chains?

Session format:
This session will commence with a discussion amongst the speakers and the audience about the complexity of modern value chains. We will invite 2-3 companies from different industries to share, briefly, an overview of their companies’ value chains and discuss how this changes over time.
We will then explore the challenges companies confront when undertaking value chain due diligence (including that of prioritisation) through a series of mini-case studies. These case studies will offer participants insight into how companies in different industries are implementing human rights due diligence in various parts of their value chains – for example, to assess risks in specific business relationships (i.e. customers, JV partners, suppliers), sourcing decisions (i.e. particular components or raw materials) and production phases (i.e. manufacturing, processing, recycling). The session will not aim to be comprehensive, but rather to give participants a sense of innovative and less-visible aspects of companies’ efforts to identify and manage issues across their value chains. We will also discuss key tools available to companies to support these efforts.
Throughout the session, we will encourage active participation from the audience, and will ask business participants to come prepared to share their own insights and experiences.

Background to the discussion:
In today’s globalised economy, companies are under increasing pressure to identify and respond to adverse human rights impacts in their value chains. Value chains are extremely complex. Most companies have hundreds of customers, suppliers and other business partners – and these typically provide services to more than one industry sector. Major brands have been under particular pressure to ‘cascade’ expectations and standards ‘down’ their supply chains. Suppliers and other business-to-business companies are also increasingly expected to meet their customers’ standards, to be alert to human rights risks downstream – that is, impacts they may be involved in through their customers and clients. For most companies, undertaking human rights due diligence across the value chain will indeed require assessing a multitude of different types of business relationships, products and operations.
Companies working to respond to these pressures face additional challenges presented by the extensive nature of major global value chains, and the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the many business relationships within it. Knowing what the value chain ‘looks like’ is key to enabling robust approaches to identify and respond to adverse human rights impacts. But knowing is also only the start. Even with good visibility of entities within a company’s value chain, implementing effective human rights due diligence processes to identify and understand risks in the value chain requires companies to work together. It also requires the development of creative and smart strategies to navigate issues of scale and find efficiencies, the use of leverage as appropriate and the identification of appropriate ways to prioritise (where necessary).

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Andrea Shemberg

Chair, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights

Andrea has been with GBI since 2011, and since January 2019 has served as Chair.She has worked in business and human rights for nearly 20 years, beginning as Legal Advisor at Amnesty International UK and the International Commission of Jurists focusing on business, human rights and... Read More →

Speakers

Benjamin Thompson Katz

Pact

Mr Tony Khaw

Director, Corporate Social Responsibility Sustainability Office, NXP Semiconductors, Singapore

Tony has well over 20 years of experience in implementing corporate social responsibility programs in manufacturing operations and in the supply chain. Tony joined NXP in Jan 2013 to lead the Corporate Social Responsibility and Compliance function. Tony led the effort to fully develop... Read More →

Rob Lederer

Executive Director, RBA

James Nicholson

Head of Corporate Responsibility, Trafigura

James is Head of Corporate Responsibility at Trafigura. In 2010, James joined Trafigura in order to help establish a Corporate Affairs department. Areas of focus at the present day include developing and driving the Group’s responsibility and transparency policies worldwide, for... Read More →

Vanessa Zimmerman

Chief Executive Officer, Pillar Two

Vanessa is a recognised global and domestic corporate sustainability expert focusing on human rights.Originally an anti-trust lawyer, Vanessa specialised in business and human rights, working for five years as a Legal Advisor to the UN Special Representative on Business and Human... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:30am - 1:00pm CET
Room XVII

Business action, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains

11:30am CET

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

Interpretation is provided in English and French.

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:

This Forum session is part of the Forum track on trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in the context of each region of the world. Building on the sessions on government action on the Forum’s first day, the region focused discussions aim to take a closer look at how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges faced in African countries and lessons learned from emerging government, business and civil society action.

Objective of the session:

Facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue around lessons learned and the way forward, including on how to scale up emerging good practice and strengthen a race to the top among governments and business in the region.

Format of the session:

The proposed session will be done in a talk show format with the participants having the opportunity to raise questions amongst each other as in a public dialogue. The session is chaired by the Member of the UN Working Group, Githu Muigai

Preliminary agenda:

Introduction by The UN Working Group member, Githu Muigai
Kickoff remarks:
- Civil society coalition reflections on how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges in the region and what emerging practices to build on
- Business perspectives on how to drive a race to the top in the region
- Government statements on lessons learned and commitments for going forward
Roundtable discussion

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Githu Muigai

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Mutuso Dliwayo

Director, Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association

Mutuso Dhliwayo is a public interest environmental lawyer working with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association ( ZELA). ZELA works to promote democracy, good governance and sustainable development using natural resources as a framework.ZELA has been working on business and human... Read More →

Guillain Koko

Project coordinator, ACCA, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria

Guillain Koko is a Social Justice activist and Human rights Lawyer, with particular experience/expertise in Business and Human Rights.He is the project coordinator of the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA). He holds a Law Degree (LLB) in Public Law, from the Catholic... Read More →

Mthunzi Mdwaba

CEO, TZoro IBC

Mthunzi Perry-Mason Mdwaba is an entrepreneur, businessman, executive and passionate advocate for business in all its diverse forms and across developing and developed nations. He is a fierce defender of skills development, the conditions required for sustainable enter-prises and... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:30am - 1:00pm CET
Room XXIII

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

11:30am CET

Safeguarding human rights defenders: new efforts and tackling growing threats

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-safeguarding-human-rights-defenders-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972123912001/?term=

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in collaboration with:

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Global Witness
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Service for Human Rights
Peace Brigades International
Rafto Foundation for Human Rights

Brief description of the session :

The need for enhancing protection of human rights defenders who speak up against business-related human rights impacts is a standing item on the Forum’s agenda. This session led by the UN Working Group in collaboration with NGOs is envisaged to consist of two parts:

The first part of the session will be dedicated to showcasing new efforts to strengthen corporate respect and support for human rights defenders. Presentations will be brief, but meant to highlight encouraging initiatives and action.
The second part of the session will focus on the growing trend of criminalization and legal harassment of defenders who speak up against business-related impacts and identify concrete action to be taken by governments, business and others to address it. The panel aims to identify what "human rights due diligence" is needed and what are some of the practical considerations for preventing that companies become involved in criminalization and legal harassment of defenders who engage in legitimate efforts to address potential and actual adverse impacts. This will include identifying steps to be taken by:

home States
host States
companies that cause negative impacts and who are the main targets of criticism
companies that have business relationships to those causing the abuse (typically transnational corporations and their responsibility to address impacts in their supply chain)
investors
companies that invest in contexts where criminalization of human rights defenders is a salient issue

Background to the discussion:

Threats to human rights defenders and to civic freedoms are increasing concerns globally. A large number of human rights defenders are under threat and attack because they raise concern about adverse human rights impacts of business operations, often in the context of large development projects that affects access to land and livelihoods. At the same time, the space for civil society actors to raise concerns about human rights impacts is shrinking, and human rights defenders face criminalization when engaging in public protest or civil dissent.
Concerns are being raised about the role of business in contributing to attacks against human rights defenders or in failing to take action against such attacks. Questions are also being raised about the role of business in helping to protect human rights defenders and civic space.
States have the primary obligation to ensure the rights and protection of human rights defenders, as set out in various human rights instruments – in particular the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders – and as reaffirmed in many UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly resolutions, including through the March 2016 resolution on the protection of human rights defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights.
The importance of human rights defenders in the context of business-related impacts on human rights is recognized by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. They highlight the key role human rights defenders can have in human rights due diligence and enabling companies to understand concerns of affected stakeholders. In particular, the Guiding Principles:

Urge businesses to consult human rights defenders as an important expert resource as part of their human rights due diligence, as defenders have a key role as watchdogs, advocates and voice for affected stakeholders.
Urge States to ensure that the legitimate activities of human rights defenders are not obstructed.

References

The deadly price of fighting for human and environmental rights - Anita Ramasastry, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights; Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
Protecting and respecting those who speak up against business impacts on human rights - takeaways from the 2017 UN Forum and the way forward - UN Working Group

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Brittany Benowitz

Chief Counsel, ABA Center for Human Rights

I run a program at the American Bar Association that provides pro bono assistance to human rights defenders who face retaliation for their work.

Bennett Freeman

Co-founder and Board Secretary, Global Network Initiative (GNI)

Over the last 17 years of a three decade-long career, Bennett Freeman has worked at the intersection of multinational companies, responsible investors, NGOs, governments and international institutions to promote corporate responsibility, sustainability and human rights around the... Read More →

Andreas Graf

Head of Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination, FIFA

Johanna Molina Miranda

Researcher on Human Rights and Business, CREER

Lawyer, Specialist in International Law of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law with studies in Politics and International Security and currently studying for a Masters in Public International Law. She has experience in the public sector, as well as research and training... Read More →

Mohammad Nayyeri

Justice for Iran

Mohammad Nayyeri is an Iranian Attorney at Law specialising in human rights with substantial work experience within Iranian legal system. He has acted as legal advisor for a number of human rights NGOs and his research papers and legal commentaries regarding the Iranian legal system... Read More →

Ana Sandoval

Peaceful Resistance “La Puya”, Guatemala, Peaceful Resistance “La Puya”, Guatemala

Lorenzo Urbinati

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

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule

UN Special Rapporteur on Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association

Clément Nyaletsossi VOULE, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. Prior to his appointment, he led the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) work to support human rights defenders from States in transition and coordinated... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:30am - 1:00pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, Human rights defenders | Stakeholder engagement, Human rights defenders

11:45am CET

Snapshot: Konica Minolta - What motivates this global technology company’s commitment to human rights and what outcomes have been achieved – experiences from practice

Brief description of the presentation:
Konica Minolta Australia will present its experiences in implementing an extensive range of community engagement programs and championing a broad range of social justice issues, including advocating for an Australian Modern Slavery Act which would compel Australian companies above a specified revenue threshold to report annually to government on their initiatives to ensure their supply chains are free from modern slavery and other forms of human rights abuse. Among aspects covered, the presentation will share insights from building capability to manage human rights risks in the supply chain ahead of being compelled to by legislation. The presentation will feature experiences and the unintended positive outcomes around growth in staff engagement and enhanced commercial outcomes.

Presentation objectives:
Sharing experiences and the unintended positive outcomes around growth in staff engagement and enhanced commercial outcomes.

Speakers

David Cooke

Chair & Managing Director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Australia

As well as managing Konica Minolta (a global Japanese tech company) in Australia I am also a non-executive director of the UN Global Compact Network in Australia and of Sustainalytics (a global ESG research & analysis firm). My human rights work has been focused on ending human trafficking... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 11:45am - 12:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Supply chains, Modern slavery | Human rights due diligence, Supply chains, Modern slavery | Stakeholder engagement, Supply chains, Modern slavery

Session Format Snapshot

12:00pm CET

Snapshot: Human rights-based sustainable fisheries: an experience from the Thai Tuna Industry

Brief description of the presentation:
The session will highlight the efforts made by the Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA) to turn the industry towards a human rights-based sustainable business within a short period of time.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will share insights from TTIA efforts of applying requirements for member companies to comply with TTIA policies, covering aspects related to food safety, sustainability and ethical labour practice. It will also address lessons from applying stakeholder engagement and third party audits approaches aimed at creating a sustainable fisheries sector in Thailand. The goal is highlight lessons learned that can be replicated and inspire others in the region and beyond.

Speakers

Chanintr Chalisarapong

President of Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA) and Chairman of Thai Tuna Processors Group of TFPA, Thai Tuna Industry Association (TTIA)

Thai Tuna Industry Association our policy is to promote "Growing Sustainably" through Food Safely, Sustainability and Ethical Standard.

Tuesday November 27, 2018 12:00pm - 12:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Regulatory and policy developments | Sectoral perspectives, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

12:15pm CET

Snapshot: From commitment to action - Advancing decent work in global supply chains with SAP Ariba

Brief description of the presentation:
To advance the Sustainable Development Goals — adhering to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and taking into account their interlinkages and reinforcing effects — companies participating in the UN Global Compact Action Platform on Decent Work in Global Supply Chains are committing to 6 actions based on communication, transparency, engagement, leadership, collaboration, and accountability. As patron sponsor of the Action Platform, SAP Ariba will share its approach towards advancing these commitments. James Marland, SPA Ariba’s VP of Network Growth, will discuss how the company is taking innovative action to promote universal respect for human rights through its supply chain.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will highlight how innovative tools and technological solutions can contribute to more effective human rights due diligence across supply chains. It will share cross-cutting solutions to accelerate efforts in realizing the rights of workers, their families and their communities, and it will showcase the value of peer learning, collaboration and multi-stakeholder partnerships through the UN Global Compact Action Platform.

Speakers

Lise Kingo

CEO and Executive Director, UN Global Compact

James Marland

VP, Network Growth at SAP Ariba

Storyteller. Educating companies of all sizes the benefits of Going Digital with Business Networks. James is uniquely positioned to drive the connection of the world's companies together with the SAP Business Network. For too long companies have focused on their internal processes... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 12:15pm - 12:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, innovations, Supply chains, Communities and workers’ stories | Stakeholder engagement, innovations, Supply chains, Communities and workers’ stories

Session Format Snapshot

12:30pm CET

Snapshot: How investing in basic sanitation can help guarantee women’s rights: a case study from Brazil

Short description of the presentation:
The problems surrounding the lack of sanitation and the notorious consequences of such inadequacies for women’s rights correlate directly to inadequate investment in universalizing these services. Building water and sewage systems in cities that currently lack sanitation services significantly advances human rights, especially for women. This is what happened to the women of Uruguaiana, a city in Brazil’s southernmost state. The presentation will focus on how investments in sanitation over the last eight years, have been made in a human rights compliant manner, including through mapping and analyzing social vulnerabilities before disbursing, and impact analysis to ensure residents have benefited from the investments made. The presentation will also explain how the active multi-stakeholders engagement made this turnaround possible.

Presentation objectives:
Using the study entitled “Sanitation and the Lives of Brazilian Women” and presenting the case of “Uruguaiana” to showcase how investment in sanitation services significantly advances human rights, especially for women. It will also show how engagement efforts and environmental education contributes to viewing sanitation services as a basic right to which all peoples are fully entitled.

Speakers

Teresa Vernaglia

CEO, BRK Ambiental

For more than 25 years, Teresa Vernaglia has held leadership positions in multinational companies, in the area of telecommunication and energy infrastructure, acquiring experience in the segment during its universalization process.In May 2017, she became CEO of BRK Ambiental, the... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 12:30pm - 12:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Stakeholder engagement, Investors, Gender lens, Human rights due diligence

Session Format Snapshot

12:45pm CET

Snapshot: #Metoo and She too– Addressing sexual abuse and other gender-specific violations

Brief description of the presentation:
Most human rights instruments appear gender neutral, but will often affect men and women differently due to the substantial differences in the lives of men and women. One of the most salient gender-specific human rights for all women impacted by business activities are sexual abuse and harassment. The #Metoo campaign has exposed the massive extent of such violations in many industries in the global north. There is little reason to believe that this is any different in the global south. It is most likely the opposite in many of the countries where women´s basic human rights have weak support and protection. #Metoo has exposed the need for whistle blowing safe reporting systems, and for women to organize and speak to identify, prevent and remediate abuse and finally change the game.

Presentation objectives:
In the snapshot we will discuss how lessons learned from #Metoo can speed up the efforts to effectively integrate gender in the UNGPs.

Speakers

Sylvi Bratten

Head of Analysis, Development and Communications, FOKUS – Forum for women and development

Gunhild Ørstavik

Advisor, FOKUS Forum for Women and Development

Tuesday November 27, 2018 12:45pm - 1:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Gender lens

Session Format Snapshot

1:00pm CET

Snapshot: Gender, corporate due diligence, access to justice and indigenous women human rights defenders – Case study from Asia

Brief description of the presentation:
Indigenous women are most closely associated with the habitat in which they live as their economic, social and cultural way of nurturing their families and communities is dependent on their access to land, forests and other natural resources. When business interests enter the dynamics of resource utilization they bring drastic changes to women’s lives. The legal and customary safeguards, which traditionally ensure that women are not disenfranchised from decision-making and consultative processes or accountability mechanisms, are negatively impacted when corporate stakes violate the rights of indigenous women, especially in sectors like mining. The speakers will represent the Asia Regional Alliance on Women and Mining and will refer to human rights violations of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) by the state and business-related human rights abuse due to irresponsible mineral extraction and processing in the region. The presentation will also focus on state and corporate due diligence requirements and related commitments with respect to transparency, accountability, monitoring and safeguards mechanisms for the protection of WHRDs.

Presentation objectives:
The snapshot presenters will make concise recommendations based on wide engagement with indigenous women and affected women workers and communities, and will present due diligence best practices that uphold human rights standards and promote sustainable development.

Speakers

Bhanumathi Kalluri

Director, Dhaatri Trust

Cheryl P. Polutan

Program Coordinator, LILAK Purple Action for Indigenous Women's Rights

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:00pm - 1:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Asia, Human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples, Gender lens, Human rights due diligence

Session Format Snapshot

1:00pm CET

Lunch break

Sandwich lunch sponsored by the Government of Germany

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:00pm - 1:30pm CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

1:30pm CET

Due diligence and remedy: Is one possible without the other?

Organized by Amnesty International, SOMO, Clean Clothes Campaign, Sherpa, OECD Watch, PODER, Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), Global Witness

In this panel, community members from Tanzania and Mexico and workers from Pakistan impacted by corporate human rights abuses join human rights experts to explore the relationship between due diligence and remedy. Is facilitating remedy a part of a company’s due diligence responsibility? Should remedy be left to companies? What is the role of the state? Is a company’s failure to ensure remedy a failure of due diligence? Why is a guarantee of effective remedy essential to assure meaningful due diligence? How must remedy outcomes feedback to improve due diligence practices? What responsibility do investors have to undertake due diligence and ensure remedy, and what should their due diligence be?
Panellists analyse the problems arising from failures of due diligence and remedy through exploration of three case studies on corporate impacts:

Gold mining in Tanzania,
Garment production in Pakistan, and
Copper mining in Mexico.

Next, panellists propose policy solutions to strengthen the effectiveness of due diligence and remedy through the use of hard and soft law tools and improved investor due diligence.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Fernanda Hopenhaym

Codirectora Ejecutica, Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación PODER

Speakers

Sandra Cossart

Executive Director, Sherpa

Ivette Gonzalez

Strategic Engagement Senior Associate, PODER (México)

Ivette Gonzalez is an Strategic Engagement Senior Associate at the Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER). She co-coordinates the Civil Society Focal Group on Business and Human Rights in Mexico. Currently, Ms. González coordinates at PODER a project on... Read More →

Dwight Justice

OECD Watch

Rachel Owens

Head of EU Office, Global Witness

Rachel Owens is Head of EU Advocacy at Global Witness, an anti-corruption and human rights NGO. In 2017, she set up Global Witness’ first EU office leading and working on campaigns to introduce EU rules for mandatory investor due diligence, to crackdown on corruption in EU golden... Read More →

Ben Vanpeperstraete

Lobby and Advocacy Coordinator, Clean Clothes Campaign

Expert in Supply Chains, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Accountability, Business and Human Rights and Sustainable Development. Currently works at UNI Global Union and IndustriALL Global Union on Supply Chains, more specifically the ground breaking Bangladesh Accord... Read More →

Anneke Van Woudenberg

Human Rights Officer, Permanent Mission of Argentina

Anneke Van Woudenberg is the Executive Director of corporate watchdog NGO Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), which she joined in March 2017. Previously she was the Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch where for 14 years she led in-depth fact-finding on human... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Access to remedy, Non-judicial grievance mechanisms | Human rights due diligence, Non-judicial grievance mechanisms

1:30pm CET

Reinforcing the importance of human rights due diligence for realizing the SDGs

Organized by Shift, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), Oxfam

Brief description of the session and objectives:
The overall purpose of this event is to deepen our understanding of the relationship between the SDGs and the business and human rights agenda from the viewpoint of various stakeholders. More specifically, our objectives are:

To discuss the evolving relationship between the SDGs and business and human rights from the perspective of business, civil society, government, and other stakeholders.
To identify key barriers (cultural, institutional, etc.) that prevent greater integration of human rights considerations and approaches into companies’ engagement on the SDGs.
To develop strategies for how to better ensure that respect for human rights is at the center of every company’s efforts toward contributing to the Global Goals.

