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Tuesday, November 26
 

9:00am CET

BHR informal dialogues: Corporate Influence in the Political and Regulatory Sphere
Tuesday November 26, 2024 9:00am - 9:40am CET
The newly introduced BHR Informal Dialogues will offer an open, dynamic platform for inclusive and in-depth discussions on critical issues within the Business and Human Rights (BHR) agenda. These sessions are structured to encourage autonomous, participant-led conversations without formal speakers or panelists, fostering a free-flowing exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives. The aim is to create a collaborative space where all participants can directly engage with one another, enabling meaningful dialogue that promotes deeper understanding of key issues.

By encouraging active participation from all participants, the BHR Informal Dialogues seek to ensure that a broad range of voices contribute to shaping the future of business and human rights practices. This format prioritizes diversity of views and backgrounds, creating a space where different stakeholders can share insights, experiences, and best practices in a flexible and open environment. There will be no interpretation provided.

This informal and interactive space is open to everyone and is designed to spark collaborative thinking, drive solution-oriented discussions, and contribute to advancing the global BHR agenda.
Each Interactive dialogue will be facilitated by one or two people to ensure effective and inclusive dialogue. The facilitators will guide the discussion, assist in maintaining a balanced conversation, and ensure that all voices are heard. This structure will help both facilitators and participants to ensure a free-flowing exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives.

Topics for Discussion: The BHR Informal Dialogues will focus on a range of pressing topics, including:
  • Corporate Influence in the Political and Regulatory Sphere: Investigating the role of corporate lobbying and its impact on human rights legislation, regulation and policies.

Guiding questions:
  1. Where are you seeing corporate lobbying/capture? In what trajectory? In what spaces?
  2. What tactics are being used? Which are most detrimental?
  3. What are some of the methods to detect corporate lobbying practices, given that these most of the time find place behind closed doors?
  4. Action! How can we do something about corporate influencing/lobbying?

Speakers
avatar for Joseph Wilde

Joseph Wilde

Director of Advocacy, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) and OECD Watch
Joseph is SOMO’s Advocacy Director and has a broad experience and expertise in corporate accountability across a wide range of sectors, including energy, extractives, manufacturing and finance. After leading the OECD Watch network for 15 years between 2005-2020, he now serves as a Senior Advisor to the network. He frequently assists communities and workers in documenting human rights and environmental violations, asserting their rights and seeking remedy for corporate abuse. Joseph serves as an Independent Advisor... Read More →
avatar for Tulika Bansal

Tulika Bansal

Business and human rights expert, Independent
Tulika is an independent business and human rights expert with 18 years experience working with different stakeholders in promoting respect for human rights by the private sector. Through training and capacity building for companies, government actors, NHRIs, development finance institutions... Read More →
Tuesday November 26, 2024 9:00am - 9:40am CET
Room XX

10:00am CET

Is the Arms Industry Exempt from Human Rights Due Diligence?
Tuesday November 26, 2024 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Session co-organized by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, in collaboration with PAX; Quaker United Nations Office; Asser Institute for International and European Law; Global Rights Compliance; Heartland Initiative; American Bar Association Center for Human Rights; and Essex Business and Human Rights Project, University of Essex 

Brief description of the session:
States, manufacturers, investors and advisers all have responsibilities, whether under international law or the UNGPs, to ensure that weapons are not used to commit violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, are otherwise misused or diverted, or supplied to actors subject to international sanctions. Due diligence should also consider any involvement in prohibited or indiscriminate controversial weapons, including nuclear weapons. As the arms industry is increasingly exempted from mandatory human rights due diligence, this session will shed light on other frameworks which, taken together, can contribute to ensuring adequate human rights due diligence, responsible arms trade, and access to remedy for victims.

