More and more businesses are committing to respect for human rights. There are now a large number of national and international initiatives for the protection of human rights based on voluntary undertakings by enterprises themselves. Over and above this favourable trend a
vigorous international debate is in progress on the scope of state and corporate obligations, and the issue is being taken up by an increasing number of states in their policy-making.
In its pursuit of the principle of achieving equitable globalization, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is working to ensure that governments, businesses and other social actors assume responsibility for human rights in particular, in developing countries. This is for example achieved through partnerships with the private sector to promote responsible corporate management, by way of an advisory project on human rights, corporate responsibility and sustainable development and by support for the mandate of the UN Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational
corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie.
In order to develop a joint approach to the perception of this responsibility by all actors concerned, the BMZ is organizing a conference on” Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights.” The conference is for invited guests. Invited guests include national and international representatives of the worlds of industry and commerce, politics, civil society, trade unions and academia to exchange opinions and debate the relevant issues. A Town Hall Meeting with Professor John Ruggie will enable participants to engage directly in a dialogue with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights and Business Enterprises.
There will also be workshops to provide a forum for the discussion of selected problems and the development of common approaches.
Programme During the morning session of the conference, Professor John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, will hold a discussion on the framework he has developed for integrating human rights into the business context. This framework is
based on three pillars:
(1) Protect – the state duty to protect against human rights abuses by
third parties, (2) Respect – the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and (3) Remedy – greater access by victims to effective remedy, judicial and non-judicial.
A town hall meeting with Prof. John Ruggie, will give participants an opportunity to engage in a direct dialogue with the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, and exchange
views on the practical implementation of this framework.
John G. Ruggie is the Berthold Beitz Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and an Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School. He is also the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights.
Three parallel workshops will be held in the afternoon to discuss selected issues and develop joint solutions. These workshops will be hosted by three cooperation partners supporting the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in its endeavours to enhance corporate responsibility for human rights.
Simultaneous interpretation into German will be provided during the plenary sessions at the beginning and end of the conference. The workshops will be held in English. The programme will be finalized in mid-January.