The role of voluntary, collaborative human rights due diligence initiatives
In recent years, the business and human rights debate has shifted its focus towards mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) as the solution to ensure corporate respect for human rights. Several countries have already adopted regulation and the EU’s commitment to developing mHRDD legislation in 2021 has given this legislative trend further impetus.
In this context, voluntary collaborative initiatives are often overlooked, despite the important perspectives, insights and value that they can bring to efforts of advancing business respect for human rights.
Given that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) refer to a “smart mix” of measures – national, international, mandatory and voluntary – to foster business respect for human rights, for the third event of our series of online discussions organized in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), we bring together corporate practitioners, representatives of multi-stakeholder initiatives, and business and human rights experts to discuss how voluntary and mandatory human rights due diligence initiatives can work together to help businesses meet their responsibility to respect human rights.
Date: Thursday, April 29, 2021
Time: 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Location: Online
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Speakers
Prof. Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, Director, Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights
Crispin Conroy, Representative Director, Geneva, ICC
Sarah Dekkiche, Director of Policy and Partnerships, International Cocoa Initiative (ICI)
Davide Fiedler, Manager, People & Society, WBCSD
Richa Mittal, Senior Director, Supply Chain Innovation & Partnerships, Fair Labor Association (FLA)
Dante Pesce, Chair, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Prof. André Podleisek, interim Head Corporate Sustainability, Schindler Group
Yann Wyss, Senior Manager, Social Impact, Nestlé