Key objectives: 
  • Ensure that States and businesses are aware of their responsibilities in relation to arms production and trade, regardless of recent exclusions from legislation.
  • Identify how States and the arms sector can conduct appropriate (heightened) HRDD with end-use monitoring to prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights or IHL violations and diversion.
  • Provide guidance on how investors can minimise their portfolio exposure to risks associated with arms production and trade.
Key questions:
  • Beyond export controls, what measures can States take to ensure responsible business conduct in the arms sector?
  • How can the defense sector fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights by conducting appropriate HRDD to identify, prevent and mitigate the adverse human rights impacts of its business activities (ranging from the production of indiscriminate controversial weapons to the sale of conventional weapons to high-risk actors)?
  • What are the avenues for civil society and victim representatives to achieve accountability for civilian harm caused by irresponsible arms transfers?
  • What practical challenges are faced by investors in developing exclusionary screening criteria that address the intrinsic risks associated with controversial arms production and high-risk arms trade, including the emergence of new technologies?
  • How can financial sector actors promote the implementation of the UNGPs and other global norms that seek to prevent such harms?

Background to the discussion:
As recognised by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, despite regulatory frameworks, "arms products and services are still exported to States where they are used to commit a wide variety of human rights violations, including potential war crimes and crimes against humanity". Against the backdrop of rising global tensions, investors who seek to avoid portfolio exposure to risks associated with indiscriminate weapons and/or high-risk arms trade are also facing increased calls to financially back the defense sector. The recent exclusion of the arms sector, and large aspects of the financial sector’s activities, from the scope of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive underscores the need to implement well-established legal and normative frameworks to ensure human rights compliance of states, companies and investors alike.

Background reading:
Moderators
avatar for Susi Snyder

Susi Snyder

Programme Coordinator, ICAN
Susi is the programme coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Her responsibilities include facilitating the development and execution of ICAN's key programmes, including the management of ICAN's divestment work and engagement with the financial sector.For... Read More →
Speakers
avatar for Tara van Ho

Tara van Ho

Associate Professor, University of Essex
Co-Director of the Essex Business & Human Rights Project, I teach, research, and advise on three main issues: (1) BHR in conflict-affected and post-conflict areas; (2) the relationship between investment law and BHR; and (3) the need to integrate BHR into a just and sustainable transition... Read More →
avatar for Tulia Machado-Helland

Tulia Machado-Helland

Head of Human Rights, Storebrand Asset Management
Tulia Machado-Helland is the Head of Human Rights at the Sustainable Investment team at Storebrand Asset Management. Her main responsibilities are to develop policies and procedures to integrate human rights in investment decisions; to conduct human right due diligence of portfolios... Read More →
RA

Radhya Al-Mutawakel

Chairperson, Mwatana for human rights
Human rights work. Documentation, advocacy.
avatar for Amb. Francisca E. Méndez Escobar

Amb. Francisca E. Méndez Escobar

Ambassador Méndez was born in Mexico City. She entered the Diplomatic Service of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991. She graduated as a BSc in Political Sciences and Public Administration and a MSc in Latin American Studies from the Mexican National Autonomous University... Read More →
Tuesday November 26, 2024 10:00am - 11:20am CET
Room XX

11:40am CET

The Inclusive Value Chain: Strengthening Inter-Stakeholder Cooperation for Impactful Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation
Tuesday November 26, 2024 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Session co-organized by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Southern Voices for Global Development and Shift


Brief description of the session:
The shift from voluntary implementation of international due diligence standards to a smart mix of measures that includes binding legislation requiring Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) by companies should have significant positive impacts for people and planet. It should help ensure better livelihoods for farmers, workers, small and medium-sized enterprises that form the foundation of many global value chains. It should also help drive more sustainable business models and create a level playing field for companies that are already investing in aligning their operations with the international standards.

However, implementing HREDD legislation will be complex. International cooperation and accompanying measures are important for a soft landing of HREDD legislation. Implementing HREDD legislation should be done in an inclusive way, taking into account the needs and contexts of different stakeholders in global value chains. This is essential for reducing burdens and costs for businesses in production countries, preventing the unintentional exclusion of value chain actors and promoting responsible engagement, rather than disengagement. The latter would have clear negative effects on the very stakeholders whose rights are most at risk from the current ways in which global value chains operate and whose perspectives are central to meaningful human rights due diligence.

