UN-BHR

UN Observers Advise Kenya on Implementing BHR Agenda

July 31, 2018

At the end of its recent visit to Kenya, the UN Working Group on business and human rights (BHR) issued a statement welcoming the country’s development of a BHR national action plan and setting out a broad range of guidelines regarding how the country could improve on implementing the BHR agenda.
NGO Seeks Business Review of Tech Gender Gaps

July 31, 2018

Michelle Lau-Burke and Callie Strickland of the nongovernmental organization The B Team call on technology companies to perform due diligence to understand the “gendered dimensions” of their products and services, including harassment of women on their platforms, using frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
UNHRC Requests Guidance for National Institutions on BHR Remedies

July 25, 2018

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution calling on the UN Working Group on business and human rights (BHR) issues to study how national human rights institutions can facilitate access to remedy for alleged victims of corporate abuses of the BHR agenda.
Academics Call for Global Human Rights Regime for AI

July 25, 2018

Christiaan van Veen of NYU Law and Corinne Cath of Oxford argue that human rights must be a key focus in the development of artificial-intelligence (AI) technologies and businesses engaged in AI must subject themselves to “public and external accountability mechanisms of the international human rights regime.”
NGOs Push Banks to Create BHR Grievance Mechanisms

July 25, 2018

The nongovernmental organizations BankTrack and Oxfam Australia have released global guidelines for banks on how to develop grievance mechanisms to deal with complaints that they are “financing projects that adversely impact vulnerable people” in contravention of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (BHR).
Scholars Seek Rights Standards as Basis for ESG Investing

July 23, 2018

Professor John Ruggie and Emily Middleton of the Harvard Kennedy School have published a paper calling for international human rights standards to serve as the basis for the “social” pillar of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment principles to encourage “social performance” in business.
NGO Seeks Internet Infrastructure Adoption of BHR Agenda

July 16, 2018

The nongovernmental organization Article 19 has published a report pushing private internet infrastructure companies to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (BHR) by resisting pressure from governments to censor or surveil communications using their platforms.
UN Agents Seek Trade, Finance Push to Advance BHR Agenda

July 13, 2018

At a recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Chair of the UN Working Group on business and human rights (BHR) issues presented a report on how governments should pressure corporations to implement the BHR agenda by threatening to cut off non-complying companies from support under states’ trade promotion and finance policies.
EU Legislator Pushes for Rules Requiring Corporate Rights Observance

July 09, 2018

Member of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala calls on the European Commission to produce legislation binding EU-based companies to perform due diligence to determine the human rights risks related to their foreign operations and requiring them to provide access to remedies for victims of alleged human rights abuses.
NGO Demands Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence

June 13, 2018

The European Coalition for Corporate Justice has published a report listing the features national lawmakers must include in legislation mandating "comprehensive" corporate human rights due diligence addressing risks of violating "all relevant human rights and environmental standards" throughout global supply chains.