Business and Human Rights (BHR) Africa Project

The Business and Human Rights (BHR) Africa Project is dedicated to build strategic and impactful engagement, foster the implementation of business and human rights standards, in particular the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to advance responsible business conduct and corporate accountability for human rights impacts in the African region.

Conducted in coordination with UN Human Rights’ field presences in Sub-Saharan Africa, the project has the following strategic priorities:

1. Building awareness, capacities and expertise to uphold human rights in the context of business activities in Africa;
2. Strengthening collaboration and promote coherence and alignment of BHR initiatives across countries and in light of regulatory and policy developments in other regions;
3. Supporting policy and regulatory developments in the field of business and human rights at the national and regional levels;
4. Strengthening networks of stakeholders working to advance responsible business conduct and corporate accountability and promoting constructive debate and action.

The BHR Africa Project is conducted in countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mozambique and Zambia, and four sub-regions (Eastern, Southern, Central and Western Africa). Activities under this project consist of the provision of technical assistance and thematic support to policy development processes, trainings on business and human rights standards to government, civil society and business stakeholders, facilitation of platforms for exchange and learning across the region, development of tools and resources and organization of regional dialogues and forums. Examples of engagements include:

In Liberia, UN Human Rights is conducting capacity-building and awareness-raising activities and has provided technical assistance in support of the development of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights that was adopted in August 2024.

In Mozambique, UN Human Rights is conducting capacity-building activities on the UNGPs, with a particular focus on access to remedy and provides technical assistance to the development of a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

The East Africa Regional Office is supporting the development and implementation of National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights across the region, including in Ethiopia and Tanzania.

UN Human Rights facilitated Sub-Regional Dialogues on National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights in Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Africa. At the regional level, UN Human Rights co-organizes the African Business and Human Rights Forum.

This project is conducted with financial support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

UN Human Rights is aiming to scale up the project so as to enhance local capacities and ensure comprehensive implementation of the UNGPs across the region.

For any questions on the BHR Africa project, please contact ohchr-bhrafrica@un.org.