The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is a landmark opportunity to advance responsible business conduct and sustainability, requiring large companies in the European Union (EU) to conduct HREDD. Significantly, the Directive expects the EU and its Member States to adopt accompanying measures to support implementation in diverse contexts.

For the Directive to be truly effective, it must be implemented in a way that takes into account the perspectives and local knowledge of stakeholders in value chains within due diligence and that fosters cooperation between buyers and suppliers in consumption and production countries. Implementation should involve meaningful support for affected stakeholders, local producers and companies in production countries that recognizes the distinct challenges they face and helps enable the business partners of EU buying companies to meet higher sustainability standards. If implementation is responsive to the diverse aspirations, needs and development contexts of stakeholders throughout the value chain, it can provide for a soft landing of the CSDDD/HREDD legislation, support businesses and partner countries, as well as deliver on its positive outcomes.

Key objectives of the session:
  • Modeling open dialogue between government, business and civil society stakeholders on what is needed to ensure the impactful implementation of HREDD legislation (specifically EU CSDDD), directly informed by perspectives from the Global South.
  • Demonstrating why strengthened partnerships between value chain actors in consumption and production countries will be essential to the success of HREDD legislation in practice.
  • Encouraging governments to support HREDD legislation by sharing the advantages for business and for affected stakeholders if it is implemented in an inclusive way involving dialogue, engagement of producer countries and supportive accompanying measures.
  • Sharing good examples of multistakeholder approaches, partnerships and inclusive implementation of HREDD.

Moderators
TT

Tom Thomas

CEO, Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices
Speakers
MG

Marchel Germann

Ambassador for Business and Development, Director for Sustainable Economic Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
Tuesday November 26, 2024 11:40am - 1:00pm CET
Room XX

1:20pm CET

Networking hubs: Business
Tuesday November 26, 2024 1:20pm - 2:40pm CET
The Networking Hubs will provide an open platform designed to facilitate exchanges among diverse groups of stakeholders on the Business and Human Rights (BHR) agenda. These spaces are structured to encourage autonomous, participant-led conversations without formal speakers or panelists, fostering a free-flowing exchange of experiences and perspectives. The aim is to create a collaborative peer learning space within stakeholders, where each stakeholder group can directly engage with one another, fostering meaningful dialogue. 

The format of these spaces leverages the networking essence of the Forum, offering a flexible and open environment for different stakeholder groups to share best practices, challenges, and innovative proposals.  

Stakeholder groupsThe Networking Hubs will focus on a range of pressing topics, including: 
  • Business: Engaging in discussions on corporate responsibility, accountability, and sustainable practices. 

No interpretation will be provided. 


Tuesday November 26, 2024 1:20pm - 2:40pm CET
Room XX

3:00pm CET

Addressing Racism Online: A Smart Mix of Measures for Rights-Respecting Content Moderation
Tuesday November 26, 2024 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Session co-organized by the Working Group on business and human rights and 7amleh. 

Interpretation in Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Spanish and Russian

(Version française ci-jointe)
(Versión en español adjunta)


Brief description of the session:
 
From user-facing platforms to humanitarian tools and services, the tech sector, and in particular social media, has an ever-increasing impact on individuals and groups in the most vulnerable situations, including people of African descent and communities of colour. The failure to address the dissemination of hatred that incites discrimination on social media seriously undermines the promise of business and human rights - that is to provide a framework to prevent and remedy abuses by businesses, including tech companies, of internationally recognized human rights. Where online content moderation systems fail to effectively detect such content, it can risk increasing incitement to violence, and can hinder the enjoyment of a variety of human rights online and offline, including the right to life, the right to physical integrity, the right to health, freedom from non-discrimination,. As the Secretary General of the United Nations indicated in the organization’s Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, hate speech is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace. 