Key discussion questions:

What are the major trends, areas of progress, and gaps in corporate strategies and actions on the SDGs?
What are the main barriers that are holding back deeper synergy between the SDGs and the business and human rights agenda?
What can business, civil society, governments, investors, and other actors do to help make elements of the business and human rights agenda (e.g. ‘Respect, Protect, Access to Remedy,’ human rights due diligence) a cornerstone of companies’ SDG engagement?

Format of the session:
To encourage multi-stakeholder dialogue, we propose a workshop-style session to crowdsource input into the discussion questions outlined above. Following a set of scene-setting presentations, small group discussions will offer an opportunity for participants to add to the conversation, and the plenary discussion at the end will capture key takeaways and opportunities for further collaboration.

Setting the scene: The state of play on business, the SDGs, and human rights (35 min)

Small group discussions (20 min)
In groups up to 20 people, the following questions will be discussed:

What examples of good practice are we seeing in positioning human rights at the heart of SDG engagement?
What are the barriers in ensuring an integrated approach to business respect for human rights and contributions to the SDGs?
What can we do, individually and collectively, to tackle these barriers?

Plenary discussion and wrap-up (20 min)

Report back from small group discussions by table leads
Collating feedback and facilitated discussion of emergent themes and findings
Group Discussion and plenary moderated by Phil Bloomer, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Background to the discussion:
Three years since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continue to gain momentum within the business community. More than 90% of the SDG targets are linked to international human rights and labor standards. Ensuring respect for human rights – an inherently creative and innovative process – is thus one of the most important contributions to the SDGs that businesses can make. In addressing negative human rights impacts connected to business activity, companies that take this approach will be delivering hugely positive outcomes for people.
Yet, few companies are linking their SDG engagement with their commitment to human rights. While the number of companies embracing the SDGs and making commitments to respecting human rights continues to grow, many of them are treating the SDGs and human rights as separate areas of engagement. As a result, there is a risk that company strategies and actions on the SDGs do not meaningfully address human rights impacts associated with corporate operations and supply chains.
The lack of knowledge regarding business’ SDG contributions and the relationship between the SDGs and the business and human rights agenda represents a problem for all stakeholder groups. A new debate is urgently needed if we want to ensure that human rights form the cornerstone of any business strategy or action aimed at contributing to the Global Goals.

Interpretation is provided in Korean.

Speakers

Phil Bloomer

Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

James Gomme

Director, Sustainable Development Goals, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

James Gomme is Director of Sustainable Development Goals at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a business membership organization comprised of some 200 multinational corporations that come together to coordinate and scale up solutions to create a sustainable... Read More →

Cynthia Trigo Paz

Human Rights Senior Advisor, TOTAL

As a social and human rights expert I advise Total on assessing and addressing human rights risks and impacts associated to its operations and business relations.

Claus Teilmann Petersen

Department Director, Human Rights and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights

Irit Tamir

Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXI

Business action, SDGs

1:30pm CET

Accountability and building trust on corporate engagement on rights of LGBTI people

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-rights-of-lgbti-people-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972148544001/?term=

Organized by United Nations

Session objectives:
This session, featuring some of the most prominent activists and corporations engaged on the human rights of LGBTI people, will discuss how to build bridges between LGBTI activists and the private sector and how to create mutual trust and accountability.

Background:
For the past twelve months, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has engaged companies and activists on the United Nations Human Rights LGBTI Standards of Conduct for Business. To date, 200 of the World largest companies have publicly expressed support for these Standards. Yet, some in the LGBTI community and human rights practitioners sometimes express mistrust in companies’ engagement concerned that their efforts could be limited to marketing strategies which stop when “doing the right thing” gets in the way of the bottom line or that companies might be too selective in their overall human rights approach. Similarly, the anti-pink washing message was central to both Paris and London Prides this year.

Hashtag:
#Biz4LGBTI, #UNForumBHR, #bizhumanrights

Format:
Short video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeeVEKaDLM), panel followed by Q&A

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Fabrice Houdart

Human Rights Officer, UN

Fabrice works on the Free & Equal campaign, an unprecedented United Nations global public education campaign for LGBT equality. He also leads a project on global LGBTI standards of conduct for Business on tackling LGBTI discrimination with the support of more than 100 of the largest... Read More →

Speakers

Mani AQ

Co-Chair of ILGA Asia, Executive Board Member of ILGA World

Mani (he/him) is Co-Founder of HOPE – Have Only Positive Expectations and working as a Program Executor in the organization. HOPE works on:- Enhancement of Mental Health.- Providing safe-space / community center.- Sensitization & Counselling Sessions.- Monetary Support in emergency... Read More →

Clare Iery

Associate General Counsel – Senior Director, The Procter & Gamble Company

Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics & Compliance, Law & Regulations

Michael Karimian

Senior Manager, Human Rights, Microsoft

Leanne MacMillan

Director of Global Programmes, Stonewall

LGBT and human rights; business and human rights; developing countries and advocacy for human rights; strategic litigation; UN advocacy

Aung Myo Min

Executive Director, Equality Myanmar

Aung Myo Min is the Executive Director of Equality Myanmar based in Yangon working on human rights education and advocacy for protection and promotion of human rights in Myanmar. Myo is one of the pioneers in human rights education in Burma working closely with women, youth, refugees... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, LGTBI

1:30pm CET

Connecting human rights due diligence and business lawyers: overcoming practical challenges

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the International Bar Association Legal Policy and Research Unit

Short description of the session:
This session aims to be an open and constructive round table-style discussion with attendees. Led by business lawyers and based on the practical obstacles to implementing respect for human rights and human rights due diligence into client advisory work this session will stimulate a discussion about creative and innovative solutions to scaling up human rights due diligence in client advisory work.
This session will identify current challenges across a number of key practice areas by drawing on business lawyers’ practical experience advising business on business and human rights issues. By connecting some of the findings in the recent UN Working Group Report to the UNGA on human rights due diligence to business lawyers' practical experience, this session will seek to move the discussion from what should be done, to why it is not happening and how things might change. Speakers have been chosen to focus on issues that come up across a range of legal practice areas, including corporate M&A transactions, large-scale project based transactions, international sanctions, board-level and corporate advisory, financial crimes, international arbitration and disputes and compliance.

Session objectives:
To draw out some of the findings in the recent report of the Working Group to the UN General Assembly on human rights due diligence (A/73/163), specifically how stakeholders, can contribute to the scaling up of effective human rights risk management and due diligence by:

identifying why respect for human rights and HRDD is not more widely embedded into the standard business and legal practice?
drawing on practitioners’ experience advising businesses to understand the practice-based challenges to more widespread implementation of respect for human rights and HRDD across legal practice areas and advisory work
stimulating a practical discussion about how these obstacles can be overcome, if at all?

Key discussion questions:

What are some of the key obstacles to embedding respect for human rights and HRDD within the work of business lawyers, focusing on specific areas of practice and advisory work?
What needs to change? How?

Format of the session
The session will be an interactive and conversational roundtable-style discussion. Following a brief introduction, the moderator will pose two to three questions to each speaker to elicit insight from their different perspectives. This will then transition into a broader conversation amongst the speakers and the audience, with attendees offering comments and posing questions.

Background to the discussion:
Business lawyers are a key stakeholder group to engage if human rights due diligence is to be implemented more widely beyond a small group of early adopter. However, the recent report of the Working Group on human rights due diligence (A/73/163) highlights a number of challenges to embedding human rights due diligence into business practice related to the work of business lawyers citing a "reluctance or even pushback from traditionally oriented legal counsel, both in-house and external" and a "lack of integration of business and human rights into the core advisory services of corporate law firms".
At the same time, it identifies the great potential for business lawyers to integrate advice on human rights due diligence more widely as part of advisory services for clients and recommends that "law firms and bar associations integrate human rights risk management in line with the Guiding Principles as a core element of the role of business lawyers as "wise counselors". There is also a very strong emerging view within the legal profession that advice on human rights risk management forms a core component of providing legal and commercial advice to businesses.
Whilst a lot of positive developments have occurred within the legal profession since the adoption of the UNGP in 2011, a lot of work still needs to be done as the majority of businesses and their advisors around the world remain unaware, unable or unwilling to recognize a responsibility to respect human rights and implement human rights due diligence.
Creative and innovative solutions will only emerge if we are honest about what's not working in practice and why. This panel is made up of leading legal experts in this field who understand challenges in practice and who can provide recommendations for overcoming these obstacles.

Speakers

Maria Angelica Burgos

Partner, Zuleta Abogados Asociados

Lawyer, practising in the areas of dispute resolution (international and domestic arbitration), public international law and BHR.

Rhys Davies

Partner, DLA Piper

Rae Lindsay

Partner, Clifford Chance LLP

Rae Lindsay is a partner in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice of Clifford Chance LLP and co-head of the Firm's Public International Law and Business and Human Rights practices. She is also a member of the Firm's ESG Board. Rae serves on the advisory board of a number of... Read More →

Githu Muigai

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Kieran Pender

Legal Advisor, International Bar Association

Kieran Pender is a legal advisor with the Legal Policy & Research Unit of the International Bar Association (IBA) in London. Kieran is project lead on the IBA’s whistleblower protection work, including the recently-published Whistleblower Protections: A Guide (2018). He has spoken... Read More →

Andrea Saldarriaga

Visiting Fellow (LSE) and director SILA Advisory, London School of Economics and Political Science and SILA Advisory

Hideaki Roy Umetsu

Partner, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto

Hideaki Roy Umetsu is a partner at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, Japanese law firm. He focuses on international and domestic M&A transactions, compliance (including anti-corruption), and general corporate matters. He was admitted to the bars in Japan and New York. Umetsu has been actively... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Business lawyers

1:30pm CET

Update on the process to elaborate a legally binding instrument

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish.

Organized by the Permanent Mission of Ecuador

Short description of the session:
The turning point of the process of the elaboration of a treaty on business and human rights pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 26/9, was unequivocally the release of a victims-oriented draft legally binding instrument (Zero Draft) in July 20th, prepared by the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG, and complemented by a draft optional protocol to that draft treaty, following the recommendations of the Third Session of the OEIGWG and on the basis of the discussions of the three first sessions of the Working Group, the inputs provided by States and other relevant stakeholders during the large number of bilateral and multilateral consultations held during the intersessional periods and the insights provided by several experts from different regions and profiles, in accordance with operative paragraph 6 of HRC Resolution 26/9.
The Fourth Session of the OEIGWG held only a few weeks ago (15 to 19 October 2018), which included the participation of 95 States, more than 400 representatives of other relevant stakeholders, members of national and regional parliaments and 30 experts from all over the world, witnessed the first reading of the draft legally binding instrument with a clear substantive engagement from an important number of participants, through their proposals, comments, suggestions and questions in relation to the different provisions of the draft treaty. Nevertheless, as part of the efforts to achieve the widest possible participation and engagement in this process, the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG is organizing this parallel session with a view to provide an update on the results of the Fourth Session, including in the light of the recommendations of the Chair-Rapporteur and the conclusions of the Working Group adopted at the end of that session.

Session objectives:
Taking into account the background of the overall process of the legally binding instrument on business and human rights, and the recommendations and conclusions of the Fourth Session of the Working Group mentioned above, the main objective of the parallel session organized by the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG is to share with all the interested participants of the 2018 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights the most updated information and assessment of the process towards the elaboration of a legally binding instrument on business and human rights, in light of the results of the Fourth Session and its positive impact to the full implementation of the mandate of HRC Resolution 26/9.

Format of the session:
The session will be open to States and other relevant stakeholders and will be held in English. It will consist of presentations by invited panelists, followed by an interactive dialogue.

Background:
The Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by the Human Rights Council Resolution 26/9 of June 2014, with the concrete mandate “to elaborate an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to Human Rights”. Pursuant to this mandate, since 2015 the OEIGWG has held four annual sessions, which have enjoyed the participation of a growing number of States and representatives from intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, academia, private sector and trade unions, among other participants, in a comprehensive, transparent and inclusive manner.
During these years, in spite of the remaining different views and proposals with respect of several substantive elements of the discussion as well as on process, there has been an undeniable progress in the recognition of the usefulness of legally binding norms and standards for the effective protection and prevention against corporate-related human rights violations or abuses, and the enhancement of the access to justice and remedy for the victims of such abuses or violations. The process has also served to demonstrate the mutual complementarity between the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the elaboration of a legally binding treaty.
The Fourth Session concluded with the adoption of the recommendations of the Chair-Rapporteur and the conclusions of the Working Group, which included inter alia, the invitation to States and other relevant stakeholders to submit comments and proposals on the draft legally binding instrument by the end of February 2019, and the request to the Chair-Rapporteur to prepare a revised draft by the end of June 2019, to serve as the basis for direct substantive intergovernmental negotiations during the Fifth Session of the OEIGWG.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Walter Schuldt

Consejero, Misión Permanente del Ecuador ante NNUU en Ginebra

Director de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (e.) - Cancillería Ecuador - Ex Miembro del equipo de la Presidencia del Grupo de Trabajo del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de NNUU encargado de elaborar un tratado sobre empresas y derechos humanos, Negociador por Ecuador y por el... Read More →

Speakers

Natalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder

Group Director, IISD

Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, LL.M, is a senior international lawyer and heads the Economic Law & Policy programme of the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD).In this role, she works with developing country governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America... Read More →

Alejandro Dávalos

Chargé d´Affairs of the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations in Geneva, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG Res.26/9

Sandra Epal-Ratjen

International Advocacy Director and Deputy Executive Director, Franciscans International

Elżbieta Karska

member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Robert McCorquodale

Professor, Inclusive Law

Independent advisor, experienced academic and practitioner, and expert trainer on business and human rights to companies, NGOs, governments, industry associations, and international organizations.Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of Nottingham, UK; barrister... Read More →

Gabriela Quijano

Legal Adviser, Business and Human Rights, Amnesty International - International Secretariat

Mlulami Singapi

Permanent Mission of South Africa

Tuesday November 27, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XVII

International standards, Discussions on a legally binding instrument

3:00pm CET

Snapshot: New insights? The impacts of the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
The first part of the presentation will zoom in on the effectiveness of the National Contact Points (NCPs) dispute resolution mechanism at the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. It will discuss two NCP cases on labour conditions: the Heineken Bralima case, in which the Dutch NCP has facilitated a favorable mediated settlement for the workers, which included compensation for damages; and the less successful case of Daewoo in Korea, which has not resulted in a beneficial solution for the workers.
The second part will illustrate current monitoring mechanisms to assess compliance with the OECD Guidelines (and UNGPs) such as certification and third party monitoring. It will also discuss positive and negative implications of IT-developments, the use of blockchain and of artificial intelligence on transparency, traceability and effective monitoring.

Presentation objectives:
To present the factors contributing to success building on NCP cases, and to introduce a three-year program by the Worldbank, Pels Rijcken (a Dutch law firm) and Leopard Ledger (a blockchain/AI developer) aimed to develop a proof of concept of an IT-application in the palm oil sector.

Speakers

Raymond Saner

Director CSEND in Geneva and Co-chair of the academic network of the OECD RBC Guidelines, Professor, Basel University and Science Po in Paris

I'm a student of the LLM Program Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. I'm looking for the internship or entry-level position.

Martijn Scheltema

Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Law

I am also partner at Pels Rijcken (The Hague based law firm). People may talk to me about innovative legal aspects of business human rights, such as enhanced contractual mechanisms, blockchain and artificial intelligence, arbitration and human rights, the (zero draft) of the proposed... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:00pm - 3:15pm CET
Room XXIV

International standards, ICT, Non-judicial grievance mechanisms

Session Format Snapshot

3:00pm CET

Trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in "Western Europe and Others" region (WEOG)

Interpretation is provided into English, French and Spanish
Watch live https://unog.webex.com/unog/j.php?MTID=mabe7bc8e92ec6e11557311bcf357f4b9

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
This Forum session is part of the Forum track on trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in the context of each region of the world. Building on the sessions on government action on the Forum’s first day, the “Western European and others”- focused discussions aim to take a closer look at policy innovations and emerging practices on which progress can be built. The session will involve presentations by governments that are moving ahead with regulatory and policy innovations.

Objectives of the session:

Share lessons learned from recent government efforts with potential to drive greater policy coherence and reach scale in business implementation of the corporate responsibility to respect human right
Facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue around lessons learned and way forward, including on how to strengthen a race to the top among Western countries.

Format of the session:

Introduction by the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights
Snapshot presentations on innovations and lessons learned: inter-governmental and government perspectives
Open stakeholder discussion on the way forward

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Ulrika Lyckman Alnered

Deputy director, Department for Promotion of Sweden, Trade and CSR, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Sustainable Business, Anti-corruption, Business and Human Rights

Barbara Bijelic

Legal Expert, Responsible Business Conduct, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Alva Bruun

Senior adviser, human rights, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Alva is Senior Adviser at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Her main duties lie within the business human rights-sphere, in the Political Department as well as the Department for Development Policy. She's overseeing various of the ministry's projects implemented with the... Read More →

Robert Coleman

Director, Trade Planning, Coordination and Responsible Business Practices, Global Affairs Canada

Iona Ebben

Senior Policy Officer Business & Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands

Katharina Hermann

Head of Helpdesk on Business and Human Rights, Government of Germany

Julius Langendorff

Policy Officer Trade & Sustainable Development, European Commission, DG Trade

Geneviève Jean- van Rossum

Représentante spéciale chargée de la bioéthique et de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises, Ministère francais de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères

Camilla Røssaak

Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XXI

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

3:00pm CET

Trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in Eastern Europe

Interpretation is provided in English and Russian.

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:

This Forum session is part of the Forum track on trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in the context of each region of the world. Building on the sessions on government action on the Forum’s first day, the region focused discussions aim to take a closer look at how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges faced in Eastern European countries and lessons learned from emerging government, business and civil society action.

Objectives of the session:

- Facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue around lessons learned and the way forward, including on how to scale up emerging good practice
- Strengthen a race to the top among governments and business in the region

Format of the session:

The proposed session will be done in a talk show format with the participants having the opportunity to raise questions amongst each other as in a public dialogue. The session is chaired by the Member of the UN Working Group, Elzbieta Karksa

Preliminary agenda:

Introduction by Elzbieta Karska
Kickoff remarks:
- Civil society coalition reflections on how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges in the region and what emerging practices to build on
- Business perspectives on how to drive a race to the top in the region
- Government statements on lessons learned and commitments for going forward
Roundtable discussion

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Elżbieta Karska

member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Mark Fodor

Executive Director, CEE Bankwatch Network

CEE Bankwatch Network‘s mission is to prevent environmentally and socially harmful impacts of international development finance, and to promote alternative solutions and public participation.

Salome Zurabishvili

Executive Director, Global Compact Network Georgia

Ms. Salome Zurabishvili has founded and been heading the Global Compact Network Georgia since February 2016. She assumed the position of Executive Director of the host organization of the GCNG platform, non-governmental organization CiDA, in April 2018.She is a Human Rights Lawyer... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XXIII

Government action, Region in focus, Eastern Europe | Business action, Region in focus, Eastern Europe

3:00pm CET

Developing a gender lens to business and human rights

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-i-developing-a-gender-lens-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972170222001/?term=

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
Against this background, this session – framed as a “gender roundtable” – will discuss major challenges faced by women in business-related contexts and explore potential solutions as well as good practices to address these challenges. The roundtable will focus on the following five thematic areas:

Sexual harassment and sexual violence against women
Gender sensitive human rights due diligence
Economic inclusion and empowerment of women
Impact of trade, investment and tax regimes on women
Women’s experiences of accessing effective remedies and defending rights

To prepare for the gender roundtable, individuals and organizations who had submitted session proposals for the Forum related to gender issues and some other stakeholders have been invited to form a small group on each of the above five themes. Each group is expected to discuss internally and prepare a 2-page brief to inform discussion at the gender roundtable. The briefs will highlight the main challenges faced by women in the five specific thematic situations identified above as well as the potential solutions and good practices to overcome those challenges. All received briefs will be posted on the UN Working Group’s gender project webpage.

