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.
Directly or indirectly, businesses often impact the human rights of their employees and contract workers, workers in their supply chains, the communities around their operations and the end users of their products or services. Businesses 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 their operations, supply chains and beyond.
The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme designed to help companies participating in the UN Global Compact to turn their commitment to human rights and labour rights into action. By the end of the programme, you will have a practical Action Plan to take forward your ambitions.
Your Accelerator Journey
Stage 1
Understand the UNGC Human Rights and Labour Principles, UN Guiding Principles & the human rights due diligence process and determine where you are on your 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.
Programme schedule & costs
Registration: 8 September 2026 - 30 November 2026
Effort: 50 hours (over the 6-month period)
Programme duration: February to July 2027
Language: English
Costs: free of charge for participants of the UN Global Compact Network Switzerland & Liechtenstein
Your Accelerator Journey
Stage 1:
Build your foundation and assess your starting point
Build a foundational understanding of the UN Guiding Principles and human rights due diligence through a global opening session, an on-demand course and a local welcome session.
Stage 2:
Focus risks, prioritization and taking action
Identify and prioritize salient human rights risks, develop actions and metrics, and learn how to engage affected stakeholders, through three global virtual workshops.
Stage 3:
Regional and in-country peer-learning
Exchange experiences and explore regional priorities, remedy and grievance mechanisms, through in-country sessions and a regional peer-learning session.
Stage 4:
Complete your Action Plan and prepare to implement
Finalize your Action Plan and prepare for implementation, through at least two local sessions.
What you will learn
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How to identify your responsibilities in respecting human rights and labour rights, expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
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How to establish an ongoing human rights due diligence process in line with international standards
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How to prepare organizations for evolving human rights due diligence legislation that is aligned with international standards
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How to report and communicate on your human rights due diligence outcomes, including through the Communication on Progress, the annual public disclosure requirement for all UN Global Compact participants
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How to connect human rights and the human rights due diligence process with social sustainability initiatives
What previous participants say
Gerardo Garcia Martinez
Corporate Sustainability & Social Impact Manager
"I found the material and discussions in the Business & Human Rights Accelerator program very useful. Since then, we've made significant progress at GF. We assessed our operations for human rights risks for the first time and expanded this year to include upstream and downstream activities, aligning with our double materiality assessment. We also launched a new Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) process based on international conventions and standards to meet emerging regulations and transparency requirements."
Eligibilty
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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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Committed to developing an Action Plan to help address the human rights risks identified and prioritized
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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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Kontaktperson
Tabea Böglin
Programmes Manager Social Sustainability, ESG Reporting and Regulations