Regardless of investment and resources, social media companies face specific challenges in their content moderation efforts to mitigate the spread of such harmful content. Electronic communication services, social media platforms and search engines provide an ideal environment for the delivery of a range of narratives, including those that may constitute incitement to discrimination and violence.. Individuals or groups systematically targeted by incitement to violence or discrimination, including racist attacks, are generally left without any effective means of defense, escape or self-protection, and often find themselves in situations of enhanced vulnerability. There is an increasing recognition of the deep impact of such systemic oppressions on mental health. As various studies have shown, harassment alone in comparatively limited environments can expose targeted individuals to extremely elevated and prolonged levels of anxiety, stress, social isolation and depression and significantly increases the risk of suicide, which may amount to psychological torture. Broadly speaking, incitement to discrimination and/or violence, including on the basis of race, not only affects targeted groups of people, but exercises greater influence on society at large, exacerbating divisions,  fractures and strengthening polarization within society. The above-mentioned elements become more meaningful when we consider the rising importance that young people attach to cyberspace, and the latter's potential to influence their choices and values. In this context, this session will explore the potential of collaboration by different stakeholders to ensure a smart mix of measures that leads to a human rights-respecting approach in online content moderation for social media platforms. 

Key objectives of the session: 
  • Analyze current initiatives in the context of content moderation in relation to incitement to hatred and discrimination targeting people of African descent and ethnic and racial minorities on social media. 
  • Identify good practices and challenges, including a smart mix of measures to protect and respect human rights in the context of social media content moderation. 
  • Discuss concrete steps and actions that States, businesses, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders can and should take to implement the UNGPs for social media content moderation, and provide affected individuals and groups with effective access to remedy. 

Key discussion questions: 
  • What are the challenges for rights-respecting content moderation, especially in the Global South and in non-English speaking markets?  
  • How can social media companies mitigate potential adverse human rights impacts through rights-respecting content moderation and human rights due diligence processes?  
Moderators
avatar for Ulises Quero

Ulises Quero

Business, Land & Environment Programme Manager at the International Service for Human Rights(ISHR)
Speakers
avatar for Joseph Kibugu

Joseph Kibugu

Regional Manager Africa and Middle East, BHRRC
Joe Kibugu is the Africa & Middle East Regional Manager at Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. He has vast experience supporting actors including civil society organisations, governments and businesses to put human rights at the centre of business operations and prevent abuse... Read More →
avatar for Carmen Montserrat Rovalo Otero

Carmen Montserrat Rovalo Otero

Montserrat is a Mexican diplomat currently serving at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations in Geneva, a position she has held since 2021. In this capacity, she has been Mexico’s lead negotiator on business and human rights issues at the Human Rights Council, including... Read More →
avatar for Jalal Abukhater

Jalal Abukhater

Advocacy Manager, 7amleh - The Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media
avatar for Tara Fischbach

Tara Fischbach

Public Policy Manager for Community Engagement & Advocacy, Public Policy, Middle East & North Africa, Meta
Tara Fischbach is the Public Policy Manager for Community Engagement and Advocacy for the Middle East at Meta. She has worked in public policy, development and media with a strong background in research. She has experience working with government agencies, international NGOs, and... Read More →
Tuesday November 26, 2024 3:00pm - 4:20pm CET
Room XX

4:40pm CET

Enforcing effective remedy and a smart mix of measures
Tuesday November 26, 2024 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Session co-organized by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, IndustriALL, OECD Watch, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) & German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) & German Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)

Interpretation provided in English, Spanish and French.

Brief description of the session: 
The UNGPs emphasize that access to effective remedy for business-related human rights abuses should be enabled through a remedy ecosystem involving complementary State-based judicial mechanisms, State-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms, and non-State-based grievance mechanisms to ensure the best possible outcomes for rightsholders. Guiding Principle 25 lays out that States must take appropriate steps, through judicial, administrative, legislative and other means to ensure that those affected by business-related impacts have access to effective remedies. Furthermore, Guiding Principle 31 sets out the criteria of effectiveness for non-judicial grievance mechanisms to be effective. A key element of effective remedy is the centrality of rights holders and assurance of victims’ own satisfaction with the remedial mechanism and remedy provided.

