This test draft from the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) provides a framework to help organisations to identify the human rights issues associated with their operations. The final report will be released mid-2009 taking in the feedback of organisations who test the framework within their operations.
The guide seeks to acknowledge that companies can and do contribute to protecting the rights of the individual, provide a process to develop management responses to managing human rights issues and address the risks and opportunities. It is founded on a range of international and national laws, principles, conventions and guidelines.
Rather than build a business case the guide assumes that users already have experience of human rights issues and have committed to respecting and protecting human rights within their spheres of influence.
It is suitable for use in any country, for new operations or projects of any type or size as well as throughout various stages of the project lifecycle.
The process has eight steps for impact assessment:
- Determine whether a full human rights impact assessment is needed;
- Identify and clarify the business project context;
- Set the baseline – articulate the current local picture and conditions;
- Consult with stakeholders to verify the human rights challenges;
- Assess the human rights impacts and consequences;
- Present the assessment findings and recommendations to management;
- Implement a human rights management process; and
- Monitor, evaluate and report on the management process.
It provides helpful implementation tips throughout, including checklist questions and differs from other tools in that it is predictive, participatory and can be easily linked to existing management processes.
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