Session objectives:

Raise sensitivity amongst all stakeholders about the key challenges faced by women in business-related contexts.
Identify potential solutions as well as best practices concerning these challenges.
Inform the UN Working Group’s proposed gender guidance on how to “protect, respect and remedy” the rights of women in a business context in line with the UNGPs.

Background to the discussion:
Women (including girls) experience business-related human rights abuses in unique ways and are often affected disproportionately. Women also face multiple forms of discrimination and experience additional barriers in seeking access to effective remedies for business-related human rights abuses. Therefore, in order to effectively meet their respective human rights duties and responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), States and business enterprises need to be sensitive to the unique experiences of women and the structural discrimination or barriers that they face.
In order to assist States and business enterprises in achieving this goal, the UN Working Group is developing gender guidance to the UNGPs. This guidance will provide practical recommendations for what it means to “protect, respect and remedy” the rights of women in a business context in line with the UNGPs. The gender guidance to the UNGPs, which will cover all three pillars, will be the theme of report of the Working Group to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019. Further information about this project is available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/GenderLens.aspx

Session format:
The gender roundtable will be organised as follows:
- Introductory remarks by the Surya Deva, Vice-Chair, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (5 minutes)
- Sharing of briefs developed by five thematic groups (6 minutes for each group)
- Each group will organise a “gender café” to brainstorm further issues around the given theme with other participants (45 minutes)
- Break (20 minutes)
- Reflections from gender cafés (40 minutes)
- Open discussion facilitated by the moderator (40 minutes)

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Surya Deva

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

Irene Ekonga

Grants Manager and Program Coordinator, Uganda Women Lawyers Association

10 years experience working on gender equality, women and children's rights, transitional justice, access to justice, business and human rights.

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 →

Michelle Lau-Burke

Manager, Business & Human Rights, The B Team

Winfred O. Lichuma

Advocate and Gender Specialist, EBS

Hassan Maalim

CED, Zonal Construction and Handling Services Co Ltd

Susan Mathew

Human Rights Officer, Right to Development Division, OHCHR

Irit Tamir

Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam

David Wofford

Vice President, Meridian Group

I work on women’s and worker health in supply chains low- and middle income countries and develop/promote gender responsive policies and practices that improve worker wellbeing and business performance.

Gunhild Ørstavik

Advisor, FOKUS Forum for Women and Development

Speakers

Joanna Bourke-Martignoni

Senior Research Fellow, Graduate Institute

Andrea Giannetto

President, IDA Initiative for the Development of Africa

Andrea Giannetto IDA President.IDA (Initiative for the Development of Africa) is an NGO that promote, through business and cultural activities, the principles of a better world and contributes, through international cooperation, to the development of the African Continent.

Anna Gollub

Policy Analyst, UN WOMEN

Anna is the Economic Institutions Policy Analyst in the Economic Empowerment Section of the Policy Division at UN Women in New York. She specializes in economic institutions in relation to gender equality in employment and entrepreneurship. She leads the design and operationalization... Read More →

Matti Kohonen

Principal Advisor, Private Sector, Christian Aid

Matti Kohonen works at Christian Aid as the Principal Advisor on the role of the private sector Private Sector, working to ensure that the private sector is a responsible and accountable actor in global development.He holds a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics and... Read More →

Virginia Munyua

Regional Project Manager, Decent Work for Women Programme, Hivos

Cynthia Trigo Paz

Human Rights Senior Advisor, TOTAL

As a social and human rights expert I advise Total on assessing and addressing human rights risks and impacts associated to its operations and business relations.

Juliana Ramalho

Sócia, Mattos Filho advogados

Juliana is a highly-regarded lawyer in the field of nonprofit organisations and business and human rights in Brazil. Juliana have been advising nonprofit organizations and social enterprises for the past 15 years in corporate and tax matters. In addition, she also advises companies... Read More →

Callie Strickland

Programme Associate, Gender Equality, B Team

Ioana Tuta

Advisor, The Danish Institute for Human Rights

Responsible for the communications strategy of the Voluntary Principles, as well as planning and delivering events.

Teresa Vernaglia

CEO, BRK Ambiental

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, Gender lens

3:00pm CET

Addressing “modern slavery” in supply chains – Company responses

Interpretation is provided into Spanish.

Session organized by the Responsible Business Alliance and The Consumer Goods Forum.

Brief description of the session:
According to International Labour Organization (ILO), approximately 24.9 million people worldwide are in conditions of forced labor. Supply chains include hundreds of thousands of workers who seek to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Many are subject to conditions that may contribute to forced labor, including high recruitment fees, personal debt, complicated recruitment practices, a lack of transparency about their eventual working conditions, and inadequate legal protections in the countries in which they work.
Guiding principles on forced labor are well-established, however, solutions tend to be fragmented across industries and geographies and only address certain aspects or specific points in a worker’s journey. Due diligence on forced labor should be harmonized across multiple industries that share recruitment supply chain to drive labor market transformation through collective action.
This session will provide testimonials from companies across multiple sectors on how they address forced labor in their operations and supply chains. It will review core process to operationalize supply chain due diligence on forced labor while exploring collective action needed with stakeholders to address the root causes of this issue.

Format of the discussion:
The session will be organized via a series of speaker remarks, expert interventions and multimedia content. Session moderators will bring to life the opportunities created by harmonizing obligations, policies, initiatives, and expectations to tackle this difficult issue.
To ground the session, we will use real world examples from companies across industries on the opportunities and challenges in devising solutions. Speakers from civil society will bring perspectives on remediation, remedy and transparency. Finally the broader topic will be explored by asking participants to consider how business can work collectively as well as with other stakeholders, to address root causes of forced labor.

Programme:
15:00 – 15:10 Introductory remarks and framing of issue
15:10 - 15:50 Part 1 – Business Responses
15:50 – 16:05 Part 2 – Stakeholder Perspectives
16:05-16:20 Part 3 – Question/Answer and way forward

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Bob Mitchell

Vice President, Responsible Business Alliance

As Vice President at the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), Bob leads the strategy development and implementation for environmental and human rights programs. He is a 16-year veteran of Hewlett Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with over 11 years in sustainability. He was... Read More →

Speakers

Didier Bergeret

Director Social Sustainability & SSCI, The Consumer Goods Forum

Didier Bergeret is Director of Social Sustainability and the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI). The main focus of his work is to develop collaborative and practical solutions for the industry to advance responsible supply chains. He notably supports the implementation of... Read More →

Jay Celorie

Human Rights Officer, Sustainability, HP, Inc

Graduate researcher on business and human rights from a preventative/risk management perspective, with a focus on transnational mining regulation.

Rob Lederer

Executive Director, RBA

Caroline Meledo

Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility & Human Rights, HILTON

Caroline has developed and leads on the implementation of Hilton’s global human rights strategy. Before joining Hilton’s HQ a year ago, Caroline set up and led Hilton’s Corporate Responsibility team for Europe, Middle East and Africa in 2013. Previously, Caroline worked in the... Read More →

Ashley Orbach

Head of Human Rights and External Engagement, Supplier Responsibility, Apple, Inc

Christa Hayden Sharpe

Regional President, IJM Asia Pacific, International Justice Mission

IJM is a global human rights NGO that equips governments to sustainably and effectively protect the most vulnerable from exploitation and violence in over 20 locations around the world. We build collaborative, sustainable solutions between governments, private sector, civil... Read More →

Tom Smith

Director, External Stakeholder Strategy, Responsible Sourcing, Walmart

People can talk to me about:Human rights in lendingHuman rights in investmentsHuman rights in due-diligence for financial institutionsSalient human rights risk mappingHuman rights reportingI have a 20-year track record of identifying and managing Environmental, Social (E&S) and Human... Read More →

Barbara Wettstein

Corporate communications and public affairs expert, Nestlé

Barbara Wettstein is Public Affairs Manager overseeing Responsible Sourcing at Nestlé. She is responsible for communications, engagement and advocacy on responsible sourcing related topics and is based in Nestlé’s international headquarter in Vevey, Switzerland.She’s worked... Read More →

Peter Paul van de Wijs

Chief External Affairs Officer, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

As head of GRI’s External Affairs team, Peter Paul is responsible driving effective advocacy for GRI, for developing and implementing GRI’s global internal and external communications strategy and maintaining the external relations.Peter Paul has over 20 years of professional... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XVII

Human rights due diligence, Modern slavery, Supply chains | Business action, Modern slavery, Supply chains

3:15pm CET

Snapshot: The use of the Universal Period Review (UPR) mechanism as a tool to prevent Business related human rights abuses

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
When issues of resettlement or recognition of land rights are not properly managed in the context large scale infrastructure or extractives projects, this may trigger violence and abuses of individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples.
The UPR provides an international mechanism for indigenous organizations and civil society organizations to raise awareness of such impacts. They have been using UPR as a tool to raise concerns with third countries on the impact of human rights abuses caused by investments and trade, and to influence policy makers in order to improve regulatory and monitoring frameworks (with civil society participation).

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will showcase of how UPR can positively contribute to the development of national plans on business and human rights possibly leading to concrete policy and legal developments to prevent future human rights abuses. The presenters will also discuss what avenues may be taken in order to balance the legitimate right of the State to promote investment projects of national interest with the conservation of ecosystems and the respect of human rights of indigenous peoples. This includes their right to participate in the whole investment project cycle, in line with the requirement set out in the UN Guiding Principles and other international human rights instruments.

Speakers

Adolfo López

Human Rights Defender, COICA (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica)

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:15pm - 3:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples, Communities and workers’ stories | Stakeholder engagement, Human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples, Communities and workers’ stories

Session Format Snapshot

3:30pm CET

Snapshot: New insights? When causation, contribution, and direct link overlap: UNGP implementation in “complex complicity” scenarios

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Determining whether companies cause, contribute, or are directly linked to rights violations is key to identifying their duties, as well as to shaping their response to potential or actual human rights impact. Nevertheless, this task can be challenging in scenarios where multiple sources of impact overlap, interact, and transform one another. Such is the case of the Suape Industrial Portuary Complex (Brazil): it concentrates over one hundred companies in a region inhabited by traditional communities, who report serious human rights violations stemming from the Complex’s expansion.

Presentation objectives:
The presentation will draw on the Suape case to discuss the many facets of complicity with human rights violations in complex environments.

Speakers

Joana Nabuco

Officer of Development and Socio-Environmental Rights Program, Conectas Human Rights

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:30pm - 3:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Policy coherence | Human rights due diligence, Policy coherence

Session Format Snapshot

3:45pm CET

Snapshot: Corporate responsibility to respect human rights in situations of occupation

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Areas affected by armed conflict or under occupation pose unique challenges for companies operating or wishing to operate there. In addition to international human rights law, companies must consider and respect the rules of international humanitarian law. The UN Guiding Principles make this clear by stating that companies have a responsibility to respect standards of international humanitarian law in situations of armed conflict. This includes standards designed to safeguard people living in occupied territory (the protected people under the law of occupation). In situations of armed conflict and occupation, the risks of gross human rights abuses is heightened, and companies must be particularly careful not to exacerbate these risks. They must also be alert to the risk of contributing to or benefitting from illegal acts, such as the unlawful appropriation of land and natural resources of the occupied territory.

Presentation objectives:
The purpose of Amnesty’s snapshot presentation will be to discuss the implications of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights in situations of occupation. Examples will be used to illustrate the challenges and impact on people’s lives. Innovative ways for States and the UN to ensure both act in line with their respective international law duties and responsibilities in these situations will also be discussed.

Speakers

Gabriela Quijano

Legal Adviser, Business and Human Rights, Amnesty International - International Secretariat

Tuesday November 27, 2018 3:45pm - 4:00pm CET
Room XXIV

International standards, Conflict | Groups at risk, Conflict

Session Format Snapshot

4:00pm CET

Snapshot: Building Trust between Human Rights Defenders and Financial Actors

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Civil society organizations (CSO) working to defend communities in the face of corporate human rights harms are fast becoming attuned to the role that institutional investors and corporate lenders play in incentivizing good corporate conduct. At the same time, we are witnessing a sea change in the way in which investors consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk. After years of debate over whether ESG investment pays, increasingly institutional investors are concluding that it does. These developments mark a critical moment in the effort to improve corporate human rights conduct. The next step is to strengthen communications and collaboration between civil society organizations and financial actors so that financial risks can be accurately identified and addressed.

Presentation objectives:
This snapshot will present the case for a CSO-Investor Dialogue Table, scheduled to start in early 2019. The purpose of the Dialogue Table is to build trust between financial professionals and human rights advocates in order to produce effective collaboration on human rights. For CSOs, the Dialogue Table is an opportunity to present the perspective of the victims of human rights violations and explain what they believe financial professionals need to do in order to prevent, mitigate and remediate those violations. For investors, it will be an opportunity to demystify civil society concerns in a safe setting, jointly develop solutions and to take appropriate measures to prevent human rights risks

Speakers

Joanne Bauer

Co-Founder, Rights CoLab

I cofounded Rights CoLab two years ago to innovate human rights strategies in a time of closing civic space that bridge the fields of business, finance, technology, and civil society. I lead projects on integrating human rights into capital markets and on human rights-compatible models... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:00pm - 4:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, Investors, Human rights defenders

Session Format Snapshot

4:15pm CET

Snapshot: NHRIs and Business: Working Together to Advance Human Rights

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) promote, protect and advance human rights for every person in every aspect of their lives. We hold Governments to account for their human rights obligations, and help to embed human rights principles into the foundations of services, organisations and institutions to create a society where no one is left behind.

Presentation objectives:
Discussing the potential for better partnerships between businesses and NHRIs in order to implement rights based approaches that create change and drive inclusion of marginalised groups, including the LGBTI community.

Speakers

David Isaac

Chair Equality and Human Rights Commission, Chair of Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, The Commonwealth Forum of National Human Rights Institutions

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:15pm - 4:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, LGTBI, NHRIs | Groups at risk, LGTBI, NHRIs

Session Format Snapshot

4:30pm CET

Snapshot: Children’s Rights and Business Atlas: Harnessing the power of data in risk and impact assessments.

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Business impacts children everywhere. Children interact daily with the private sector – as family members of workers, employees, consumers, and community members affected by operations and supply chains. The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas is an online tool that uses a wide range of data analysis and manipulation to help transform this interaction and help businesses, investors and industry organizations understand how their actions impact children’s rights globally.

Presentation objectives:
To discuss how the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas provides a quantitative assessment of children’s rights across 195 countries and territories to offer a comprehensive understanding of how actions impact children’s rights, and the degree to which children’s rights are respected, across the globe in the Workplace, at the Marketplace, and within the Community and Environment. The Atlas harnesses the power of data to bring pragmatic and user-friendly insight into the complex narrative of children’s’ rights, helping provide risk and impact assessment. The Atlas is designed to help business, government and industry stakeholders better understand their impact on children through the use of publicly available country data, industry analysis and practical guidance.

Speakers

Martin Hallberg

Children’s rights and business atlas manager, Global Child Forum

Sustainability and development professional driven by all things that make us human, such as connection, laughter, movement and learning for example. As the Global Child Forum’s Children’s Rights and Business Atlas Manager, I work with businesses and strategic partners in order... Read More →

Beth Verhey

Senior Advisor, Children’s Rights and Business, UNICEF

I am Senior Advisor on Children's Rights and Business with UNICEF.Talk to me about Integrating children's and human rights in business due diligence.And our new global data platform for business risk and impact analysis - https://www.childrensrightsatlas.org/country-data/workplac... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:30pm - 4:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Children, Technology, Supply chains | Groups at risk, Children, Technology, Supply chains

Session Format Snapshot

4:40pm CET

Accountability and remedy: exploring the interconnectedness of different types of grievance mechanisms

Interpretation is provided into Spanish.

Organized by OHCHR

Brief description of the session:
The goals of improved accountability and access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses are often best served by providing affected individuals and communities with a range of options for seeking redress. These options could involve judicial or non-judicial mechanisms, or, in some cases, a combination of them. In 2014, OHCHR launched the Accountability and Remedy Project (ARP), a multiyear initiative of three phases focusing on enhancing the effectiveness of, respectively, judicial mechanisms, State-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms, and non-State-based grievance mechanisms. The overall aim of this project is to identify practical measures that can be taken to improve corporate accountability and access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuses. In its 2017 report to the General Assembly, the Working Group on Business and Human Rights has also stressed the importance of an ‘all roads to remedy’ approach to realizing effective remedy for rights-holders.

This session will explore the interconnectedness of different types of grievance mechanisms, drawing from the three phases of ARP and the Working Group’s 2017 report. It will discuss how States can develop a legal and regulatory environment that enables the various types of grievance mechanisms to make a positive collective contribution to accountability and remedy, with a particular focus on the interfaces between non-State-based grievance mechanisms (such as operational-level grievance mechanisms) and State-based mechanisms.

Session objectives:

Explore the interconnectedness between the different types of grievance mechanisms: i.e. State-based judicial mechanisms, State-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms, and non-State-based grievance mechanisms.

Key discussion questions:

What measures can States take to improve policy coherence in relation to their different grievance mechanisms to ensure that victims have realistic and identifiable pathways to effective remedy?
What bearing does improved interconnectedness and policy coherence have on the prevention of harm through human rights due diligence by companies and “continuous learning?”
How should non-State-based grievance mechanisms (including operational-level grievance mechanisms) be situated within the overall “family” of grievance mechanisms?
In what circumstances is State regulatory oversight of the establishment, design and/or performance of non-State-based grievance mechanisms desirable and/or justified?
What kinds of communication and liaison between different types of remedial systems are needed for a well-functioning “regulatory ecosystem"?

Background to the discussion:
The right to an effective remedy is a core tenet of the international human rights system, and the need for victims to have access to an effective remedy is also recognized in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

However, extensive research has shown that in cases where business enterprises are involved in human rights abuses, victims often struggle to access remedy. The challenges that victims face are both practical and legal in nature. To begin to address these challenges, OHCHR launched the Accountability and Remedy Project in 2014 with a view to contributing to a fairer and more effective system of remedies in cases of business involvement in human rights abuses.

There are currently three phases of the Project:

The third and current phase of ARP is focused on enhancing the effectiveness of non-State-based grievance mechanisms. Findings from ARP I and II have highlighted the interlinkages between the different institutions and initiatives that make up the “family” of grievance mechanisms. For instance, judicial mechanisms may be available to enforce contracts entered into following a private mediation process. In the fields of labour and consumer protection regulation, prior reference to a company-based grievance mechanism may be a condition of access to a State-based non-judicial mechanism. Additionally, State-based bodies may, and in many cases do, provide advice and support to companies in the establishment of company-based grievance mechanisms.

The “regulatory ecosystem” in which non-State-based grievance mechanisms are situated may profoundly impact their effectiveness. However, this issue has so far been little discussed. As part of its programme of work, ARP III will aim to uncover the key components of well-functioning “regulatory ecosystems” for non-State-based grievance mechanisms with a view to identifying good practices and lessons that may be replicated in multiple contexts.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Lene Wendland

Chief, Business and Human Rights, OHCHR

Speakers

Leila Al-Hayouti

Co-Founder, Rights CoLab

Aishah Bidin

Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

Human Rights Commissioner and Law Professor at the National University of Malaysia. Corporate Law , human rights and energy law

Surya Deva

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

Kindra Mohr

Policy Director, Accountability Counsel

Kindra Mohr, Esq. oversees the Policy Advocacy program at Accountability Counsel, an organization that works with communities around the world to defend their environmental and human rights through advocacy and direct case support. Using a community-driven approach, she focuses on... Read More →

Jennifer Zerk

Legal Consultant, OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXIII

Access to remedy, Non-judicial grievance mechanisms

4:40pm CET

Trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

Interpretation is provided into English/French/Spanish

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
This Forum session is part of the Forum track on trends and challenges in promoting business respect for human rights in the context of each region of the world. Building on the sessions on government action on the Forum’s first day, the region focused discussions aim to take a closer look at how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges faced in Latin American and Caribbean countries and lessons learned from emerging government, business and civil society action.

Objectives of the session:
- Facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue around lessons learned and the way forward, including on how to scale up emerging good practice
- Strengthen a race to the top among governments and business in the region.

