Integrating Human Rights into Business : Better Strategy for Managers (Part 1 : Theory)

1. Introduction

Integrating Human Rights in Business course is among lessons that provide accurate skills for various category of people. Stakeholders in their regular business need to have ensure that Human Rights is respected.

As future manager and leaders its prepare us to better know how integrating Human Rights in our organization. In addition, as a professional in the United Nations, I was trained and got a certificate on: i) Human Rights Responsibilities (26-Jul-2016); ii) Human Rights and peace keeping (03-Oct-2014); iii) Introduction to Human Rights (from 28/03 au 11/06/2014) and iv) Monitoring of Human Rights (2008). See attached certificates.

As a Jurist, this paper of Integrating Human Rights in Business has an importance. it helps students, managers and leaders to better understand how to integrate Human Rights in Policies and monitor its execution in organizational culture and employee’s behavior.

For businessmen, it helps executives to understand and apply current good practice in identifying and managing human rights issues across the operations, supply chains and product portfolios of large multi-national corporations. Also, this course intends primarily for senior executives and Board members, who may have oversight of the human rights process but are not responsible for day to-day implementation, to help them shape their own company’s approach. Human rights professionals within corporations may also find this publication useful to inform colleagues and initiate conversations about their companies’ human rights impacts.

Meanwhile, growth in client demand since recent years has imposed the need for responsibility of businesses to respect human rights. Since then, pressure has increased on companies to identify and address human rights issues across their businesses. Failing to address human rights issues can risk damaging brand value and reputation and can also bring an increasing risk of litigation and of non-compliance with a growing body of legislation in the area.

A growing number of companies are becoming aware of the contribution they can make to advancing human rights within their spheres of influence and the benefits such an approach can have for their businesses. While human rights continue to be the primary responsibility of governments, companies can do a lot within the context of their own business to support and respect the observance of human rights. Being proactive on human rights can make good business sense, as well as being the right thing to do.

This paper provides some elements on how to integrate Human Rights in Business. It can help business leaders and managers in large and medium-sized enterprises, private and state-owned, who would like to develop their understanding of human rights in business practice.

1. INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN BUSINESS

1.1. NOTION: INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN BUSINESS

1.1.1. Importance of Human Rights

Human rights are the basic rights of each human being, independent of race, sex, religion, political opinion, social status, or any other characteristic. Through international human rights conventions, governments commit to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of their citizens and other individuals within and beyond their borders. A list of the human rights contained in the Universal Declaration, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – the three fundamental United Nations agreements on human rights.

In the contemporary period, businesses should also be aware of the core conventions of the International Labor Organization. In addition, a specific body of law applies in situations of armed conflicts: international humanitarian law. Its rules have two aims: first, protecting people who are not or no longer taking part in hostilities and, secondly, regulating means and methods of warfare.

There are compelling reasons why businesses should involve human rights in their policies and practices. Businesses increasingly need a stable international environment in which to operate, with sustainable markets and a “level playing field” of opportunities. Human rights offer a common framework for businesses to understand societies’ expectations and deliver value to stakeholders in a more sustainable way.

This briefing note demonstrates that, in a business context, advancing human rights is as much about realizing new opportunities and managing risk as it is about meeting essential global standards. If we take the need of making business, human rights provide a universal benchmark for minimum standards of behavior. Many national laws and regulations have evolved because of a State’s obligation to implement human rights standards. Business must, of course, observe such laws in all countries and jurisdictions in which they operate.

There is a high need for companies to implement human rights responsibilities by applying human rights to business decisions and operations.

​​​​​​​1.1.2. Seven elements for integrating in the Management System

Even though we cannot deep all matters related to Human Rights, there are seven elements which are required to be integrated in Business Management System namely:

1. Strategy,
2. Policy,
3. Processes and Procedure,
4. Communications,
5. Training,
6. Measuring Impact and Auditing, and
7. Reporting.

2. Integrating Human Rights Responsibility into Business Units

2.1. ​​​​​​​Notion of Human Rights risk

Every manager and leaders while making business should think about the interest of stakeholders. Thus, it is impossible to consider stakeholders interests besides considering human rights risks trough commercial operations. While making job description, code of conduct, and other policies, targets for human rights activities should be considered.

• What do we mean by key risks?

There is no special rule for establishing human rights risks. They vary from one to another organization. For example, in mining sites children are not allowed, while in medical domain there should not be experimentation on human bodies. In the extractives and industrial manufacturing sectors, the risks are mostly on site and in local communities. Worker safety, the use of security personnel to protect company assets, land acquisition, environmental damage and the rights of indigenous people are concerns in these sectors. For companies in the finance industry, the risks lie predominantly ‘downstream’ with the organizations to whom the organization lends or invests in. The financial institutions interviewed also suggested that this is where they have the greatest opportunity to positively influence human rights practices, namely through their client due diligence processes, lending terms and conditions and investment decisions. Assessing human rights risk in the supply chain is a complex and ongoing process. It can take several years and significant investment of both human and financial resources to reach a position where the company is confident that it has satisfactory visibility of its supply chain and related human rights risks.

