Transcript How Comparative material Can Enrich Constitutional Law Courses

“Corporate Social Responsibility in the Middle East”
Istanbul, 19-20 June 2013
Business Commitment to
Human Rights
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
www.business-humanrights.org
Why a human rights approach?
human rights are grounded in internationally-accepted and
recognized standards
Irene Khan, former Secretary-General of Amnesty International,
noted: "Human rights are rooted in law. Respecting and
protecting them was never meant to be an optional extra, a
matter of choice.
It is expected and required. It should be part of the mainstream
of any company's strategy, not only seen as part of its corporate
social responsibility strategy."
CSR VS Business & Human Rights
CSR approach tends to be top-down
Human rights approach is bottom-up with the individual at the
centre, not the corporation.
From a company’s perspective, this means that it is an
effective framework to use when assessing potential risks the
business may face throughout its operations.
The business case
There is a strong ‘business case’ for respecting human rights,
companies are obliged to respect human rights at all times, not just
when it suits them.
- Working towards a safe workplace for women, free from sexual
harassment definitely maintain skilled women in work.
- Communication companies who shut down their services in
Egypt during the Tahrir square demonstration, suffered heavily
from consumers’ “sanctions” post the events.
- (Extractive sector) Oil drilling companies in Egypt taking no
consideration of the livelihoods in the region
Human rights dilemmas in MENA
• Discrimination against women (mandated by law in Saudi Arabia)
• Practical barriers to freedom of association (widespread –Iraq,
UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria…)
• Unequal pay between men and women (widespread)
• Other forms of discrimination
• Harassment of colleagues in the office
• Restrictions on freedom of speech
• Selling of arms selling to repressive countries (Syria, Saudi Arabia)
• Selling of surveillance software – and attacks on privacy (Egypt,
KSA, Yemen, Syria, Iran, UAE)
• Migrant workers’ working conditions
• Poor safety measures
• Abuses by private security companies hired for protection
• IT and telecom companies’ complicity in surveillance and
censorship
1. Company response
process
Company response process
NGO,
civil society
Company
Website
1.5 million
hits
Resource Centre
HUMAN
RIGHTS
WATCH
For A Better Life
Migrant Worker Abuse in Bahrain and the Government Reform
Agenda
2. Positive initiatives by
companies
Remarks from a roundtable in Cairo:
Co-hosted by the Global Business Initiative, UN Global
Compact, Egyptian Corporate Responsibility Centre & others:
3. Guidance
Relevant frameworks
 UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights
ILO instruments, such as the Tripartite Declaration
 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
 UN Global Compact
 ISO 26 000 standard
 Multi-stakeholder initiatives for particular sectors
 Company-level human rights and CSR policies
Integrating respect for human rights:
Tell people what
you are doing
Make a public
commitment to
respect human
rights
Check for human
rights risks
Take action to deal
with risks you
identify
Provide a solution
if things go wrong
Monitor your
progress
The Guiding principles on Business and Human
Rights in MENA
• A new development of the human rights concept
• Little knowledge about the GPs among civil society,
government, business, unions, academia and the media
• Lack or no making use of GPs
• Low levels of awareness on how CSR relates to Business and
Human Rights
• Minimal advocacy efforts by civil society relating to GPs
Ways forward
• Mainstreaming Principles into existing initiatives (domestically and
regionally).
• Urging states to incorporate GPs into legislations.
• GPs can be a basis for development of corporate human rights
policies and standards
• GPs can be a good tool for advocacy with states and corporations
• GPs could be a good authoritative reference for developing a
progressive jurisprudence.
• Can be taken forward by similar initiatives at the regional level:
OECD, Working Group of ACHPR on Extractives Industries.
• On the road to a binding instrument on the accountability of
PSMCs for HR violations.
• Resorting to, and import GPs into, opportunities which domestic
laws and remedies currently offer: See ICJ Access to Justice
Studies, US ATCA, SA PSMC Act, Alternative mechanisms, startegic
litigation.
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Sa’eda Al-Kilani and Rania Fazah
Middle East & North Africa
Researchers & Representatives,
based in Jordan & Lebanon
Teşekkür Ederim
‫شكرا‬
Thank You!
Merci!
Gracias!
Grazie!
Obrigado!
谢谢!