Format of the session:
The proposed session will be done in a talk show format with the participants having the opportunity to raise questions amongst each other as in a public dialogue. The session is chaired by the Chairperson of the UN Working Group, Dante Pesce

Preliminary agenda:

Introduction by Dante Pesce
Kickoff remarks:
- Civil society coalition reflections on how to overcome key business-related human rights challenges in the region and what emerging practices to build on
- Business perspectives on how to drive a race to the top in the region
- Human rights defender statement on his/her experience in working for the respect of human rights by business in the region
- Government statements on lessons learned and commitments for going forward
Roundtable discussion

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Fernanda Hopenhaym

Codirectora Ejecutica, Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación PODER

Ana Laynez

Indigenous authority, Ixil indigenous community, Guatemala

Carolina Mejia Micolta

Abogada, Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXI

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

4:40pm CET

Developing a gender lens to business and human rights

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-ii-developing-a-gender-lens-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972479212001/?term=

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
Against this background, this session – framed as a “gender roundtable” – will discuss major challenges faced by women in business-related contexts and explore potential solutions as well as good practices to address these challenges. The roundtable will focus on the following five thematic areas:

Sexual harassment and sexual violence against women
Gender sensitive human rights due diligence
Economic inclusion and empowerment of women
Impact of trade, investment and tax regimes on women
Women’s experiences of accessing effective remedies and defending rights

Raise sensitivity amongst all stakeholders about the key challenges faced by women in business-related contexts.
Identify potential solutions as well as best practices concerning these challenges.
Inform the UN Working Group’s proposed gender guidance on how to “protect, respect and remedy” the rights of women in a business context in line with the UNGPs.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Surya Deva

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

Susan Mathew

Human Rights Officer, Right to Development Division, OHCHR

Irit Tamir

Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam

Speakers

Salome Atieno

Executive Director, Haki Mashinani Kenya

Salome Odero is an advocate in Kenya. She has experience on access to justice, democracy and governance, access to remedies, providing pro bono services and is a human rights defender.

Jesse Coleman

Senior Legal Researcher, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Columbia University

Jesse Coleman is a Senior Legal Researcher at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI). She joined CCSI in 2015, and focuses on the nexus of international investment and human rights law; investment law and policy; and sustainable investments in land, agriculture, and... Read More →

Sean Cornelissen

Policy Officer, Natural Resources Policy,, Global Affairs Canada

Natural resources policy, mining, OECD Due Diligence on Mineral Supply Chains, Voluntary Principles, Kimberley Process

Mary Kambo

Programme Advisor on Labour & Business and Human Rights, Kenya Human Rights Commission

With specialist knowledge on labour rights at the national, regional and international levels; having engaged in labour rights work for more than 10 years now.

Sarah Knuckey

Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic

Francine Picard

Associate, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Elizabeth Umlas

Lecturer, University of Fribourg

decent work and supply chainliving wageteaching BHRbenefit corporations

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, Gender lens

4:40pm CET

Government responses to modern slavery and child labour in supply chains

Interpretation is provided in English and French.

Session organized by the Alliance 8.7 Secretariat and its Action Group on Supply Chains.

Topic and focus of the session:
The challenge of ending child labour and forced labour remains formidable with 152 million children around the world in child labour and 25 million people in forced labour. A significant number of victims are working in supply chains.

As the leading global partnership to end child labour and forced labour, Alliance 8.7 will use its unique convening power to bring to the Forum testimonies from three countries and the OSCE. These will show how governments have joined forces with other partners (business membership and employers’ organizations, trade unions, companies, civil society organizations, UN organizations and entities) to strengthen due diligence and the coordination of their efforts.

Session objectives:

Share good experiences of Governments and businesses collaboration on the implementation of measures aimed at incentivizing or enabling businesses to engage in due diligence on child labour and forced labour in supply chains;
Exchange insights on persisting challenges to be addressed, including on closing knowledge gaps and measuring impact of efforts;
Provide examples on how Alliance 8.7 can accelerate the results of their efforts under the 2030 Agenda.

Format of the session:
Introductory statements followed by interactive dialogue with the audience

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Beate Andrees

Chief Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch, ILO

Speakers

Iona Ebben

Senior Policy Officer Business & Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands

Peter Hall

Adviser, Business & Human Rights/Responsible Business Conduct, International Organization of Employers

Maurice Middleberg

Executive Director, Free the Slaves

Valiant Richey

Deputy Co-ordinator and Officer in Charge, Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, OSCE

Supply chains and public procurement.

Makbule Sahan

Legal Director, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Makbule is leading the ITUC’s work on international labour standards and human rights mechanisms, litigation in regional and national courts, business and human rights, labour law and the ITUC Global Rights Index.

Hyacinth Hermann TANDRA

Director General for Labour and Social Law, Ministry of Civil Service, Administrative Reform, Labour, Employment and Social Laws, Madagascar

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XVII

Human rights due diligence, Modern slavery, Supply chains, Children | Government action, Modern slavery, Supply chains, Children | Groups at risk, Modern slavery, Supply chains, Children

4:45pm CET

Snapshot: Economic evidence for civic rights protection

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Description of the presentation:
This “snapshot” presentation will outline the economic argument for why business should be concerned about the global crackdown on civic rights and civil society. In October, The B Team released The Business Case for Protecting Civic Rights, to examine the economic impact of respect for civic rights and civic space. The Business Case for Protecting Civic Rights utilises data from the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) to augment the business case for action and explore how a better business environment is linked to greater civic rights and freedoms.

Presentation objectives:
We plan to speak alongside a company representative that can explain why the protection of civic rights is important to their business operations and their commitment to the UN Guiding Principles

Speakers

Annabel Lee Hogg

Cause Strategist, Governance and Human Rights, The B Team

Dibanhi Andrade tiene 21 años y es estudiante de la Licenciatura en Derecho y Función Pública. Actualmente es la Representante del Comisionado de Formación Integral en la FEUDEM. Durante su estancia en la UDEM ha formado parte de diversos grupos estudiantiles dentro del Centro... Read More →

Michael Karimian

Senior Manager, Human Rights, Microsoft

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:45pm - 5:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Human rights defenders, Stakeholder engagement | Groups at risk, Human rights defenders, Stakeholder engagement

Session Format Snapshot

5:00pm CET

Snapshot: Roles of the youth in moving forward the UNGPs

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
The session will highlight the important roles of the youth in moving forward, including simplifying and facilitating, the implementation of UNGPs in practice.

Presentation objectives:
The youth representatives will share their innovative initiatives emerging from the competition on youth’s innovation on business and human rights recently held in Thailand.

Speakers

Natthawut Chaithong

First Runner-up,, Faculty of Business Administration, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok

Saharat Laksanasut (สหรัฐ ลักษณะสุต)

Winner of Thailand Business and Human Rights Youth Innovation Contest, Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University

Saharat Laksanasut (สหรัฐ ลักษณะสุต), Saharat Laksanasut (สหรัฐ ลักษณะสุต),

Tuesday November 27, 2018 5:00pm - 5:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, Communities and workers’ stories

Session Format Snapshot

5:15pm CET

Snapshot: Experiences from practice - Effective multi-stakeholder models working against child labour

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
The session will showcase an effective multi-stakeholder model (i.e. the “La Máquina Model”), working against child labour and offer both a government and a rights-holder perspective. The model, which has been developed and run in close collaboration with the Government of Guatemala, the ECLT Foundation, NGO partner DNI Costa Rica, local communities and private sector partners, not only focuses on schools and job skills but also provides child labour training for key local actors, like community leaders, teachers and technicians from companies that work with farmers, for a sustainable way to address child labour gaps in agricultural supply chains and promote decent youth employment.

Presentation objectives:
Ms. Rodriguez will speak briefly on the challenges she faces accessing education in her rural community, the importance of the model for her and her fellow participants.
Ms. Ochoa will give a short overview of the work, successes and challenges of the Ministry of Labour in the Eradication of Child Labour, specifically, the advances made as a country, including the “La Maquina Model” and the importance of building a replicable model in two departments of Guatemala. The replica aims to continue promoting education, ignite economic development and reduce migration in communities living in extreme poverty in Guatemala.

Speakers

Marta Lidia Lima

former child labourer and participant in youth employment promotion model, Student

Glenda Ochoa

Director of Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour of Guatemala

Tuesday November 27, 2018 5:15pm - 5:30pm CET
Room XXIV

Government action, Children, Labour rights | Stakeholder engagement, Children, Labour rights | Groups at risk, Children, Labour rights | Sectoral perspectives, Children, Labour rights

Session Format Snapshot

5:30pm CET

Snapshot: The impact of extractive activities in Honduras on the rights of indigenous peoples

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Extractive activities, such as mining projects in Honduras, have affected collective and individual rights of indigenous peoples, such as their right to prior, free and informed consent, the right to water, their access to, use and control over land, and have negatively impacted on the enjoyment of a healthy environment. In this context, the human rights impacts on indigenous communities have received little attention from the government as well as from transnational enterprises involved, while human rights defenders rasing critical voices have been facing increased risks.

Objectives of the presentation:
Against the backdrop of these challenges, the presentation will feature a civil society perspective on what would be effective measures by government, transnational corporations, other business and investors to meet the requirements set out in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in such a context. It will also offer the opportunity to explore existing avenues for improvement, including through meaningful participation of affected communities in decisions affecting their rights, as well as in the context of the possible development of a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Speakers

José Ramiro Lara

Coordinador de Proyecto, Association of Non-Governmental Organizations ASONOG

Tuesday November 27, 2018 5:30pm - 5:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Groups at risk, Communities and workers’ stories, Extractive industries, Indigenous peoples

Session Format Snapshot

5:45pm CET

Snapshot: The contribution of the indigenous Papuan community to promote respect of the rights of indigenous peoples

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
This session will highlight efforts made by the Papua People's Assembly to assist indigenous Papuans involved in preventing and overcoming the adverse effects of human rights associated with mega projects in Papua Province, Indonesia.

Objectives of the presentation:
This presentation will share experiences from the efforts by the Papuan People's Assembly and the indigenous Papuan community to promote respect of the rights of indigenous peoples, including their right to free, prior and informed consent in the context of business activities in the territories of indigenous peoples in Papua Province, Indonesia.

Speakers

Wensislaus Fatubun

fillmaker, human rights defender and human rights advisor, Papuan People's Assembly

Human Right Advisor and Papuan filmmaker

Tuesday November 27, 2018 5:45pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, Communities and workers’ stories, Human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples

Session Format Snapshot

6:00pm CET

Snapshot: The implications of Indigenous Peoples’ FPIC Protocols and Policies for business respect for human rights

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
Initial experiences of a growing number of indigenous communities in jurisdictions throughout the world suggests that formalizing their own engagement rules and procedures, in the form of consultation and free prior and informed consent (FPIC) protocols, policies, templates or guidelines, can be an effective way for indigenous peoples to ensure that business activities in or near their territories only proceed in a manner that respects their rights. These living documents provide companies, financial institutions and other actors seeking to operate in or near the territories of indigenous peoples with context specific indigenous-rights-based principles, rules and frameworks within which they should operate when seeking indigenous peoples’ consent.

Presentation objectives:
The speakers will address a research project involving European Network on Indigenous Peoples members from Middlesex University London School of Law, Forest Peoples Programme and INFOE that seeks to build on these experiences and contribute to the empowerment of indigenous peoples to assert their right to self-determined development by consolidating, exploring and sharing these evolving approaches and the associated lessons and resources. The Embera Chami in the Resguardo Indigena de Canamomo y Lomoprieta in Colombia are indigenous peoples who have developed consultation and consent protocols regulating natural resource governance in their territories. A former governor of this Resguardo will address their experience and the importance of company and State adherence to their protocols to guarantee business respect for their collective land, cultural and self-governance rights.

Speakers

Cathal Doyle

Research Fellow, Middlesex University London School of Law

Research fellow at Middlesex University London School of Law and member of the European Network on Indigenous Issues (ENIP)

Hector Jaime Vinasco

exGovernor and Coordinator of Natural Resources and Mining Program, Resguardo Indigena de Canamomo y Lomoprieta, Consejo de Gobierno Indígena

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:00pm - 6:15pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, Indigenous peoples, Regulatory and policy developments | Groups at risk, Indigenous peoples, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

6:15pm CET

Snapshot: Upholding the right to participate in environmental matters for affected communities: Mexico’s Supreme Court ruling in the Sonora case

Interpretation is provided in English and Spanish

Brief description of the presentation:
This session aims to present briefly the Sonora case and related recent decision by the Mexican Supreme Court in September 2018. On 6 August 2014, 40 million liters of copper sulphate were spilled by Buenavista del Cobre, property of Grupo Mexico, into the Bácanuchi and Sonora rivers, impacting on the access to clean water, health and livelihoods of almost 25,000 people along the río Sonora watershed. Since 2014, affected peoples and communities have been seeking justice, integral remediation and guarantees of non-repetition. In the last four years, several irregularities have been committed by both the authorities and the company, including the beginning of the expansion of the mine. In September 2018, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in favor of the community of Bacanuchi regarding the lack of consultation before granting the permits for such expansion, thus re-affirming the constitutional right to participate in environmental matters by affected communities.

Presentation objectives:
A representative of affected communities will share her testimony, and PODER will share more information on the case and the potential this ruling has in advancing the fulfilment of the right to participation in the context of business activities in Mexico and internationally.

Speakers

Benjamin Cokelet

Founder & Co-Executive Director, PODER

Ivette Gonzalez

Strategic Engagement Senior Associate, PODER (México)

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:15pm - 6:30pm CET
Room XXIV

International standards, Indigenous peoples, Judicial grievance mechanisms | Groups at risk, Indigenous peoples, Judicial grievance mechanisms

Session Format Snapshot

6:15pm CET

Protecting human rights in Public Policy: What Role for Business?

Organized by BSR and The B Team

Session objectives:
The discussion will consider a number of key questions on the minds of business executives, policymakers and civil society. Key objectives include:

Identifying risks and opportunities for business and investors to improve overall protection for human rights while also improving the business environment
Sharing examples of business or investor engagement in policy that support human rights, and identifying pressure points from stakeholders
Acknowledging the critique of undue corporate influence in public spheres, which may undermine rights or deepen inequality, explore and discuss holistic corporate advocacy approaches that respect and support human rights

Background to the discussion:
Around the world, we have seen instances of policy reversals on human rights protections and programs, which were critical to creating the enabling environment for business to respect human rights. In addition to these policy reversals, many governments continue to have restrictive or discriminatory laws in place towards particular groups, such as women or migrants.
As part of the “protect, respect and remedy” framework, the UN Guiding Principles created a global baseline expectation on companies to respect human rights, while also guiding business to use its ‘leverage’ in business relationships to help governments protect these rights. Exercising business leverage is more complex when human rights impacts are not caused by a company or ‘directly linked’ to its operations, products, and services.
When states are not fulfilling their duty to protect human rights, how can or should business use its leverage to support human rights in policy engagement?
This interactive session will give participants an opportunity to engage in important questions on businesses’ role in public policy engagement to support human rights, deepening social exclusion and rampant inequality.

Session Design Principles:
Informative discussion inviting a diversity of perspectives

Participatory and engaging
Provides valuable ideas for potential areas of future collaboration
Provides valuable ideas for potential areas of future collaboration

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Rajiv Joshi

Managing Director, The B Team

Margaret Jungk

Managing Director, Human Rights, BSR

Speakers

Jean-Yves Art

Sr Director, Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft

Shelly Heald Han

Director of Civil Society Engagement, Fair Labor Association

Shelly is the director of civil society engagement at the Fair Labor Association, a multi-stakeholder initiative that works to improve labor conditions for workers in global supply chains. Based in Washington, DC, she is an experienced business and human rights advocate who has worked... Read More →

Paloma Munoz Quick

Director, Investor Alliance for Human Rights

Director of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, a collective action platform for responsible investment that is grounded in respect for people’s fundamental rights. In this capacity, Paloma leads strategic development and drives thought leadership work to advance the investor... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Business action, Stakeholder engagement | Stakeholder engagement, Stakeholder engagement

6:15pm CET

Documentary - Combatting modern slavery in supply chains - Lessons from two sectoral campaigns

Organised by Doughty Street Chambers with Traidcraft and Ethical Trade Initiative

Brief description
The session is intended to discuss the issue of combatting modern slavery in supply chains through the perspective of two sectoral responses and two industries. The session will show two short videos (around 5 mins each) on the Rajasthan Stone Sector and the Assam tea Industry, which are meant to highlight some of the issues and then engender discussion on the question of what could be done to combat modern slavery in supply chains from an industry, NGO and legal perspective.

Session objectives
The objectives for the session are:

To highlight some of the violations in two important supply chains which the attendees may not be aware of.
To highlight the current campaign on the transparency in the Assam tea supply chain.
To highlight the current work that has been done and is planning to be done on the Rajasthan Stone Supply chain.
To have a greater understanding of what are the barriers to combatting modern slavery in those supply chains.
To have a greater understanding of why companies are finding difficulties in mapping supply chains.
To have a greater understanding of what legal avenues may be possible for combatting the most serious human rights violations in supply chains.

Key discussion questions

What are the key lessons from these two sectoral campaigns in:

Addressing the main barriers to combatting modern slavery in supply chains?
how companies should enhance their due diligence in supply chains?
why many companies are not enhancing their due diligence in supply chains?
what stakeholders can do to improve due diligence in supply chains?
what lawyers can do to improve due diligence in supply chains?

Format of the session
There will be:

Short video on Assam Tea Supply chain, followed by a 10 min introduction by Fiona Gooch, on the campaign.
Short video on Rajasthan Stone Supply chain, followed by a 10 min introduction by Krishnendu Mukherjee on the issue.
Response by Cindy Berman on the issues raised.
Further response by Fiona Gooch and Krishnendu Mukherjee
Discussion from the floor.

Background to the discussion
A backdrop to the discussion is the reluctance of many large companies in the UK to engage with s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. By drilling down on lessons from two sectoral case studies, the aim is to generate a discussion rooted in practical examples on how barriers and challenges to progress can be overcome.

Speakers

Cindy Berman

Head of Modern Slavery Strategy, Ethical Trading Initiative

Fiona Gooch

Senior Private Sector Policy Advisor, Traidcraft Exchange

Fiona works to improve the impact UK-linked businesses have on vulnerable farmers, workers and communities in developing countries. This includes work on supply chains, company law, competition policy, legal remedies, social reporting, business and human rights and investment. She... Read More →

Elise Groulx

Associate Tenant, Doughty Street Chambers

ELISE GROULX DIGGS, ESQ., Ad.E., LL.M.Associate Tenant Doughty Street ChambersBI for Business Integrity & Partners LLC, PrincipalElise Groulx Diggs advises corporations, governments and international organizations on the human rights and legal issues associated with their investment... Read More →

Krishnendu Mukherjee

Barrister/Indian advocate, Doughty Street Chambers

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XXI

Government action, Supply chains | Business action, Supply chains

Session Format Documentary

6:15pm CET

Human Rights and Business Award – Human rights defenders in the Global South

Organized by the Human Rights and Business Award Foundation

Short description of the session:
At this session the first annual Human Rights and Business Award will be presented to an NGO, “for outstanding work by human rights defenders in the Global South or former Soviet Union addressing the human rights impacts of business”. The award will be accompanied by a grant of US$50,000. This session will not be ceremonial – instead, it will be an interactive learning and discussion opportunity, linking the particular experiences of the award recipient and the lessons learned through those experiences to the Forum’s priority issues including human rights due diligence, sector-focused challenges, and the UN Guiding Principles.

Session objectives:

Identification of human rights abuses that need to be addressed by civil society, business and governments – and steps that need to be taken to avoid recurrence of those abuses
Identification of good practices by human rights defenders, business and governments
Identification of “due diligence” good practice and opportunities
Identification of opportunities for increased constructive direct engagement between companies and NGOs and between governments and NGOs
Identification of opportunities for more effective implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Key discussion questions

What have been your organization’s greatest challenges, and greatest successes, in addressing the human rights impacts of business in your country? What have you learned from the experience that could be useful to other NGOs, and to businesses and governments?
A central theme of this UN Forum is human rights due diligence by companies. What practical advice would you give to an international company coming into your country and wanting to respect human rights, implement the UN Guiding Principles and assess the risks?
Do you have any practical suggestions for increasing constructive direct engagement between companies and NGOs in your country?
Your NGO has been addressing specific human rights impacts by business. When you step back and look at the broader landscape in your country, what steps can civil society, companies and government take in the future to promote good human rights practices by business?

