Geneva summit will take stock of what companies are doing to respect human rights

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United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, 26-28 November, Palais des Nations, Geneva

GENEVA (19 November 2018) – More than 2,000 participants from government, businesses and civil society will assess what companies are doing in practice to respect human rights at a conference in Geneva from 26-28 November. 

Speakers will include Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and other prominent human rights defenders, as well as business executives from major multinational companies.

“Business enterprises have a critical role to play in realising the aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. We still have a long way to go, but I am encouraged to see that the movement to ensure that businesses uphold human rights is gaining momentum,” said UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet.

Under the theme of “Business respect for human rights – building on what works”, the Forum will shine a spotlight on what business are doing in practice to respect human rights in their activities, in line with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The Forum is organised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and is guided and chaired by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

“As we observed in our recent report on corporate human rights due diligence in practice, the majority of companies worldwide do not demonstrate practices that meet the requirements of the UN’s Guiding Principles”, said Dante Pesce, Chair of the Working Group.

“The good news is that more and more companies are taking steps to respect human rights, demonstrating that change is possible. There is growing recognition that doing the right thing is also the smart thing to do,” he added. 

Over three days, and a programme of 60+ thematic sessions, the Forum will focus on:

• How practitioners conduct human rights due diligence across vast and complex value chains;
• How investors are pushing companies to manage human rights risks;
• How governments are incentivizing business respect for human rights through regulation and policy, and how governments should lead by example in their roles as buyers, investors and owners;
• How human rights defenders and civil society organisations are working to promote corporate accountability from the ground and up;
• How new technologies (artificial intelligence, automation) pose new threats, but also open up new opportunities;
• How companies are standing up against discrimination against women and LGBTI persons;
• What corporate respect for human rights means for efforts to address climate change and transit to a green economy;
• What companies can do to stand up for human rights defenders and protecting human rights in public policy.

The Forum is open to media, and interviews can be arranged with Forum participants, who will be able to share their personal stories and perspectives.

Learn more about the programme and the speakers, companies and organizations participating.

ENDS

BACKGROUND:

The annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights aims to promote corporate respect for human rights and take stock of progress in the implementation of the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Guiding Principles provided the first authoritative global framework for the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and they have been integrated into a number of other standards, such as the ILO Tripartite declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy (MNE Declaration) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Forum was established by the Human Rights Council and is guided and chaired by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

For additional information and media requests please contact:Jeremy J Laurence, Media Officer, at +41 22 9179383 /Jlaurence@ohchr.org or the Forum Secretariat at: +41 22 917 9323 / wg-business@ohchr.org).

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Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone’s rights today.  #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org