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11 December 2023
Our new Research Brief Parameters for a Global Helpdesk on Business and Human Rights, published with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, discusses the proposal to establish a global helpdesk on business and human rights at the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The author – Stefania Di Stefano, Project Officer at our Geneva Human Rights Platform – unpacks the potential of this initiative, but also the risks and challenges that it may face.
‘The helpdesk proposal was first articulated by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in its Roadmap for the Next Decade of Business and Human Rights. While an interesting capacity-building measure to ensure implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, its efficiency and credibility will rely on a number of parameters that I address in my paper’ underlines Stefania Di Stefano.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy
The paper examines the main risks and challenges related to the establishment of this helpdesk – its positioning, audience, complementarity with regional and national initiatives, ‘cosmetic compliance’, funding, human resources and information management – and makes proposals to address them.
‘By responding to these questions, we will ensure that, if established, this helpdesk will significantly contribute to building business capacity on UNGPs’ implementation and will respond to their requests for guidance in human rights implementation’ explains Stefania Di Stefano.
This paper was released during the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights and will be discussed in early 2024 at an event co-organized between our Geneva Human Rights Platform and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
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Geneva Academy
The Geneva Academy’s Board has been recomposed with Professor Christian Bovet as the new president, who was recently welcomed at Villa Moynier by the executive committee.
Training
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
This executive course, tailored for Geneva-based diplomats and co-organized with the support of the Swiss FDFA, addresses the negotiation practices at the multilateral level, by taking the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council as an example of formal and informal negotiation and decision-making processes by an international intergovernmental body.
Project
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
Project
The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.
Publication
Geneva Academy