Discussants who will help activate the broader discussion with brief contributions include:

Justiça nos Trilhos has just been named the recipient of the first annual Human Rights and Business Award, which will be presented at this session.
Justiça nos Trilhos is a human rights NGO working with more than 100 communities in rural regions of Brazil to address widespread abuses by mining companies, and to defend the rights of local people including indigenous communities. The abuses include damage to health and livelihoods, displacement of communities, violence, and decimation of the cultures and lives of indigenous peoples. The human rights defenders of Justiça nos Trilhos, and the local communities they work with, have suffered persecution, surveillance and retaliatory lawsuits.
Lea Rankinen of S Group, a Finnish network of companies operating in the retail and service sectors. When human rights defender Andy Hall documented forced labor by one of S Group’s suppliers in Thailand, and when that supplier filed a court case against Andy Hall, S Group first tried to convince their supplier company to have an open dialogue with stakeholders and to cooperate with external auditors, and when the supplier refused S Group stopped working with them. But S Group went further – it considered what was the necessary level of due diligence to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, then decided to travel to Thailand to testify in support of human rights defender Andy Hall, and after he was convicted, raised his case at the European Parliament and at the United Nations. Lea said: “Human rights defenders are the ones doing this work on the ground level...if they can’t raise questions, then how can anyone in the society?” For further information, see “In-depth interview with Lea Rankinen of S Group: ‘If suppliers think they can sue human rights defenders who will audit or investigate them, this will jeopardize our responsible sourcing’", Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Jan 2017.
Anita Ramasastry, Member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, will highlight the Working Group’s new guidance document on human rights defenders being launched soon: guidance for governments and business on action to safeguard and support human rights defenders in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Alexandra Montgomery

Member of the Advisory Network, Human Rights and Business Award Foundation

Alexandra is Program Director for Brazil, Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)Alexandra holds an LL.M. Degree specializing in Human Rights from American University - Washington College of Law and has worked for the past 14 years in many civil society organizations in Brazil... Read More →

Valeria Scorza

Vice Chair. Program Director of Fundación Avina, Human Rights and Business Award Foundation

Valeria holds a degree in political science and public administration from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico) and a master’s degree in international relations with a concentration in human rights from Columbia University. She has worked at international human rights organizations... Read More →

Speakers

Christopher Avery

Chair of the foundation's board, Human Rights and Business Award Foundation

Chris was Founding Director (2002-2013) of Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, and before that worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International as Legal Adviser and Deputy Head of the Research Department. He will co-moderate a Forum session (27 Nov, 18:15-19:45... Read More →

Danilo Chammas

Lawyer, Justiça nos Trilhos

Danilo Chammas is a lawyer and human rights defender who lives in Maranhão, a state of dense Amazon rainforest in northeastern Brazil. He coordinates the legal team of Justiça nos Trilhos (Justice on the Rails), which works to defend the human rights of those impacted by mining... Read More →

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Lea Rankinen

SVP Sustainability, SOK Corporation

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:15pm - 7:45pm CET
Room XX

Groups at risk, Human rights defenders

Session Format Award

6:15pm CET

Special film screening: The Price of Free

Organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and Participant Media

Short description of the session:
Join us for a special screening of THE PRICE OF FREE.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, THE PRICE OF FREE is a suspenseful yet intimate look at one man’s groundbreaking struggle to liberate every child possible from slavery. From director Derek Doneen and Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth,” “He Named Me Malala”), the film follows Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his team of leaders around the world through gripping secret raids and quests for missing children in the hopes of ending the cycle of poverty that forces them and their families into dreadful circumstances. Refusing to be daunted by the impossible, they have succeeded in rescuing over 87,000 children and created a global movement which has resulted in legislation which helps protect young children. The film was co-produced by Concordia Studio and Participant Media, and will be released by YouTube Originals.

Session objectives:

Illuminate the persistence of child labor, hidden in supply chains
Discuss the role of business in child labor and slavery in supply chains
Describe the film’s social impact campaign and how companies in the room can screen this film for their employees, leaders and partners.

Key discussion questions:

What can the private sector do to help solve this problem?

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Amanda Chen

VP, Social Impact, Participant Media

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:15pm - 8:00pm CET
Room XVII

Groups at risk, Children

Session Format Documentary

6:30pm CET

Snapshot: Human Rights Insights from the Middle East: how accreditation frameworks help keeping business relevant to stakeholders in an increasingly challenging environment for human rights

Brief description of the presentation
In the absence of a progressive legal and regulatory environment, Lebanese and MENA corporates increasingly seek recognition for their BHR commitment by undertaking self-assessments and joining signatory initiatives. Accreditation frameworks developed in consultation with international organizations like the UN, World Bank and international development funds provide corporates with the necessary tool to go beyond local laws and demonstrate their commitment to international best practices. Research reveals how the financial industry is the most sensitive to operational and reputational risk while other industries still needs to work hard to adhere to best principles and standards in an increasingly convergent self-regulatory environment.

Presentation objectives:
Drawing on research undertaken by Shareholder Rights, the presentation will highlight alternative approaches tackling BHR in developing economies where legal and regulatory frameworks still struggle to keeping up to par with international requirements.

Speakers

Yasser Akkaoui

Founder, Shareholder Rights

Shareholder-Rights©, an online research and advocacy platform.With its integrity, objectivity and innovation, Shareholder-Rights’© goal is to be the primary destination for investors, shareholders and other stakeholders to have access to the insight which enables them to better... Read More →

Tuesday November 27, 2018 6:30pm - 6:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Stakeholder engagement, Regulatory and policy developments

Session Format Snapshot

8:00am CET

Networking Coffee

Welcome coffee/tea and croissants - Sponsored by the Governments of Germany and Norway.

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:00am - 8:30am CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

8:30am CET

Investing in the Human Right to Housing

Organized by OHCHR

Brief description of the session:
This session will discuss what steps investors in residential real estate should take to exercise human rights due diligence, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to avoid negative impacts on the right to adequate housing and support the realization of Target 11.1 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (ensuring adequate housing for all by 2030).
The session will continue the conversation started at last year’s Forum on Business and Human Rights amongst diverse stakeholders on the ‘financialization of housing’ and its relationship to the realization of the right to adequate housing. In her 2017 report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing called on States and the private sector to give priority attention to the social function of housing and called for more engagement and dialogue between States, human rights actors, international and domestic financial regulatory bodies, private equity firms and major investors.

Session objectives:

To consider what practical steps investors in residential real estate should take to exercise human rights due diligence, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, with a focus on measures to avoid negative impacts on the right to adequate housing;
To consider how real estate investors by preventing adverse human rights impacts will also contribute to the realization of Target 11.1 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (ensuring adequate housing for all by 2030).
To stimulate debate about remedies that could be employed to ensure access to justice, and accountability of financial institutions and private actors for the right to housing.

Key discussion questions:

What steps should real estate investors take to exercise human rights due diligence in order to respect the human right to adequate housing?
How can States, private actors, and NGOs and others work together to help ensure that real estate investment does not adversely impact the right to adequate housing?
What steps can be taken by different stakeholders to promote real estate investment practices that will contribute to the commitments to ensuring adequate housing for all by 2030?

Format of the session:
8:30-8:40 Introduction of the issue by moderator
8:40-9:10 Question
9:10-9:40 Scenario
9:40-9:45 Wrap-up

Background to the discussion:
At a time of rapid urbanization worldwide, the financialization of housing has been linked to soaring land and property values and unprecedented displacement of the poor. Capital investment in real estate is deemed a smart investment with assured returns. Investments of pension funds, for example, demanding strong returns are increasingly moving towards real estate investment. So far, adverse impacts of certain investments in real estate and housing on the right to adequate housing have not received sufficient attention.
Recently, a number of States have started to implement policy responses to prevent adverse human rights impacts of the financialization of housing through taxation and incentives. Also there is an increasing recognition of the independent responsibility of investment institutions to exercise human rights due diligence in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles and other relevant frameworks, such as the OECD MNE Guidelines, OECD guidance for institutional investors, and the Principles for Responsible Investment.
Little attention has been given to the role that private investment in housing must play if States are to realize target 11.1 of the SDGs to ensure access to adequate housing by all by 2030, and how the application of human rights norms and standards with respect to effective remedies in this sphere could alter the role of private investment – from one which undermines the right to housing to one which facilitates its realization.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Natacha Foucard

Chief, Sustainable Development Section, OHCHR

Speakers

Manuel Aalbers

Professor of Human Geography, KU Leuven, the University of Leuven

Manuel B. Aalbers is full professor of Human Geography at KU Leuven/University of Leuven (Belgium) where he leads a research group on the intersection of real estate, finance and states, spearheaded by a grant from the European Research Council. He has also published on financialization... Read More →

Jory David Cohen

Director of Investment and Finance, Inspirit Foundation

Leilani Farha

Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing

Kevin Stein

Deputy Director, California Renvistment Coalition

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXIV

Business action, Housing, Investors

8:30am CET

Leading by example? Procurement as lever for human rights due diligence

Session organised by the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), the Ethical Trading Initiative Norway (ETI Norway), and the Harrison Institute for Public Law of Georgetown University Law Center.

Brief description of the session:
This session will look at how public procurement at the sub-national level can be used as a lever for greater corporate human rights due diligence. It will focus on identifying transferable good practice examples and lessons learnt from those working with this topic.
Previous sessions at the UN BHR Forum have looked at human rights and public procurement at the national level. This session will look at human rights and public procurement at the sub-national level including local and municipal governments, cities, universities, and hospitals. It will address the unique challenges and opportunities faced at this level including building leverage, ensuring policy coherence between the national and sub-national institutions, and developing institutional capacity.

Session objectives:

Demonstrate how public procurement can be used, per the UNGPs and SDG 12.7, as a lever for extending the practice of corporate human rights due diligence in local economies and global supply chains
Uncover transferable good practice examples and lessons learned

Key discussion questions:

How can public buyers introduce due diligence requirements for suppliers at different stages of the procurement lifecycle?
How can collaborative purchasing models allow public buyers to capture synergies and multiply purchasing power in pursuit of human rights?
How can you engage suppliers in dialogue and capacity building on due diligence requirements?
How can you demonstrate that human rights due diligence requirements increase "value for money" while advancing realisation of the SDGs locally and across borders?

Format:

20 minutes for short presentations from the panellists
30 minutes for questions directed to the panellist from the moderator
25 minutes for questions from the audience

Background to the discussion:
Public procurement refers to the process by which public authorities, such as government departments or local authorities, purchase work, goods, or services from businesses. In Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) States, public procurement contracts account for 12% of GDP on average and is a substantial component of the overall economy. Public procurement, therefore, has the potential to influence global supply chains in a positive or negative way. Government departments and other public authorities and institutions that purchase goods and services can take measures to prevent human rights abuses being perpetrated by those they are procuring from by ensuring that human rights protections are included within provisions and clauses of tender-related documentation and resulting contracts. Such human rights protections can decrease the likelihood of human rights abuses from occurring and so reduce the risk (both reputational and financial) of those procuring goods and services benefitting from, and/ or being linked to, human rights violations and abuses.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights in Target 12.7 that to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns that States should “Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities”.
The UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights afford special attention to the state’s role when it acts as a commercial actor. Guiding Principle 6 provides that “States should promote respect for human rights by business enterprises with which they conduct commercial transactions.”

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Claire Methven O’Brien

Strategic Adviser, Human Rights and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR)

Dr. Claire Methven O’Brien is Chief Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Claire is a barrister called to the London Bar, Honorary Lecturer at the University of St. Andrews School of Management and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Groningen’s Department... Read More →

Speakers

Natalie Evans

Responsible Procurement Manager, City of London Corporation

I specialise in responsible public procurement and believe that working closely with our supply chain partners to ensure human and labour rights is fundamental to achieving our Sustainable Development Goals. I'm particularly interested in ethical sourcing of construction materials... Read More →

Stine Foss

Senior Advisor, Ethical Trading Initiative Norway

Stine Foss has worked for Ethical Trading Initiative- Norway (ETI-Norway) for nearly a decade. As Senior Advisor she manges a portfolio of 29 members, both private companies and public entities on their work on sustainability and specifically due diligence for responsible business... Read More →

Kaori Kuroda

Executive Director, CSO Network Japan

Kaori Kuroda is the Executive Director of CSO Network Japan. She also serves as Japan Director of the Asia Foundation based on the partnership arrangement between the Foundation and CSO Network Japan. Ms. Kuroda was a senior fellow at Social Accountability International in 2006 and... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XVII

Government action, State as an economic actor

8:30am CET

Elements of effective human rights due diligence regulation: lessons from legal developments

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-lessons-from-legal-developments-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972507124001/?term=

Organized by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Conectas Human Rights and Frank Bold

Short description of the session:
Recently, the EU and a range of countries around the world have adopted or started to consider legislation that requires businesses to either address or communicate how they address human rights impacts. This includes for example the Brazilian “dirty list” of slave labor, EU Non-financial Reporting Directive, the French Duty of Vigilance law, the UK Modern Slavery Act, and the Responsible Business Conduct bill currently discussed in the Swiss Parliament. These initiatives differ in purpose, human rights risks addressed, and type of legal obligations, but they all utilise the concept of Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD).
This session will take stock of the experience with these developments, with a focus on their outcomes, impacts on corporate accountability, and implementation by companies in order to draw lessons for further legislative developments.

Session objectives:

Summarise lessons from implementation of HRDD requirements by companies.
Clarify what are effective means of ensuring HRDD by regulation and necessary elements of such regulation.
Identify key information on the conduct of HRDD that should be disclosed.

Key discussion questions:

How are companies implementing HRDD regulations? What is feasible and what is best practice?
What are the lessons for designing effective legislative framework to incentivise companies to respect human rights effectively?

Format of the session:
After the initial remarks, the audience will be dived in groups and asked to agree on a reflection not longer than 1 minute that will be subsequently presented. Moderator will facilitate these reflections and quick reactions by the panel. This process will be followed by discussion with audience. At the end of the session, speakers and the moderator will summarize their main ideas.

Kick-off remarks (30 mins): Experience with implementation of HRDD regulations & lessons for legislative design
Discussions and reflections by audience in groups (15 mins)
Feedback from groups and discussion in plenary (30 mins)
Concluding remarks (10 mins)

Background to the discussion
This session will discuss experience with the implementation of three legislative strategies adopted by different countries that aim to improve corporate responsibility to respect human rights.
Brazilian regulation establishes that the Labour Ministry shall periodically disclose a list with information on the employers found using slave labour – the so-called “dirty list”. The regulation does not impose due diligence obligations. However, financial institutions, voluntarily, consider it in their decisions to extend credit, pressing companies to adopt higher supply chain monitoring and screening standards.
The EU Nonfinancial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) require certain companies to disclose information about their human rights due diligence. NFRD requires companies to disclose their human rights policies and risks roughly in line with the definition in the UN Guiding Principles, while UK MSA requires companies to produce a statement setting out the steps they are taking to address slavery in their operations and supply chains. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and its partners created an open central registry to host modern slavery statements. The analysis of these statements indicates that there is still a long way to go to achieve good reporting. The session will also present first findings about the quality of companies’ disclosure pursuant to the NFRD carried out by the Alliance for Corporate Transparency.
The French duty of vigilance law requires large companies to develop and disclose a plan that identifies and addresses human rights and environmental impacts including in the activities of their subsidiaries and established suppliers. The law also stipulates that this new obligation establishes a duty of care owed to the victims of violations that an adequate vigilance plan could effectively prevent or mitigate. Similar legislation is currently being considered by the Swiss Parliament in response to the successful public initiative.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Phil Bloomer

Executive Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Speakers

Patricia Carrier

Project Manager, Modern Slavery Registry, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Sustainability professional focusing on due diligence activities

Filip Gregor

Purpose of the Corporation Project, Frank Bold

Filip Gregor represents Frank Bold in the Steering Group of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice. Filip co-founded and helps to run the Purpose of the Corporation Project, a strategic open-source platform for a debate on the role of the corporation in society and the future... Read More →

Lorenz Isler

Sustainability Manager, IKEA Group

Laurent Lhopitallier

Corporate Social Responsibility, Sanofi

Laurent LHOPITALLIER, is in charge of Sanofi's duty of vigilance plan. Laurent joined Sanofi in 2013 as part of the global CSR team. Previously a consultant with Deloitte, Laurent has led global assignments in designing sustainability strategies, in embedding Human Rights in business... Read More →

Joana Nabuco

Officer of Development and Socio-Environmental Rights Program, Conectas Human Rights

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XX

Government action, Regulatory and policy developments | Human rights due diligence, Regulatory and policy developments

8:30am CET

Human rights due diligence in practice in the global food and beverages sector

Brief description of the session:
This session will explore how companies, governments, international NGOs, and local NGOs are working together to translate standards such as the UN Guiding Principles and Sustainable Development Goals into actual practices as they source food and beverage ingredients in complex and difficult contexts. Despite the flood of policies and initiatives that have launched, practices and procedures used to grow and fish many ingredients remain difficult to assess, and some initiative are clearly not going to meet their stated goals. The persistence of human rights violations pose distinct risks to corporations and governments and impacts on rights holders.
A variety of innovative tools and strategies are being developed to help stakeholders implement policies and commitments to the fields and oceans where the ingredients for global food and beverages are harvested and caught. This session will explore the complexities of conducting due diligence on complex and diverse supply chains in a variety of difficult contexts, investigate solutions that have worked, and review new tools that have been created.

Session Objectives:
This session will elicit a variety of strategies for governments, multinational corporations, civil society organizations, and local communities to fulfill their roles and responsibilities to “protect, respect and provide remedy” to affected populations (including migrant workers and women); to identify where current efforts are falling short; and how best to fill the remaining gaps. Special attention will be paid to the roles of human slavery, gender impacts and land rights in the global food and beverage supply chains and new tools that can be used to detect and remedy these abuses.

Key Discussion Questions

Which corporate compliance systems and government practices have been successful and what additional mechanisms are needed to improve businesses’ obligations and countries’ enforcement with respect human rights in this sector?
What are the relative roles of companies, governments, and civil society in meeting best standards?
What are the emerging best practices to provide impacted communities and victims access to judicial and non-judicial remedy, including examples of meaningful, direct participation of workers and communities?
What tools are available to help stakeholders assess human rights risks in their supply chains?
What are the existing gaps in policy, enforcement, and services provided related to the responsible sourcing of food and beverage ingredients?

Format of the Session:
Roundtable discussion led by two moderators. Selected speakers will serve as pop-up commenters to offer their insights and guidance for no more than five minutes. Audience participation will figure prominently in the session.

Background to the Discussion:
How do you get from international standards and best practices on paper to measurable results and operable safeguards in the field? This has become the most critical question for practitioners as stakeholders try to move from the “why” of prioritizing human rights in corporate supply chains to the “how” to conduct meaningful due diligence in corporate value chains.
Many companies have launched corporate commitments and supply chain policies regarding human rights. But many are struggling to understand how to implement these policies in very diverse contexts around the globe where corporate best practices may come up against resource constraints, weak governance structures, adverse local customs, internal corporate resistance, and a variety of other potential hurdles.
This panel tackles how companies, international NGOs, and local NGOs are working together to translate standards such as the UN Guiding Principles and Sustainable Development goals into actual practices in the face of these challenges. While there are no silver bullets to circumvent the hard work of implementation in situ, companies and NGOs are learning important lessons about what it takes to turn good intentions in to concrete actions.
This roundtable discussion will focus on the food and beverage industry, where the need for corporate action has never been more acute. Global Witness’s review of 2017 killings of land and environment defenders found that the agri-business sector is now the leading sector in which killings occur, surpassing extractives. Conflicts over land and practices that bond fisherfolk and agricultural laborers to their boat captains or landholders are still prevalent in many countries despite corporate vows to end these practices. Women often experience unique labor and land violations.
The discussion will focus on tangible practices and tools now available to help companies and stakeholders implement meaningful due diligence to detect and end such practices.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Lukasz Czerwinski

Program Manager, Global Resources, Landesa

With more than 15 years of experience, I"m a seasoned Land Tenure Specialist at Landesa, a global non-profit that champions secure land rights for millions of rural women and men. To move toward more equitable and sustainable outcomes for agricultural investments, I oversees Landesa's... Read More →

Irit Tamir

Director, Private Sector Department, Oxfam

Speakers

Shawn MacDonald

Chief Executive Officer, Verité

Nattaya Petcharat

National Coordinator, Stella Maris

Christa Hayden Sharpe

Regional President, IJM Asia Pacific, International Justice Mission

Marika McCauley Sine

Vice President, Global Human Rights, Mars

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXIII

Sectoral perspectives, Food and beverage sector | Human rights due diligence, Food and beverage sector

8:30am CET

Human rights due diligence in practice in the oil & gas sector

Organized by IPIECA

Short description of the session:
The session will focus the implementation of human rights due diligence in the oil and gas sector. The aim will be to discuss the challenges of human rights due diligence implementation, and the practical solutions to such challenges, in four particular areas relevant to the sector: community engagement, worker rights, responsible security, and supply chain.
It will use IPIECA’s practical guidance on this topic as a structure for the session, aligning with its four sections:

What is a human rights due diligence process?
Why is a human rights due diligence process important?
Developing and implementing a human rights due diligence process
Resources to support oil and gas companies

It will be an opportunity to generate discussion with attendees and encourage good practice sharing and examples of effective human rights due diligence.

