BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS ACCELERATOR
The idea of human rights is as simple as it is powerful: That all people have a right to be treated with dignity.
Businesses often impact the human rights of their employees and contract workers, workers in their supply chains, the communities around their operations and even the end users of their products or services. Whether directly or indirectly, they impact virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights.
As a result, companies have both a responsibility and an opportunity to advance human rights across operations, supply chains and beyond.
The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme activating companies of the UN Global Compact across industries and regions to move from commitment to action on human rights and labour rights. Through a series of e-learning courses, deep dive, peer-learning and working sessions, you will identify salient human rights impacts, establish an ongoing due diligence process and develop an actionable plan that will empower your company to advance its human rights journey.
Stage 1
Participants understand the Human Rights and Labour Principles of the UN Global Compact, UN Guiding Principles and the human rights due diligence process and determine where they are on their human rights journey.
Stage 2
Participants scope the company value chain and identify potential impacts.
Stage 3
Participants prioritize salient human rights impacts and understand their involvement with those impacts.
Stage 4
Participants start developing specific actions and related metrics.
Stage 5
Participants understand how to effectively engage affected stakeholders and communicate their impacts.
Stage 6
Participants understand remedy and grievance mechanisms.
Murugan Subramanian
Senior Manager Third Party Labour Rights
"It was a great programme with theoretical orientations and practical examples. It helped me to look into human rights as a holistic topic for the organization and how to drive this important topic across the organization."
Programme schedule & costs
Registration: September 6 to December 15, 2023
Programme duration: February to July 2024
Effort: 50 hours (over the 6-month period)
Language: English
Costs: free of charge for participants of the UN Global Compact Network Switzerland & Liechtenstein
Read more here
Eligibilty
In order to take part, companies are required to meet the following criteria:
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Be a participant of the UN Global Compact Network Switzerland & Liechtenstein or willing to join
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Willing to identify its human rights impacts and scope a core area of its value chain for further focus
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Able to appoint
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Two representatives to participate in Accelerator activities and peer-learning sessions (in order to ensure that at least one representative can attend the facilitated sessions)
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An executive-level representative to follow Accelerator developments, provide internal support and participate in high-level events
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Benefits
The Accelerator will empower you to:
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Identify and assess your company’s actual or potential adverse human rights impacts
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Learn how to integrate those findings across processes and take appropriate action
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Track the effectiveness of measures and processes to know if they are working
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Communicate how impacts are being addressed and show stakeholders that your company is taking action and seeing results
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Build a network of peers, UN partners and experts to support your human rights journey and work collectively to tackle persistent barriers to implementing an effective human rights due diligence process
The Business & Human Rights Accelerator will be realised in collaboration with Shift.