This session will discuss different types of grievance mechanisms based on experiences from across regions, including state-based and non-state based mechanisms; those based on binding or non-binding regulations; and enforceable and non-enforceable mechanisms. Panelists and the audience will collectively evaluate whether they facilitate effective remedy for victims and reflect on the core strengths of the various approaches.

The session will identify the practices of remedial mechanisms necessary to ensure effective remedy and accountability for corporate impacts. The session will also consider how various paths to remedy can complement each other to give rights holders choice in obtaining a bouquet of remedies suited to the unique circumstances of their case.  

Key objectives of the session:
- Provide examples of different grievance mechanisms and cases of successful and unsuccessful remediation to highlight best and less good practice.
- Debate whether a smart mix of measures support an effective remedy for victims.
- Discuss how the nature of the mechanisms and of outcomes, including in terms of enforceability enable effective remedies for rights holders.
- Identify key objective elements needed to ensure victims can access effective remedies, based on practical cases.

Key questions : 
- What barriers to effective remedy hinder access through courts and how can these be overcome, including during development of new judicial paths under due diligence and similar legislation?
- What elements of internal or cross-company grievance mechanisms are key to ensure victims access to effective remedies?
- What benefits can non-judicial grievance mechanisms bring to facilitate access to effective remedies and upon which conditions?
- How should companies’ implementation of remedies be enforced and monitored?
- What can states do to overcome power imbalances between companies and vulnerable communities seeking remedies?

Background of the discussion:
Binding measures, such as laws, regulations, and judicial processes, can be essential for establishing a strong foundation for accountability, while accountability can also be established by voluntary measures (or grievance mechanisms) in a dialogue-based approach based on binding foundations, or accompanied with sanctions or a rigorous follow up. Indeed, decisions of NHRI, NCP or internal or cross-company grievance mechanisms can bring about significant outcomes for victims in terms of reparation, with victims at the centre. These voluntary mechanisms can be especially important in contexts where legal systems are slow, judicial mechanisms hardly accessible, giving rights holders alternative routes to remedy.

Key background materials
Enhancing the effectiveness of non-State-based grievance mechanisms, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Enhancing the effectiveness of State-based non-judicial mechanisms, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Enhancing the effectiveness of judicial mechanisms
Report on access to effective remedy for business-related human rights abuses (A/72/162), UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights



Speakers
avatar for Gilles Goedhart

Gilles Goedhart

Coordinator Mandatory Due Diligence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands
In the Foreign Service since 2012. I became involved with Business and Human Rights in 2014 when I joined the Human Rights Unit of my Ministry. I was in charge of the Dutch National Action Plan from 2014-2017. After a posting to our Embassy in Beijing, I returned to The Hague to become... Read More →
avatar for Damilola Olawuyi

Damilola Olawuyi

member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
Damilola S. Olawuyi is a Professor and UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. He is also the director of the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development at the Afe Babalola University... Read More →
avatar for Akihiro Ueda

Akihiro Ueda

Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights (JaCER)
Dr Akihiro Ueda has an extensive background in international human rights law and gender equality in practice. He began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he specialised in international human rights policy. He later moved to the United States, where he served as... Read More →
avatar for Mustapha A. Mahamah

Mustapha A. Mahamah

Legal Officer, Advocates for Community Alternatives
Mustapha is passionate Ghanaian lawyer and advocate for justice and Human rights. With a background in Social Work and Psychology, Mustapha chose a career in Law to expand his knowledge and ability to help the vulnerable fight for their rights. Currently a legal officer with ACA... Read More →
avatar for Christina Hajagos-Clausen

Christina Hajagos-Clausen

Textile and Garment Global Director, IndustriALL
avatar for Rosa Trejo
Tuesday November 26, 2024 4:40pm - 6:00pm CET
Room XX
 
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