Session objectives:
To further understanding of the good practices of companies engaging in human rights due diligence, in line with the UN Guiding Principles, in their operations, sub contracted activities and supply chains.
Raise awareness and debate some of the implementation challenges faced by the oil and gas sector in relation to human rights due diligence and brainstorm possible solutions to such challenges.
Promote the industry initiative on human rights in the supply chain recently launched at the UN Global Compact in September – a joint initiative between BP, Shell, Total & Equinor.
Use the feedback in the room as an opportunity to develop an updated version of IPIECA’s 2012 guidance on Human rights due diligence process.

Key discussion questions:

What are the possible solutions to some of the challenges for implementing human rights due diligence measures in the areas of community engagement, worker rights, responsible security, and supply chain?
How can we measure the effectiveness of human rights due diligence solutions?

Format of the session:
The session is designed to be as interactive as possible. It will begin with brief introductory remarks to set the context of human rights due diligence in the oil and gas sector, and IPIECA’s work to date in this area. We will highlight IPIECA’s guidance on Human rights due diligence process, as well as our current project on Company and Supply Chain Labour Rights (to be launched soon). It will also introduce the new industry initiative on human rights in the supply chain - joint initiative between BP, Shell, Total & Equinor - recently launched at the UN Global Compact in September.
Next, our four moderators will briefly highlight challenges to effective human rights due diligence for the sector related to four key areas:

Community engagement
Worker rights
Responsible security
Supply chain

We will then divide into four breakout groups, each with a moderator and an IPIECA member company representative, to discuss the topic from these perspectives. Each group will be tasked with discussing possible solutions to the challenges raised.
This will be followed by an opportunity to provide feedback in plenary, sum up overall themes and findings, and Q&A.

Background to the discussion:
IPIECA has been working on, and raising awareness of, human rights issues across the oil and gas industry for over a decade. As a consensus-based membership organization, IPIECA facilitates peer learning, provides authoritative guidance on implementation of business and human rights frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and facilitates the development, sharing and promotion of good practices for the industry. A key expectation of the UNGPs is that companies will work with their business partners, including suppliers, to set expectations and use leverage to seek improved human rights performance. As such IPIECA’s human rights programme is expanding beyond direct member human rights impacts, to examine how members can work with, and seek to influence, business partners to respect human rights.
IPIECA’s Business and Human Rights Project has included developing practical guidance on due diligence and community grievance mechanisms that have been widely used throughout the oil and gas industry.
The next phase of IPIECA’s work in this area, is focusing on respect for human rights in the supply chain, initially concentrating on the contracted workforce that the industry relies on to develop and operate its large-scale operations. This is an area of common saliency across the oil and gas industry, and one in which IPIECA members can benefit from peer learning and sharing of good practices. In the face of increasing external scrutiny of labour practices in the supply chain, IPIECA aims to inform stakeholders, of our industry’s collective commitment and efforts to respect labour rights. It also helps member companies to anticipate emerging trends and challenges for our industry. Most importantly the project will enable members to more effectively identify, prevent and mitigate labour rights risks and impacts within projects, operations and supply chains. This will be achieved through the development of practical tools, supported by implementation guidance.

Interpretation is available in Korean.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Rebecca Collacott

Senior Manager for Sustainable Development, IPIECA

Speakers

Lorena Garcia

Head of Community Relations and Human Rights, Repsol

Steve Gibbons

Director, Ergon Associates

Elisa Holteng

Stakeholder relations adviser, Shell

Stakeholder relations adviser at Shell.

Estelle Mandigout

Human Rights Specialist, ERM

Principal Human Rights Specialist and UK coordinator on Human Rights and Labour Rights topics. Managing Due Diligence /Assessment Project /Management System design and advising companies and Financial clients, DFIs (IFC, EBRD, CDC, etc.) on their social risks and opportunities. Seconded... Read More →

Aysel Musayeva

Human Rights Specialist, BP

Jamie Williamson

Executive Director, ICOCA

Wednesday November 28, 2018 8:30am - 9:45am CET
Room XXI

Sectoral perspectives, Extractive industries | Human rights due diligence, Extractive industries

10:00am CET

Accountability and Remedy: human rights due diligence and corporate legal liability

Interpretation is provided into Spanish.

Organized by OHCHR

Brief description of the session:
This session will discuss the relationship between human rights due diligence and determinations of corporate legal liability under national law for business-related human rights abuses. The OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project Part I, an initiative aimed at strengthening implementation by States of the Access to Remedy Pillar of the UNGPs, identified a need for greater clarity about the different ways in which the exercise of human rights due diligence and corporate legal liability may interrelate. In June 2018, OHCHR published a report providing analysis and clarification of the relationship between human rights due diligence and determinations of corporate liability. The session will introduce the discussions and conclusions from this report.
The session will also draw on the Working Group’s 2018 report to the General Assembly, where it takes stock of efforts to implement human rights due diligence. Further, the session will review recent legislative and policy developments, explore questions that arise when thinking about how human rights due diligence and liability interact, and discuss ways to improve policy coherence between States’ implementation of the access to remedy pillar of the UNGPs and their efforts to promote human rights due diligence among business enterprises in accordance with the UNGPs.

Session objectives:

Unpack the relationship between human rights due diligence as described in the UNGPs, and determinations of corporate legal liability for business-related human rights offenses.

Key discussion questions:

In what ways are determinations of legal liability currently influenced by companies’ exercise of human rights due diligence?
When should States require companies to conduct human rights due diligence through legislation?
What other measures may provide effective incentives for companies to conduct meaningful human rights due diligence as opposed to ‘check-box’ exercises?

Format of the session:

Roundtable discussion

Background to the discussion:
Under the UNGPs, “human rights due diligence” refers to the processes and activities by which businesses reasonably identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts. Human rights due diligence is integral to meeting the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the UNGPs provide important guidance as to the key elements of human rights due diligence and the basic standards that should be observed. However, despite the centrality of human rights due diligence in the UNGPs, there remain many different views as to what is entailed and how this intersects with legal liability in law and practice.
The work carried out in the course of OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project Part I (ARP I) highlights the need for human rights due diligence concepts to be appropriately integrated into relevant domestic law regimes and for relevant State agencies and judicial bodies to have access to, and take regulatory and enforcement decisions by reference to, robust and credible guidance and standards. Following up on the ARP I report, OHCHR organized a consultation in October 2017 to further unpack the relationship between human rights due diligence and determinations of legal liability. A report was developed following this consultation which explores regulatory options that exist for improving corporate accountability in business and human rights cases, and discusses risks and opportunities of different approaches. The report also explores some of the difficult questions that arise when thinking about how human rights due diligence and legal liability interact, such as whether there are circumstances in which failure to carry out human rights due diligence itself should be cause for liability, even if no harm can be shown to have occurred. This Forum session provides an opportunity to take stock of current State approaches and recent legal developments, and to discuss how and when a failure to exercise human rights due diligence can give rise to corporate liability.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Lene Wendland

Chief, Business and Human Rights, OHCHR

Speakers

Sarah Ellington

Dispute resolution lawyer, DLA Piper

Sarah has over 10 years’ experience resolving disputes using both formal and informal mechanisms for governments, governmental agencies and international organisations, as well as multinational corporations.Sarah advises clients across a number of sectors on risk management and... Read More →

Andi Taletting Langi

Indonesia

Githu Muigai

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Gabriela Quijano

Legal Adviser, Business and Human Rights, Amnesty International - International Secretariat

Jennifer Zerk

Legal Consultant, OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project

Wednesday November 28, 2018 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Room XXIV

Access to remedy, Judicial grievance mechanisms, Non-judicial grievance mechanisms

10:00am CET

Engaging and safeguarding workers across value chains: identifying good practice approaches

Interpretation is provided in English, French, Spanish and Korean.

Organized by Ethical Trading Initiative

Brief description
This session would facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue and lesson-sharing on how to engage with vulnerable workers engaging in precarious work in international supply chains, and how to integrate them into corporate human rights due diligence approaches.
Insights will be provided by:

a leading international trade union representative working to support exploited workers and victims of trafficking;
a leading multinational company representative who will speak about engaging with migrant workers in the Italian tomato sector;
a leading researcher and lawyer specialising in business and human rights; and
a multi-stakeholder initiative representative working with companies, trade unions and civil society organisations on mitigating risks in complex international supply chains.

Session objectives

Insights into specific approaches to engaging vulnerable workers, adopted by companies, unions, CSOs and researchers.
A focus on engaging with vulnerable workers who face specific types of challenges such as payment of recruitment fees and lack of representation.
An improved understanding of different techniques of safeguarding; working to ensure that people seeking to enforce their rights (and also their representatives and whistleblowers) are protected from threats of intimidation, harassment and reprisals.

Key discussion questions

How should companies work to integrate the rights and needs of vulnerable workers through direct engagment whilst ensuring safeguarding?
How can businesses mitigate the rise of vulnerable employment in international supply chains through Human rights due diligence?

Format of the session

Audience participants to pose brief questions to speakers at the outset to frame later discussion.
Reflections from speakers on their approaches to engagement and safeguarding.
Interactive engagement with audience on recommended approaches and identfying blockages to effective HRDD with workers in global value chains.

Background to the discussion
Worldwide, around 1.4 billion workers, most of them women, are in insecure jobs or in the informal sector. Supply chains continue to be one of the most important levers for business to create positive impact in the world, with an estimated 80% of global trade passing through them annually. However, in too many places, workers are denied basic human rights, and migrant workers continue to be exploited.

In the drive to bring ever more products to market, people are often seen merely as a commodity, with wages pushed down to cut costs. A lack of formal, independent worker representation fuels and exacerbates the problem. If workers do not have access to workplace rights and protections within supplier companies, nothing changes.

Companies that commit to genuine and effective human rights due diligence processes can both mitigate risks to worker’s rights, but also significantly improve the lives of workers by providing decent work.

Engagement with workers is an essential part of corporate human rights due diligence. Social dialogue is about establishing formal or informal processes that enable workers and employers to negotiate or consult collectively on issues concerning their rights and responsibilities and to resolve conflicts peacefully and effectively.

A growing number of examples show that effective social dialogue between workers on the ‘shop floor’ and managers can contribute to decent work, quality jobs, greater equality and inclusive growth – all of which benefit workers and companies alike.

This session will explore how businesses, trade unions and other organisations are engaging with vulnerable workers in Italy, Spain, Southern Africa and elsewhere, and how they go about attempting to ensure that people seeking to enforce their rights are protected from threats of intimidation or reprisals.

Speakers

Edwin Atema

Research and enforcement, FNV - Stichting VNB

Cindy Berman

Head of Modern Slavery Strategy, Ethical Trading Initiative

David Mcdiarmid

Corporate Relations Director, Princes Limited

Ethical supply chains in the food industry.Environmental sustainabilityCommunications

Pia Navazo

Researcher, BHR

Human rights impacts un the context of economic operations and global supply chains

Wednesday November 28, 2018 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Room XXIII

Business action, Stakeholder engagement, Labour rights, Supply chains | Human rights due diligence, Stakeholder engagement, Labour rights, Supply chains

10:00am CET

What do “Protect, Respect, Remedy” mean in practice in conflict contexts

Interpretation is provided into English , French and Spanish

This Forum session led by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights will address new ways to strengthen corporate respect for human rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts. It is part of the consultation process for a Working Group project that will lead to recommendations to governments and business enterprises in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in 2020.

The project will address implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in all stages of conflict, from prevention to post-conflict, including transitional justice. It will cover all three pillars of the Guiding Principles:
- the State duty to protect against business-related human rights abuse
- the corporate responsibility to respect human rights
- the need for access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuse

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Gerald Pachoud

Managing partner, Pluto & Associates

Gerald Pachoud is advising the Working Group's project on business and human rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Before founding Pluto in late 2015, Gerald initiated and led the program on business and human security in the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2005 to... Read More →

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

John Katsos

Associate Professor, American University of Sharjah

Business in conflict contexts. Advancing peace through human rights promotion.

Maria Prandi

Coordinator, Network on Business, Conflict and Human Rights

The BCHR Network brings together researchers, practitioners and NGO representatives from various fields with the aim of researching and analysing the role of business in conflict situations as well as the violations of human and peoples’ rights and other social and environmental... Read More →

Jamie Williamson

Executive Director, ICOCA

Wednesday November 28, 2018 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Room XXI

Hot topic, Conflict | Government action, Conflict | Business action, Conflict | Human rights due diligence, Conflict

10:00am CET

How can benchmarks, rating agencies and ESG researchers drive more and better human rights due diligence

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-driving-better-better-due-diligence-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972544710001/?term=

Organized by the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB)

Description:
This round-table session is part of a human rights due diligence (HRDD) track, which focuses on the roles of benchmarks, rating agencies and ESG researchers can, or are, having in driving improvements in human rights due diligence conducted by companies. Drawing on a round-table of speakers, the session will set out how different approaches are able to create impact and where further efforts need to be made. The second half of the session will focus on interaction with the audience, who will be invited to dig into the detail and challenge the speakers on their assertions.

Objectives:

To explain how benchmarks (e.g. the CHRB), ESG Researchers and Ratings (e.g. the Modern Slavery Registry and Vigeo-Eiris) and stock markets can interact and put pressure on companies to implement the UNGPs, specifically their responsibility to implement human rights due diligence and what they are seeing.
To understand where there are blockers to progress and where more effort should be directed, in order to maximise the impact of the current levers of power.

Key Discussion Questions:
The discussion questions are planned to be asked to some (if not all) the participants each time, to elicit a short response. The questions will also be tailored / linked to a similar question which will be posed to the audience who will be asked to vote and respond with questions of their own that will be fed to a relevant participant.

What is your organisation’s role in pushing HRDD and what trends are you seeing? 2-minute answers only. This will be supported by audience interaction, asking the audience to vote Yes/No on whether they think companies have improved their HRDD, whether the levers of change can generate sufficient progress etc.
Do you think more pressure should be applied to investors, or the companies they invest in, in order to drive better HRDD and outcomes for people? 2-minute answers. Again, the audience can vote for one side or the other.
Is the current focus on the SDGs, including ranking companies by their contributions to the SDGs, likely to result in better HRDD within companies, or to distract from it? 2 minute answers.

Format:

Introduction, scene setting and ground rules (5 mins, including potential late start)
Responses of Round-table Participants to key question 1 (15 mins)
Audience interaction and 2 questions max (8 mins)
Responses of Round-table Participants to key question 2 (10 mins)
Audience interaction and 2 questions max (8 mins)
Responses of Round-table Participants to key question 3 (10 mins)
Audience interaction and 2 questions max (8 mins)
Free questions and audience interaction (11 mins)
Closeout (5 mins)

Background to the Discussion
Companies have a responsibility to implement the UNGPs and to conduct adequate human rights due diligence (HRDD). But in often weak legislative environments, the pressures on companies to conduct and report on their HRDD may be insufficient to ensure this actually happens. In these cases, there are multiple levers of change that can be used to create an environment where HRDD happens alongside, or in-spite of (rather than because of), regulation.
ESG research data and ratings, public benchmarks and stock exchanges all form part of the information ecosystem that is a critical component of these levers of change and without which, people can not make informed choices. They are also interconnected and are part of the wider feedback loops that connect businesses with investors, data providers, governments, civil society and humanity at large.
This session will look into the current state of play, to see what companies are doing, whether they are improving and what ways can they be pushed to improve their human rights due diligence, by looking at the roles of benchmarking, ratings, ESG research and stock exchanges.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

John Morrison

Coordinator, CorA Netzwork for Corporate Accountability

Speakers

Fouad Benseddik

Head of Methods and Institutional Affairs, Vigeo-Eiris

Patricia Carrier

Project Manager, Modern Slavery Registry, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Sustainability professional focusing on due diligence activities

Edoardo Gai

Head of Sustainability Services, RobecoSAM

Anthony Miller

Coordinator, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Daniel Neale

Programme Director, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB)

I run the CHRB. Ask me about ranking corporations on their human rights performance.

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Jennifer Rietbergen-McCracken

Chair, OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct

Christine Kaufmann is the Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, the intergovernmental committee overseeing the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the comprehensive international framework for Responsible Business Conduct... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Room XX

Human rights due diligence, Investors, Evaluating performance

10:00am CET

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

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

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

Tirza Voss

Private Sector Advisor, Terre des Hommes

Andika Wahab

Fellow IKMAS

Prabianto Mukti Wibowo

Deputy Assistant Minister for Forestry, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Indonesia

Wednesday November 28, 2018 10:00am - 1:00pm CET
Room XVII

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

11:40am CET

Community engagement for HRIAs in challenging contexts: a round table discussion

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish.

Organized by NomoGaia, BSR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights

Brief description of the session:
Community engagement in HRIA focuses on 'rightsholders' - the individuals whose human rights are likely to be affected by an operation. Identifying and engaging with rightsholders requires trust building in all contexts. However, trust is harder to obtain and the costs of failure are steeper with particularly vulnerable populations.

This session considers good practice in rightsholder engagement in sensitive contexts, building on the experiences of affected rightsholders to both validate and challenge the practices of even leading companies. A rightsholder, scholar, practitioner and company viewpoint will be probed during the round-table session.

Session objectives:

Draw out consensus on what constitutes good practice in rightsholder engagement
Delve into the barriers for best practice resulting from community distrust, ongoing state repression, lack of corporate expertise/leverage, social marginalization, etc

Key discussion questions:
What should corporate actors to do differently to ensure their community engagement is meaningful with vulnerable rightsholder groups in challenging contexts?
What can they do if the initial approach is not successful?

Format of the session:
This roundtable discussion will start with brief descriptions of rightsholder engagement processes at HRIAs for companies ENI and Diageo. Then the practitioners supporting those HRIAs will describe challenges and successes in rightsholder engagement, followed by analytical questioning from the researcher/scholar perspective. A roundtable discussion session will follow, before an audience-driven Q&A is integrated.

Background to the discussion
This discussion draws on the unique experiences of rightholders as well as speakers who have either engaged directly with affected rightsholders in fragile contexts or who have conducted thorough scholarship on meaningful HRDD. It aims to tackle complex questions of how to connect with rightsholders who are reluctant to be critical or express personal opinions, fearing state (or other) retribution. It challenges the assumption that rightsholders are eager to engage with companies or are prepared to discuss the effects of corporate activities on their lives, and it examines ways to overcome such barriers. It considers the possibility that companies might initially struggle to meaningfully engage rightsholders but can create long-term approaches to build trust.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Kendyl Salcito

Executive Director, NomoGaia

Speakers

Tulika Bansal

Asesora Senior de Empresas y DDHH, Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Tulika has 9+ years of experience working as senior adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights advising various multinational companies globally in implementing the UNGPs. Her expertise lies in corporate human rights due diligence and developing & conducting human rights impact... Read More →

James Harrison

Salah Husseini

Manager, BSR

Salah leads BSR’s consulting and collaboration efforts on human rights for companies in New York, including the cross-industry Human Rights Working Group. He supports companies through various human rights projects and has expertise in consumer products, food and agriculture, manufacturing... Read More →

Jethro Columbo Tulin

Executive Officer, Porgera Alliance & Porgera Landowners Association

Indigenous land and human rights activist

Pasquale Vetta

Head for Human Rights, Transparency and global issues, Eni SpA

Manager in Eni, a global energy operator, in charge for coordinating the company's strategy on Business and Human Rights with extensive experiences ranging from the design of company’s commitment on human rights to its full implementation through a pervasive due diligence system... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Room XXIII

Business action, Stakeholder engagement, Human rights due diligence | Stakeholder engagement, Stakeholder engagement, Human rights due diligence | Human rights due diligence, Stakeholder engagement, Human rights due diligence

11:40am CET

Leading by example? Using government trade promotion and development finance as levers for human rights due diligence

Interpretation is provided into English, French and Spanish

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description of the session:

This Forum session led by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights will feature presentations by Governments that have been taking steps toward integrating the Guiding Principles in the areas of trade, investment promotion and development policy. It will address lessons learned and ways forward for more States to follow.

