Geneva Academy
5 February 2019
At our consultation hosted for the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Business and Human Rights (WG), around 40 participants – academics, representatives of international organizations, members of UN treaty bodies, the private sector, business associations and civil society – discussed key issues and challenges related to the application of a ‘gender lens’ to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles).
‘This consultation will feed into the work of the WG, which is currently developing guidance on applying a gender lens to the UN Guiding Principles. A guidance document will be presented by the WG in its June 2019 report to the UN Human Rights Council’ explains Felix Kirchmeier, Coordinator of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.
Participants focused on all aspects of the UNGPs – the state obligation to protect, the business responsibility to respect and access to remedy – to integrate a gender-sensitive and gender-responsive framework in business activities.
‘We both discussed obligations and responsibilities of states and businesses on issues like gender integration in corporate policy commitments, gender-sensitive remediation, how to respond to discriminatory laws, policies, norms and practices, or gender-responsive adjudication of disputes by courts or non-judicial mechanisms’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier.
The consultation was also the occasion to present our new publication Responsive Due Diligence for Business Actors: Human Rights-Based Approaches and discuss its main recommendations.
‘Surya Deva, Chair of the WG, welcomed the publication as it provides in-depth analysis on one of the areas to be covered by the WG, which is the question of gender-responsive due diligence’ explains Felix Kirchmeier.
This project aims to support the WG’s consultation process to apply a ‘gender lens’ to the UN Guiding Principles and thus contribute the promotion and protection of human rights and gender equality in relation to the business sector via research on international human rights law and policies related to gender equality guarantees and their application to business activities.
Additionally, it allows the Geneva Academy to host an international conference in Geneva to help the WG finalize its process of global consultations.
Axel Fassio/CIFOR-ICRAF
The project aims at implementing the rights of peasants in 10 countries of the Global South: Philippines, India Nepal, Kenya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Bolivia and Mexico.
UNIDO
Our new Working Paper examines existing mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels for holding states accountable for their performance in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Francisco Proner / Farpa/ CIDH
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, aims at presenting the institutions and procedures in charge of the implementation of international human rights law.
ICRC
This short course, which can be followed in Geneva or online, will provide participants with an introduction to substantive human rights law. It will start with an introduction to the nature and sources of international human rights law and its place in the international legal system. The course will then provide a presentation of the main principles applicable to substantive rights (jurisdiction, obligation and limitations).
kris krüg
We are a partner of the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, housed at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre, which aims to map and analyse the human rights challenges and opportunities presented by the use of big data and associated technologies. It notably examines whether fundamental human rights concepts and approaches need to be updated and adapted to meet the new realities of the digital age.
Adam Cohn
This research project, aimed via the drafting of a practitioners’ guide on human rights and countering corruption, to clarify the conceptual relationship between human rights, good governance and anticorruption, demonstrate the negative impact of corruption on human rights and provide guidance and make practical recommendations for effectively using the UN human rights system in anti-corruption efforts.