• What do we mean by risks to people or risks to the business?

In common thinking, it is impossible to say risks to people excluding risks to the business. In many cases, when people are affected, products are affected and vice versa due to operations and activities of a company. For example, risks can affect direct company employees, contracted service providers, workers in farms or factories in the supply chain, people living in local communities where companies operate or even the users of the company’s products or services. The real challenge is making human rights fit into the risk systems you already have. You want to keep existing risk and mitigation measures and consider how you enhance these systems to address human rights.

• Challenge related to the lack of in-depth subject expertise

The human rights domain is complex matter which requires specific subject matter expertise. This can lead to a lack of confidence within companies when it comes to dealing with human rights issues. Almost all the firms interviewed for this paper used a range of external experts to assist them with elements of their human rights programs. Given the specialist nature of the subject matter, it is important to have a clear understanding of what external experts can and cannot provide.

1. 2.2. What is the advantages for integrating Human Rights in Business?

Integrating Human Rights in Business can vary between each business sector and country of operation. However, these are key advantages:

• Improved stakeholder relations
• Improved employee recruitment, retention, and motivation
• Improved risk assessment and management
• Reduced risk of consumer protests

Enhanced corporate reputation and brand image

• A more secure license to operate
• Strengthened shareholder confidence
• More sustainable business relationships with governments, business partners, trade unions, sub-contractors and suppliers.

In addition, Human rights can be a way of identifying new business opportunities; sometimes what might be first perceived as a risk to a business can be converted into an asset. At the end, there are also important strategic reasons for business to take a long-term interest in good governance and a stable social environment in places where they do business

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​2.3. Which human rights are relevant to business?

There is the need for detailing the answer. We should refer to the constellation of Laws and conventions governing the social, civil, political, economic and cultural life. However, briefly, businesses should look first at what is often referred to as the “International Bill of Human Rights” made up of three international agreements:

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
3. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

A short description of the rights contained in these documents is included in the Appendices to this report. Every business should consider the full range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights when examining the impact of its operations to ensure all is well included in the organization policy

3. What is the link between: Ethic, Human Rights in Business?

Ethic plays a key role in reducing risks of complicity in human rights abuses during business operations. If managers or authorities tolerate, or knowingly ignores human rights abuses committed by an entity associated with it, or if the company knowingly provides practical assistance or encouragement that has a substantial effect on the perpetration of human rights abuse it’s a complicity. Tacit or no, such direct or indirect responsibility needs to be well addressed. Why?  Because, without such participation, the abuses most probably would not have occurred to the same extent or in the same way.

Researches have indicated that avoiding complicity in human rights abuses is an important challenge for business. As the dynamics between governments, companies, and civil society organizations change, so too does the understanding of when and how different organizations should take on responsibilities for human rights issues. Four situations help to illustrate how the notion of complicity might arise:

1. When the company is silent or inactive in the face of systematic or continuous human rights violations e.g. inaction or acceptance by companies of systematic discrimination in employment law against groups.
2. When the company is in a partnership with a government and knows, or should have known before agreeing to the partnership, that the government is likely to commit abuses in carrying out its part of the agreement e.g. forced relocation of peoples;
3. When the company actively assists, directly or indirectly, in human rights violations committed by others e.g. where a company provides information to a government that it knows will be used to violate human rights;
4. When the company benefits from human rights violations even if it does not positively assist or cause them e.g. abuses committed by security forces, such as the suppression of a peaceful protest business activities or the use of repressive measures while guarding company facilities; and

Considering the above, an international crime is involved, complicity may arise where a company assisted in the perpetration of the crime, the assistance had a substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime and the company knew that its acts would assist the perpetration of the crime even if it did not intend for the crime to be committed. In this regard, all state-owned enterprises should be aware that because they are part of the state, they may have direct responsibilities under international human rights law.

Business risk assessment and management tools are needed to identify the potential for complicity as it arises and to develop policies and procedures to ensure non-complicity.

Note : Read the following step in Part 2 (on the same site) 

Part 2 at :

http://www.humanitaire-leadership-management-conflit.com/2018/09/integrating-human-rights-into-business-better-strategy-for-managers-part-2-practice.html?utm_source=_ob_reader_admin&utm_medium=_ob_reader_admin_fr

Part 2 at :

http://www.humanitaire-leadership-management-conflit.com/

2018/09/integrating-human-rights-into-business-better-strategy-for-managers-part-3-implementation.html