Background to the discussion:

States act as gatekeepers when they provide much needed support to businesses by providing finance and advisory services aimed at expanding export and investment opportunities. As gatekeepers, States can use their leverage to promote a race to the top by setting out clearly the expectation that businesses respect human rights as a precondition for receiving government support for export and investment activities. States can also promote responsible imports by restricting the flow of goods in supply chains that involve serious human rights abuses. Beyond incentivizing business respect for human rights through such “economic diplomacy” tools, a related area concerns the need to embed business respect for human rights in the context of private sector engagement in development policy and cooperation. With the private sector envisaged to play a significant role in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals, and with private sector development becoming an increasingly central part of development cooperation, the latter aspect is in many ways the ‘next frontier’ for the business and human rights agenda.
In essence, all these policy areas need to align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Specifically, Guiding Principle 4, which sets forth the expectation that States should take additional steps to protect against human rights abuses by business enterprises that receive substantial support and services from State agencies including, where appropriate, by requiring human rights due diligence. The commentary to Guiding Principle 4 indicates that if State agencies do not explicitly consider the actual and potential adverse impacts on human rights of beneficiary enterprises, they put themselves at risk and may add to the human rights challenges faced by the recipient State.

Format of the session:

Introduction by the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights member, Anita Ramasastry
Snapshot presentations on innovations and lessons learned
Open stakeholder discussion on the way forward

Background documents:
UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Report on “economic diplomacy” as a tool for States to promote corporate respect for human rights
UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Report on the state of play of corporate human rights due diligence in all sectors worldwide
UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: 10 key recommendations for embedding human rights in the private sector's envisaged contribution to the SDGs.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Anita Ramasastry

Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Alva Bruun

Senior adviser, human rights, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Cristina Tebar Less

Jefa del Centro de la OCDE para la Conducta Empresarial Responsable, OCDE

Purevsuren Lundeg

Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva

Mr Purevsuren, the new Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Purevsuren had been serving as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Mongolia since 2016. He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs of... Read More →

Githa Roelans

Head, Multinational Enterprises and Enterprise Engagement, International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Githa Roelans is the Head of the Multinational Enterprises and Enterprise Engagement Unit since 2013. The unit provides policy advice and technical assistance to governments, employers and workers in ILO member States on the application of the ILO Tripartite Declaration concerning... Read More →

Camilla Røssaak

Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Wednesday November 28, 2018 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Room XXI

Government action, State as an economic actor

11:40am CET

How can investors drive more and better human rights due diligence?

Session organized by the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Brief description of the session:
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business in Human Rights (UNGPs), offering an international point of reference on how states should protect, and companies should respect, human rights. Moreover, the OECD, has integrated the UNGPs in its own policy frameworks, such as OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Responsible Business Conduct for Institutional Investors.
Investors and businesses have responsibilities to respect human rights and should act with due diligence in line with the UNGPs and the OECD guidelines. However, despite the growing awareness and commitments by both investors and businesses regarding this responsibility, a recent report by the UN Working Group on business and human rights found that the “majority of companies do not demonstrate practices that meet the requirements set by the guiding principles,” and calls on investors to “more systematically require effective human rights due diligence by the companies they invest in.”
Investors are increasingly aware and concerned about the significant potential and actual operational, legal and reputational risks companies might face when they do not take adequate steps to manage human rights risks. These could include project delays and cancellations, lawsuits and significant fines and negative press coverage and reputational damage.
Investors can play an important role by proactively engaging with companies on developing policies and processes that can prevent and mitigate adverse human rights impacts, rather than only reacting to them once they have occurred.

Session objectives:
This session will explore how investors can engage portfolio companies, as well as with rights-holders and other local stakeholders, on human rights risks to promote the uptake of human rights due diligence and access to remedy for victims of adverse impacts.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Paloma Munoz Quick

Director, Investor Alliance for Human Rights

Speakers

Benjamin Cokelet

Founder & Co-Executive Director, PODER

Danielle Essink

Senior Engagement Specialist, Active Ownership, Robeco

Ms. Essink is a Director at Robeco’s Active Ownership department. She has over 12 years of experience engaging companies on human rights related topics and encouraging them to operate with greater awareness and respect for human rights. She currently has a specific focus on the... Read More →

Irina van der Sluijs

Senior Advisor Human Rights, ASN Bank

Francis West

Business Engagement Director, Shift

As Shift’s Business Engagement Director, Francis oversees Shift's work providing expert advice to a select group of companies that are serious about human rights. Shift is committed to using the knowledge that we help generate to build broader understanding of the practical application... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Room XX

Human rights due diligence, Investors

11:40am CET

Labour union perspectives on ways to scale up effective human rights due diligence

Session organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Brief description of the session:
The ITUC will hold a panel discussion during the 2018 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights on conducting due diligence with respect to freedom of association, and engaging with trade unions in conducting due diligence, including with regard to remedy.
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) make it clear that the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, at a minimum, covers the rights set forth in the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. These instruments include the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, meaning that companies have a responsibility to conduct due diligence to “know and show” that they respect these rights.
In addition, to conducting due diligence on the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, companies should engage with trade unions as stakeholders throughout the entire due diligence process. The newly adopted OECD Due Diligence Guidance on Responsible Business Conduct provides practical examples of such engagement, including company-trade union agreements. The OECD guidance also recognises that industrial relations is a form of stakeholder engagement. Moreover, following its most recent update in 2017, the ILO MNE Declaration now highlights the central role of freedom of association and collective bargaining in the due diligence process.
Despite positive developments in the governance framework, in practice the right to freedom of association continues to be misunderstood, and even opposed. Indeed, far from being considered part of due diligence, industrial relations are generally considered as separate, with good practices with respect to due diligence on freedom of association on the one hand, and engagement with trade unions on the other, being rare in the business and human rights discourse.

Session objectives:
Such a panel discussion would therefore be critical in allowing the ITUC to:

Raise awareness of the types of actions by companies that may lead to adverse impacts on the right to freedom of association;
Identify practical steps that companies can take to conduct due diligence on freedom of association;
Discuss effective approaches to meaningful engagement with trade unions, and identify their enabling factors.

Key discussion questions:

What practical actions does the new OECD Due Diligence Guidance recommend with regard to conducting due diligence on freedom of association and engaging trade unions in conducting due diligence?
What are the most prevalent abuses of the right to freedom of association in the Korean metal sector?
What are the practical steps that a company should take to conduct effective due diligence on respect for the right of freedom of association?
What does successful company-trade union collaboration look like in practice?

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Makbule Sahan

Legal Director, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Speakers

Kirstine Drew

Senior Policy Advisor, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)

OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Peter Rossman

Director, Campaigns and Communication, International Union of Food Workers (IUF)

Sunho Tak

Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU)

Wednesday November 28, 2018 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Room XXIV

Human rights due diligence, Labour rights, Trade unions | Stakeholder engagement, Labour rights, Trade unions

1:00pm CET

Lunch break

Sandwich lunch sponsored by the Government of Germany

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:00pm - 1:30pm CET
Stakeout Point Press. Third floor. Next to Room XX

Session Format Networking

1:00pm CET

Understanding Business Impact on Children—Presenting the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas

Session organized by Unicef

Short description of the session:
Every business leaves a footprint on children — as family members of workers, employees, consumers, and community members affected by operations and supply chains. The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas is an online tool designed to help business, government and industry stakeholders better understand their footprint, and how inter-related issues including wages, work hours, products, environmental impact, security, and online protection policies, impact children. An online interactive and data-driven platform, the Atlas makes use of publicly available country data to provide a quantitative assessment of children’s rights across 195 countries and territories, and degree to which children’s rights are respected, across the globe in the Workplace, at the Marketplace, and within the Community and Environment.

Session Objectives:
The objective of the session is to inform business how it can make use of the Workplace, Marketplace and Community and Environment Indices, country narratives and industry insights provided by the Atlas, to lessen the negative child impact through improved due diligence risk and impact assessment processes based on evidence.

Key discussion questions:

Why is children's rights due diligence especially critical for the achievement of the SDGs?
How can the Atlas help businesses to approach comprehensive due diligence?

Background to the Discussion:
Children everywhere have rights. These include: the right of every child to provision of a standard of living adequate for health and well-being; the right of every child to protection from neglect, abuse, exploitation and harmful substances; and the right of every child to full participation in family, cultural and social life. Addressing adverse children’s rights impacts requires the taking of adequate measures for prevention, mitigation and, where appropriate, remediation.
Business impacts children daily well beyond child labour. The employment of their family and the broader environmental and community conditions where business operates affect children’s ability to grow, develop and learn. The nature of the work done by children and their family can determine, for example, how women breastfeed, how men and women parent, and how adolescents successfully transition from school to work.
Respect for children’s rights is a shared responsibility. Children represent one third of the world’s underlying population but disproportionately account for half of the world’s poor, highlighting their vulnerability and the necessity of prioritizing children in the fight to eliminate poverty. Business can contribute to sustainable development for all in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by taking a child-centred approach to policy and practice.

Refreshments will be served after the session

Speakers

Shanelle Hall

Deputy Executive Director, Field Results, UNICEF

Shanelle Hall was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on 6 June, 2016. In addition to her role as part of the executive leadership team of UNICEF, she oversees two of UNICEF’s... Read More →

Alinde Melin

Global Children’s Rights Manager, Inter IKEA Group

Paula Guillet de Monthoux

Vice Chairman of the Board, Global Child Forum

Donna Westerman

VP, ESG Global Risk and Head of Consumer Retail, Verisk Maplecroft

Building on a 25+ year career in the CPG Procurement, Supply Chain and Responsible Sourcing areas my focus is on establishing and optimizing global supply chain policies, processes and performance measurements. In my current role as VP of E.S.G. and Head of Retail and Consumer Goods... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:00pm - 1:30pm CET
Room XI

Business action, Children

1:30pm CET

Scaling up human rights due diligence through the use of blockchain

Organized by Hermes Equity Ownership Services and DLA Piper

Short description of the session:
This session will focus on what has been working, what is not working and where efforts are falling short by illustrating key practical challenges to effective human rights risk management and uptake of HRDD. By providing insights from investors, advisors and industry groups we will highlight practice based challenges related to a lack of traceability/transparency in a supply chain and across a corporate groups, which make human rights risks, bribery and corruption, money laundering, labour exploitation and related risks to people difficult to identify, prevent or manage.
Distributed ledger technology and responsible sourcing solutions providers, Everledger and RCS Global will share their experience working with a range of companies to develop practical solutions to increase transparency and improve human rights due diligence and risk management throughout supply chains, for example, blockchain innovations used to improve data collected along minerals and metals supply chains, which complement existing top down third party audit approach with bottom up data push by data generated by miners and other stakeholders related to human rights and related risks.
With this practice-based foundation, the session will then seek to draw in stakeholders' perspectives from the audience to collect insights and the experience of civil society, academics, businesses and other stakeholder groups in managing these issues to identify was to scale up the implementation of human rights due diligence in supply chains and corporate groups using emerging technology solutions, whilst also ensure that reducing risks to people is embedded into the development of these emerging solutions.

Session objectives:
Emerging technology does not provide a complete solution to the challenge of scaling up HRDD but it is an important piece to the puzzle by plugging gaps in current approaches, complementing existing processes and identifying new ways to identify and manage risks. This session has two key objectives:

Stimulate a discussion about the practical utility of emerging technology in supporting businesses reduce risks to people based on lessons from practice, as well as the key discussion questions that remain to be answered; and
Collect views of civil society, academics, businesses and other stakeholders on how to enhance these efforts and plug remaining gaps to move HRDD beyond the largest, first mover businesses. These contributions will be published following the session with a view to scaling up HRDD through the use of emerging technology.

Key discussion questions:

What is not working and where efforts are falling short to implement effective human rights due diligence and risk management - insights from investors, advisors and industry groups on practice-based challenges related to a lack of traceability/transparency through supply chains and across corporate groups that mean human rights risks, ABC, AML, labour risks are difficult to identify and prevent or manage;
How emerging technology solutions like distributed ledger technology can address some of these challenges; and
What gaps remain in utilising technology to enhance HRDD and ensure businesses are able to reduce risks to people

Format of the session:
The moderator will guide an interactive discussion by opening with short contributions on the practical challenges in implementing corporate HRDD and further ideas from speakers' own experience related to the use of technology and blockchain to address human rights risks in supply chains. The discussion will then focus on collecting contributions from civil society, academics, businesses and additional stakeholder groups on the topics and issues raised, which will be captured and released in the form of a summary after the panel and as contributions to a discussion paper that the session organizers are developing.

Background to the discussion:
Practical challenges in managing complex global supply chains make corporate human rights due diligence efforts challenging, for instance, when a business comprises of a large groups of companies the DD that is increasingly expected is onerous (resources and cost) and often difficult to do effectively; methods of identifying risks down the supply chain have their shortcomings which mean risks aren't adequately identified and managed e.g. social/third party audits.
Recently, technological innovations have begun to transforming the way businesses increase transparency, manage risks and create value. Distributed Ledger Technology ("DLT"), commonly known as blockchain technology, is behind a wave of innovation that has the potential to revolutionise the way global businesses operate across a range of sectors.
This session will provide civil society, academic, business and government stakeholders to contribute stakeholders consultations looking at how emerging technologies can support supply chain human rights risk management to be included in a discussion paper being drafted that will seek to outline some of the potential opportunities and challenges presented by DLT to manage human rights and responsible business conduct risks in supply chains and increase transparency.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Sarah Ellington

Dispute resolution lawyer, DLA Piper

Speakers

Nicky Black

Director, Environmental Stewardship and Social Progress, International Council on Mining and Metals

Claire Gavini

Engagement, Hermes Investment Management

Darcy Hoogewerf

Product and Business Analyst, Everledger

Specialist in using emerging technology for raw material supply chains. Interested in how technology can play a role in helping and transforming responsible souring of material with the power of networks through collaboration.

Ferdinand Maubrey

Managing Director, RCS Global

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XVII

Hot topic, Technology, innovations | Human rights due diligence, Technology, innovations

1:30pm CET

What works? Investigating the relationship between business practices and outcomes for people

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-what-works-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972625383001/?term=

Organized by SHIFT

Description:
For years, many - within business and beyond - have deployed vast efforts and resources to embed respect for human rights in companies’ operations and value chains. But not all business actions make a difference and deliver meaningful outcomes for affected rights-holders - and even the best intended ones can have little to no effect. Some may even harm people, instead of mitigating risk.
Participants will be invited to share their own experience and viewpoints with reference to a number of responsible business interventions. We will also benefit from inputs from practitioners about innovations and insights into both purchasing practices in the apparel industry, and mining company impacts on, and relationships with, communities.
This session will engage participants in the discipline of working with both leading and lagging indicators to evaluate business respect for human rights. Lagging indicators are about harm that has already occurred. They measure adverse outcomes–what went wrong or has improved after the fact. Leading indicators are the ‘canaries in the coal mine’ that predict harm. They enable companies to fix the causes of harm before it happens.

Objectives:
The objective of the session is to identify what the opportunities and challenges are of working with leading and lagging indicators when evaluating business respect for human rights

Key discussion questions:
With reference to a few specific business and human rights challenges, the session will explore the following questions:

What views/insight do participants have about which actions to mitigate adverse human rights impacts make a difference to the lives of affected people?
What can we learn from existing innovations to identify - and build an evidence base around - which actions do in fact make a difference?
When making judgments about whether a company’s due diligence is, or is likely, to make a difference to affected people, what do participants think is most important to pay attention to?

Format:
The session will alternate between audience input/participation and contributions from practitioners about innovations and challenges in evaluating what works.

Background to the discussion:
The challenge facing all stakeholders is to do a better job at evaluating what is working and to develop and use the most meaningful information and indicators to track progress. This clearly involves moving beyond tracking inputs and activities, or focusing on high profile incidents of harm or good practice.
Without proper insights into what is working in practice, company leaders cannot allocate proper insights into what is working in practice, company leaders cannot allocate resources to the programs and policies that actually shift business behaviors and make a difference to people’s lives. Many investors feel blindfolded when trying to pick out socially responsible companies from the rest. And civil society organizations have to rely on often meaningless or superficial data, that focus on actions divorced from results, to measure human rights performance.
Most importantly, not getting a handle on what actions actually make a difference betrays the very individuals and communities that the business and human rights community purports to be focused on.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Mark Hodge

Senior Associate / Advisor, Shift / OHCHR B-Tech

Speakers

Martin Buttle

Strategic Lead - General merchandise, Ethical Trading Initiative

Dr Martin Buttle is Strategic Lead: General Merchandise at ETI. Martin leads ETI’s work on general merchandise, purchasing practices and new business models. He is responsible for ETIs partnership with Better Buying - a platform for collecting clear, relevant and timely information... Read More →

Anjali Nayar

Founder, TIMBY (This Is My Back Yard)

Anjali is the founder of TIMBY (This is My Backyard), a monitoring and reporting system developed to help individuals and organizations on the frontlines of emerging and longstanding human rights and environmental issues report, investigate, aggregate and share information. TIMBY... Read More →

Casey O’Connor

Sani Scholar in Residence, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights

My work is focused on developing social performance indicators for investor use.

Vanessa Zimmerman

Chief Executive Officer, Pillar Two

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XX

Human rights due diligence, Evaluating performance

1:30pm CET

Addressing human rights impacts of toxic substances: challenges and human rights due diligence across sectors with a deep dive on the electronics industry

Brief description of the session:
Workers around the world find themselves in the midst of a public health crisis due to their exposure to hazardous substances at work. This session will look into the electronics industry as an example of such crisis and explore ways to overcome the challenge of workers’ exposure to hazardous substances as it remains poorly addressed. Furthermore, the exposure of workers to toxic substances can and should be considered a form of exploitation. States, business actors and international organizations can eliminate or minimize exposures and must do so with urgency. This session aims to pave the way forward for the different actors involved to achieve the protection of workers from exposure to toxic chemicals.

Session objectives:

Discuss exposure of workers to toxic substances as a form of exploitation and global multi-stakeholder challenge.
Urge States to protect, respect and fulfill the human rights of workers, including access to effective remedies when they have been infringed by their occupational exposures to toxic and otherwise hazardous substances.
Urge business enterprises to take their full responsibilities and implement human rights due diligence processes to prevent and address exposure of workers in the supply chain and support access to effective remedies in case of infringements.
Discuss transparency and right to information as a key element of the way forward.

Key discussion questions:

How to address the lack of meaningful health and safety information provided to workers?
What does the right to information means for a worker and their representatives when it comes to preventing exposure? What is the workers right to know?
What are industry initiatives to prevent exposure?
How can employers make information available and accessible to workers about various facets of their actual or potential exposure to toxic chemicals?
What should this information include as a minimum?
What is the responsibility of the Chemicals sector to respect human rights under the UNGP?

