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Business and Human Rights: a resource website |
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Getting started: 25 items to read for an introduction |
See also the following sections of this website:
General overview of subject:
1. Business & Human Rights: A geography of corporate risk - Amnesty International and The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) have collaborated to produce a series of seven detailed world maps, which depict where human rights abuses and violations exist and where leading North American and European multinational companies are at risk of being associated with them. The suite of maps covers the extractive, food and beverages, pharmaceutical and chemical, infrastructure and utilities, heavy manufacturing and defence, and IT Hardware and telecommunications sectors. (Amnesty International UK, and Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, Feb. 2002)2. 28 January Statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [about globalisation, business and human rights, and the UN Global Compact]: Address to the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (United Nations, 28 Jan. 2001)
3. Building Relationships That Make a Difference (speech by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at Business for Social Responsibility conference, 3 Nov. 1999)
4. Business and Human Rights -- The Bottom Line (commentary by Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch, Jan. 1999)
5. Business and Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Discussion Held at Harvard Law School in December 1997 (organised by Harvard Law School Human Rights Program, and Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)
6. Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change (web version: Christopher Avery, Nov. 1999; paper version: Christopher Avery/Amnesty International UK Section, Feb. 2000)
7. Human rights -- is it any of your business? [A management primer] (Amnesty International UK Business Group / Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, Apr. 2000)
8. Topic Overviews for Human Rights (Business for Social Responsibility)
9. The New Corporate Challenge: Globalization requires companies to do more than seek higher profits (Sir Geoffrey Chandler, Chair of Amnesty International UK Business Group, Time, 1 Feb. 1999)
10. Business and Human Rights: A Management Primer (Shell, 1998)
11. Why Human Rights Should Matter to the Business World (Pierre Sane, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, Earth Times News, 8 Jan. 2001)
12. Danish Center for Human Rights - Human Rights & Business project
13. Toolkit: Human Rights - Overview (Business in the Community)
(for further reading, see "General business & human rights" section of this website)
Security issues / Conflict zones:
13. The Business of Peace: The Private Sector as a Partner in Conflict Prevention and Resolution (Jane Nelson/ Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum [now International Business Leaders Forum], International Alert, Council on Economic Priorities, 2000)
(for further reading, see "Security issues / Conflict zones" section of this website)
Labour issues:
14. Your Voice at Work [first global report released under ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work] (International Labour Organization, May 2000)
Pioneering ILO Global report calls for more widespread respect for rights at work (press release, International Labour Organization, 25 May 2000)
(for further reading, see "Labour issues: General" section of this website)
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:
15. What are Economic and Social Rights? (Center for Economic and Social Rights)
16. Why do Economic and Social Rights Matter? (Center for Economic and Social Rights)
17. Five Examples of Economic and Social Rights (Center for Economic and Social Rights)
18. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Guide to the Legal Framework (Center for Economic & Social Rights, Jan. 2000)
(for further reading, see sections of this website entitled "Linking development and human rights" and "Poverty / Development / Economic, social & cultural rights".)
Linking development and human rights:
19. Poverty is a Denial of Human Rights (press release, Human Development and Human Rights Symposium, symposium sponsored by UNDP, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, Oct. 1998)
(for further reading, see sections of this website entitled "Linking development and human rights" and "Poverty / Development / Economic, social & cultural rights".)
Why environmental issues are human rights issues:
20. Environmental harm as a human rights violation: Forging new links (Laura Ziemer, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, 1997)
(for further reading, see sections of this website entitled "Why environmental issues are human rights issues" and "Environment & human rights"
21. General Overall Principles of Independent Monitoring, in "Ensuring Monitoring is Not Coopted" (Elaine Bernard, Harvard Trade Union Program, 1997)
(for further reading, see "Monitoring" section of this website)
Legal accountability of companies:
22. Beyond voluntarism: Developing international legal accountability for companies in relation to human rights (David Petrasek, International Council on Human Rights Policy, March 2001)
23. Beyond Voluntarism: Human rights and the developing international legal obligations of companies [full report, and summary] (International Council on Human Rights Policy, Jan. 2002)
(for further reading, see "Legal accountability" section of this website)
United Nations draft human rights principles for business:
24. United Nations draft human rights principles for business: Human Rights Principles and Responsibilities for Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises (Working group on the working methods and activities of transnational corporations, U.N. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Feb. 2002 for discussion in July/Aug. 2002):
(for further reading, see "UN Draft Human Rights Principles for Business / UN Working Group on Transnational Corporations" section of this website)