Format of the session:
Roundtable Discussion format
Introduction remarks by the Special Rapporteur
Followed by streaming a trailer from a compelling new video about victims of chemical exposure which shows the challenges in prevention and access to remedy.
Kick-off speakers will represent different challenges and initiatives
Open discussion facilitated by moderator
Closing Remarks

Background to the discussion:
Despite clear obligations relating to the protection of workers’ health, workers around the world find themselves in the midst of a public health crisis due to their exposures to hazardous substances at work. It is estimated that one worker dies every 15 seconds from toxic exposures at work, while over 2,780,000 workers globally die from unsafe or unhealthy conditions at work each year. The electronics industry is no exception. Electronics has become one of the largest sectors in the global economy, employing tens of millions of workers. One the main challenges of the sector is that it is chemically intensive, putting these workers at serious risk of chemical exposure and toxic-related occupational illness. Over the past several decades, numerous cases have emerged of workers poisoned by toxic chemicals in the lifecycle of electronics.

Taking the electronics industry as an example, this session will focus in highlighting States’ duties and businesses’ responsibilities in protecting and respecting the rights of workers implicated by toxic occupational exposures. It will discuss the importance of worker’s right to know, and explore the relationship between due diligence and the protection of workers. Current initiatives from civil society, industry coalitions and multi-stakeholder groups will be discussed. The Special Rapporteur on toxics will outline several causes that give rise to the exploitation of workers, and offer 15 Principles to help States, businesses and other key actors ensure decent work for all. Finally, the session will urge all stakeholders to eliminate workers’ exposure and propose relevant actions.

https://goodelectronics.org/exploitation-by-deception-in-the-electronics-industry/

Speakers

Alejandro Gonzalez

International Coordinator, GoodElectronics Network

Alejandro is the international coordinator of the GoodElectronics Network – a network (hosted by SOMO) of civil society organizations and individuals that are concerned about human rights and sustainability issues in the global electronics supply chain. Alejandro is a human rights... Read More →

Fernanda Hopenhaym

Codirectora Ejecutica, Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación PODER

Yves Lador

Representative in Geneva, Earthjustice

Bob Mitchell

Vice President, Responsible Business Alliance

Marcos A. Orellana

Relator Especial sobre las implicaciones para los derechos humanos de la gestión y eliminación ecológicamente racionales de las sustancias y los desechos peligrosos

Ted Smith

International Coordinator, International Campaign for Responsible Technology

I have been working at the intersection of toxics and human rights in the electronics industry for more than 40 years in Silicon Valley, California. I was a founder of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in 1982, then helped to form the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, and am now the Coordinator... Read More →

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIV

Sectoral perspectives, Toxic waste | Human rights due diligence, Toxic waste

1:30pm CET

Human rights due diligence in practice in the commodities trading sector

Watch live: https://unog.webex.com/unog/j.php?MTID=mf6b05920d7c070651dac2f7c78e53b64

Brief description the session:
The session will bring together different stakeholders, including representatives from regional organizations, civil society, business sector and governments, to discuss the challenges of implementing effective human rights due diligence in the commodity trading sector. This discussion will also serve to identify good practice to put respect for human rights into practice and brainstorm on potential solutions for its scale-up in the commodity trading sector.
The session will also briefly discuss the process of elaborating a guidance on implementing the UNGPs in the commodity trading sector, developed by the Swiss Government.

Session objectives:

Highlight challenges when implementing corporate human rights due diligence in commodity trading sector.
Unpack the different parameters of the concept of human rights due diligence for the commodity trading sector.
Identify good practices in this sector and potential solutions to address gaps.
Present the guidance document elaborated by the concerned stakeholder group in Switzerland.

Key discussion questions:

What are the peculiarities of commodity trading that make a specific approach necessary for undertaking human rights due diligence processes that are consistent with the UNGPs?
In which ways does the diversity of the commodity trading sector create challenges in implementing the UNGPs?
How should the Swiss government and other stakeholders support and ensure companies when implementing the guidance, given its legally non-binding nature?

Format of the session:
The opening presentation will offer a brief overview of the main goals, format and content of the sector guidance for commodity trading. This will be followed by a moderated conversation among industry and civil society stakeholders which have participated in drafting the guidance document. A representative from the OECD will also give his view on the guidance and its implementation. A representative of the Swiss government will underline expectations about the implementation of the UNGPs by the commodity trading sector. The moderator will then facilitate questions from participants.

Background to the discussion:
Determining the human rights impacts associated with the commodity trading sector is challenging, given for example the diversity of the sector, the complex and varied supply chains associated with specific commodities. Switzerland is one of the world’s most important commodity trading hubs. The commodity trading sector is characterized by a diverse mix of companies in terms of size, ownership, turnover and commodities traded. Questions are increasingly being raised relating to the responsibilities of trading companies on human rights, and related issues, such as corruption and environmental degradation. The Swiss Government has facilitated the creation of a multistakeholder group composed of representatives of the commodity trading sector, civil society and government. This group has supported the elaboration of the sector guidance for the commodity trading sector on implementation of the UNGPs. The guidance document is aligned with the Due Diligence Guidance elaborated by the OECD. It has been drafted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB).

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

John Morrison

Coordinator, CorA Netzwork for Corporate Accountability

Speakers

Yvan Maillard Ardenti

Programme Officer Business & Human Rights,, Bread for All

Frederic Chenais

Policy advisor, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland

Frederic Chenais is Policy Advisor at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs where he is in charge of matters related to commodities and human rights, with a special focus on the VPs and ICOCA. Previously, Frederic worked as Principal Advisor on communities relations for... Read More →

Tyler Gillard

Head of Sector Projects and Legal Adviser, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

Stéphane Graber

Executive Secretary, Swiss Trading and Shipping Association

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Sectoral perspectives, Commodities trading | Human rights due diligence, Commodities trading

1:30pm CET

Human rights due diligence in practice in the tourism sector

Organized by International Tourism Partnership (ITP) and ECPAT International (ECPAT)

Short description the session:
The session will explore human rights risks and related trends in the tourism and travel sector. Session speakers will provide insights on how they engage on human rights issues, with a focus on human trafficking, forced labour and the sexual exploitation of children. The session will also focus on the value of collaboration and discuss industry-wide solutions currently implemented globally to address human rights risks.

Session objectives:

Discuss the most salient and material human rights risks, including children’s rights risks, in the travel and tourism sector
Discuss different approaches and common challenges to addressing human rights risks impacting the travel and tourism sector
Highlight the industry’s focus on collaboration and specific actions to leverage and align with existing best practices in other sectors
Explore strategies that can accelerate progress among a wider spectrum of partners in the travel and tourism sector

Key discussion questions:

What are the key human rights risks (including children’s rights risks) in the travel and tourism industry?
What solutions are companies implementing to address trafficking and sexual exploitation in the context of travel and tourism? Recruitment processes can be very complicated.
What is your company/organisation doing to better understand the risks associated with the recruitment process and create solutions, particularly in places where the only option is to work with a labour recruitment agency?
What innovative solutions have the industry / companies developed to advance protection for human rights and specifically children’s rights in travel and tourism?

Format of the discussion:
Roundtable discussion format.

Programme:

Introduction (13:30 - 13:45)
Solutions developed to address risks of sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism (13:45 - 14:00)
Solutions developed to address human rights risks in the recruitment supply chain (14:00 - 14:15)
Beyond risk management: scaling-up innovative solutions in Travel and Tourism (14:15 - 14:25)
Interactive session with audience – Scenarios (14:25 - 14:45)

Background to the discussion:
Travel and Tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors with the industry producing 1 in 10 jobs around the world. The sector involves millions of people in its activities, connecting travellers to communities, and relying on complex supply chains. As the industry expands, it endeavours to have a positive impact on human rights, including children’s rights, and to maintain practices that contribute to the UN SDGs. From air travel to hospitality, to local tourist sites management, tourism can negatively affect a vast range of human rights. This session will focus on the industry’s most material risks: human trafficking, forced labour and the sexual exploitation of children.
In recent years, a growing number of global, regional and national entities have taken innovative measures to ensure that as the travel and tourism industry grows, workers’ rights and child protection are taken into consideration. The private sector can be a key alley in preventing sexual exploitation of children and providing safe pathways to employment. The objective of this roundtable will be to present the solutions developed collectively in the sector through multistakeholder initiatives and by individual companies to inspire and foster wider collaboration with corporate and government stakeholders.

Key research and initiatives have been achieved in the tourism sector on this topic which will provide background to this discussion:

The Global Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, that was the result of inputs from 67 global partners.
The Call for Action from the first International Summit on Child Protection in Travel and Tourism provide a roadmap how to address this worldwide challenge while contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals.
The ITP Goal on human rights in the hotel industry to raise awareness of human rights risks, embed human rights into corporate governance, and address risks arising in the labour supply chain and during construction.
The ITP Principles on Forced Labour launched at the IHRB-ILO Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment and Employment in June 2018

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Helen Marano

Executive Vice-President - External Affairs, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)

Human trafficking, especially child protection efforts in Travel & TourismGovernment policies related to Travel & Tourism and engaging private sector on social issues.

Speakers

Jane Ashton

Director of Sustainable Development, TUI Group

Mark Ehrlich

Vice President, Global Compliance and Privacy, Hilton

Theo Noten

Board Member of The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism and Pr, ECPAT Netherlands

I have been managing ECPAT Netherlands since 1996 and have expertise in working in multi-stakeholder settings with government, private sector and civil society partners in the Netherlands, in Europe and at international level on the protection of children against sexual exploitation... Read More →

Madhu Rajesh

Director, International Tourism Partnership (ITP)

Madhu began her career working in operations, sales and marketing across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the UK for a range of hotel groups. She has spent the last decade working in the not-for-profit sector on a range of development issues including education, water & sanitation... Read More →

Linda Ristagno

Assistant Director External Affairs, IATA

Linda Ristagno is Assistant Director of External Affairs at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In this role, she is responsible for developing global policy and multilateral dialogue across a broad range of topics and with a particular focus on accessibility issues... Read More →

Helen Taylor

Director of Grant Programs, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS)

Wednesday November 28, 2018 1:30pm - 2:45pm CET
Room XXI

Sectoral perspectives, Tourism | Human rights due diligence, Tourism

3:00pm CET

New perspectives on overcoming hurdles for parent company liability?

Interpretation is provided into Spanish

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

Brief description
In many cases of business-related human rights abuses, it becomes necessary for affected individuals and communities to seek remedies against a parent company for abuses by its subsidiaries. However, the current legal principles governing the allocation of responsibility among companies of a corporate group do not generally allow victims to hold a parent company accountable even in legitimate cases. This is one of the well-documented barriers faced by victims in seeking access to effective remedies. The Commentary to Principle 26 also acknowledges that the “way in which legal responsibility is attributed among members of a corporate group under domestic criminal and civil laws facilitates the avoidance of appropriate accountability”.
In recent years, courts in certain jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Canada have ruled that in certain circumstances a parent company may owe a direct duty of care towards employees of its subsidiaries or communities affected by its subsidiaries. How useful could this tortious principle be in making parent companies accountable in the full range of business-related human rights abuses cases? Or are other reforms – including of corporate laws – needed to ensure a fair allocation of responsibility among companies of a corporate group? Principle 3(b) of the UNGPs, for example, provides that states should ensure that “laws and policies governing the creation and ongoing operation of business enterprises, such as corporate law, do not constrain but enable business respect for human rights”.

Session objectives
This session aims to: (i) inquire rationales behind the divide between the “legal separation” among companies of a group and the “economic unity”; (ii) assess the potential and limits of the direct duty of care principle in holding parent companies accountable for human rights related to their subsidiaries; and (iii) explore other law-cum-policy reform options that could assist victims in seeking effective remedies against parent companies in appropriate cases.

Discussion questions
To achieve the above objectives, the following illustrative questions will guide the discussion:

Should companies of a group be allowed to operate as “one” and “separate” at the same time?
What lessons can businesses and affected communities learn from cases concerning the direct duty of care decided so far in the UK and Canada? Are there similar precedents in other jurisdictions?
What are the limitations of the current direct duty of care test developed by courts? What challenges lawyers face in establishing such a duty of care on the part of parent companies?
Apart from tort law, could we learn any lessons from rules concerning attribution of liability within corporate groups under other laws such as tax law, competition law, terrorism law and cyber law?
Would mandatory human rights due diligence help in establishing the direct duty of care and in turn holding a parent company accountable for human rights abuses related to its subsidiaries?
What legal or policy reforms could encourage parent companies to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights risks associated with the operations of their subsidiaries?

Format of the session
This session will be organised as an interview-style discussion with panellists. After an initial round of questions posed to the panellists by the moderator, participants will be invited to ask questions or make general comments about the session theme.

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Surya Deva

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

Speakers

Monica Feria-Tinta

Barrister, 20 Essex Street Chambers

Monica is a barrister (an advocate specialising in courtroom advocacy and litigation), a specialist in public international law. Her practice covers the full spectrum of public international law areas including, state responsibility, environmental law, human rights, investment law... Read More →

Dan Leader

Partner, Leigh Day lawyers

Daniel Leader is a Barrister and Partner in the International Department of Leigh Day and specialises in international claims, group actions, environmental and human rights law.Over the past 25 years Leigh Day has been involved in ground breaking cases on behalf of victims from the... Read More →

Sor.Rattanamanee Polkla

Executive Coordinator, Lawyer, Community Resource Centre Foundation

Sor.Rattanamanee Polkla’s career spans the past twenty years of public interest lawyering in Thailand, and she has been involved in many of its most significant recent cases. After working for years as an independent public interest lawyer, in 2010 she co-founded with Prashant Singh... Read More →

James Yap

Special Counsel, Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman LLP

I will be addressing this topic from a Canadian perspective, largely through the lens of my experience as a lawyer for the plaintiffs in Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd, a lawsuit over the use of forced labor and torture at a Canadian-owned mine in Eritrea.

Wednesday November 28, 2018 3:00pm - 4:45pm CET
Room XXIII

Access to remedy, Judicial grievance mechanisms

3:00pm CET

Widening uptake of the UNGPs: a spotlight on SMEs

Interpretation is provided in English, French and Spanish.

Organized by the International Organisation of Employers

Brief description
This session will focus on how the responsibility to respect human rights applies to SMEs and what can be done to strengthen their engagement on human rights. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) acknowledge that the means through which a company meets its responsibility to respect human rights "will be proportional to, among other factors, its size," adding that SMEs "may have less capacity, as well as more informal processes and management structures than larger companies, so their respective policies and processes will take on different forms."
To date, most awareness-raising, capacity building and policy-related efforts have focused on the world's largest brands and retailers, with SMEs often an afterthought in discussions and initiatives on responsible business conduct and business and human rights. Yet, SMEs form the backbone of national economies and the global supply chains of large companies. They account for about 90% of all businesses (according to the International Finance Corporation) and they contribute up to 45% of total employment (according to the World Bank). Their collective contribution to society and the planet is huge.

Session objectives

To explore the different challenges and conditions facing SMEs and how awareness-raising and capacity-building efforts and policy measures can be better tailored to support SMEs to respect human rights in line with their respective size, capacity, resources, and impact on human rights.
To draw attention onto the world's largest category of companies, and away from the usual focus on global brands and retailers – ie: how can we widen implementation of the UNGPs?

Key discussion questions

How does respect for human rights, including the human rights due diligence process, apply to SMEs?
How do SMEs currently act in a responsible manner and what lessons can be drawn from this?
What are the drivers for SMEs to implement the UNGPs? How can more SMEs be encouraged to respect human rights in situations where the drivers are less applicable?
What opportunities and challenges face SMEs in respecting human rights?
How do policy measures currently impact on SMEs? What policy responses are needed based on these lessons?
What practical support can be provided to assist SMEs?

Background to the discussion
Useful links

In 2017, the IOE developed a "Three-part course for SMEs on Communicating on Sustainability Issues" (together with GRI)
ENGLISH version
FRENCH version
SPANISH version
2018: "Human rights due diligence for SMEs" (page 7 of the Companion Note II to the UN Working Group’s 2018 report to the General Assembly on "Corporate human rights due diligence – Getting started, emerging practices, tools & resources")
2013: European Commission's "Guide to Human Rights for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises"

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Renate Hornung-Draus

BDA Managing Director, Economic and International Affairs and IOE Vice-President to the ILO, The Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA)

Renate Hornung-Draus is Managing Director for Economic and International affairs of the Confederation of German Employers (BDA). This is the top business organisation representing the interests of private employers in the fields of employment, labour and social affairs. Renate Hornung-Draus... Read More →

Speakers

Mustain Billah

Component Coordinator, Export Competitiveness for Jobs

Mustain Billah is a Dhaka based social innovation and civic engagement thought leader. A blogger and opinion maker; an ardent advocate of human rights, pluralism, sustainability and circular economy. He is keenly interested about skills education, systems thinking and real-world solutions... Read More →

Cecilia Flores

President, WomenCeo Peru

Corporate Lawyer and a person committed with gender equility

Thato Moagi

Ihab Quadri

Wednesday November 28, 2018 3:00pm - 4:45pm CET
Room XVII

Business action, SMEs | Human rights due diligence, SMEs

3:00pm CET

Leading by example? State-owned enterprises’ performance on human rights due diligence

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-leading-by-example-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972671032001/?term=

Organized by the UN Working Group on business and human rights.

Brief description of the session:
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are an enduring and significant feature of the global economy. They can have major environmental, social and human rights impacts. While some SOEs lead on corporate social responsibility and human rights, others lag behind and are involved in business-related human rights abuse. This is the finding of a 2016 report by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights that addressed the role and responsibility of SOEs to embed respect for human rights in their own activities and business relationships. It was reiterated in the Working Group’s 2018 report on the state of play of corporate human rights due diligence in all sectors worldwide.
The overall picture is that Governments are not leading by example in their own roles as economic actors. This limits their capacity to push business enterprises to put human rights due diligence into practice. At the same time, some good practice examples exist. In its report on SOEs highlighted the good practices of some Governments and SOEs and called on SOEs to lead by example.

Objectives of the session:
Building on the Working Group’s SOE report, a similar session held at the 2016 Forum, and the report on due diligence in practice, this session will:

take stock of how SOEs worldwide are currently performing in terms of implementing their responsibilities as set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights
highlight the experiences from different regions in making human rights due diligence part of SOE practice
discuss how to build on the emerging good practices.

Key discussion questions:
Speakers from SOEs, Governments and other stakeholders will offer their perspective on the following questions:

What are the lessons learned by SOEs to date in terms of making human rights due diligence part of standard practice?
Is it possible to identify success factors for SOEs that have taken steps toward human rights due diligence and what can other SOEs and the governments that own and control them learn from emerging good practice examples?
What kind of policies, models and tools are available specifically to ensure that SOEs are role models on corporate social responsibility and human rights?
What needs to happen, and what concrete steps should be taken, for the field to move forward, and States and SOEs to truly lead by example.

Format of the session:
The panelists will first give an overview of emerging practice to make human rights due diligence part of SOE practice from their respective perspectives and address questions 1 and 2 [5-7 minutes]. This will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.
In the second part of the session, the panelists and other participants will discuss how to build on emerging good practice and achieve progress for wider SOE practice (questions 3 and 4).

Moderator/ Introductory Remark...

Dante Pesce

Chairperson, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers

Tyler Gillard

Head of Sector Projects and Legal Adviser, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

Mónica Jiménez González

Secretary General, Ecopetrol S.A.

Mónica Jiménez is a lawyer who has practiced international law both in Colombia and Canada, with extensive experience as counsel and tribunal secretary in commercial and investment arbitrations under the rules of the ICC, ICSID and UNCITRAL.She has advised Multinational companies... Read More →

Malin Helgesen

Legal Counsel Human Rights, Equinor ASA

Malin Helgesen Legal Counsel Human Rights Equinor ASA. Talk to me about anything related to practical implementation of the UNGPs, changing the role of lawyers so that we prevent our companies better by applying the people lense to our advice and dare to look beyond the hard law... Read More →

Seong-Hoon Lee

Executive Director, Korea Human Rights Foundation (KHRF)

Anselmo LEE has been Executive Director of the Korea Human Rights Foundation (KHRF) since 2010. He has been teaching about global governance, human rights and development since 2008 as a adjunct professor at Graduate School of Public Policy and Civic Engagement at Kyunghee University... Read More →

Josefine Ekros Roth

Wednesday November 28, 2018 3:00pm - 4:45pm CET
Room XX

Government action, State as an economic actor

3:00pm CET

Toward meaningful corporate human rights reporting?

Organized by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

Brief description of the session:
What’s the problem with corporate reporting on human rights? Can companies realistically report on their human rights impacts and progress made?
Join business, civil society and reporting initiatives to consider wh