There is little focus on how large international companies can be players in the implementation of Human Rights witin the countries they operate. Companies are big global actors and work along side host states. They often operate in counties with weak governance structure and bad human rights records. There is an increasing trend that companies take more responsibility for Human Rights within their operational area of influence. There is also pressure from the public and media. International companies are for the most part perceived as only caring about profit and shareholder value will no doubt be focused on in the future as well. From my experience, I can envisage a picture where companies become more responsible .
I work with human rights and CSR issues within an international company. I hope, during some of my coming posts, that I will be able to give some insights into how many commercial companies now focus on Human Rightsdisciplines.
Increasingly international human rights are elements in contracts with other partners. This is important because it forms the future relationship between the parties. These partners may be state owned or private companies. Professional companies try to include references to - for example - the UN Compact 10 Principles, which include labour and other basic right to be respected in the operation. This serves to "push" and influence partners towards better human rights standards. An example of this could be resettlement issues, where international standards include stakeholder dialogue, fair compensation and grievance mechanisms for the affected local population.
All international companies should strive to be good actors in their communities. In a fragile setting with poverty and bad infrastructure, acting within a good value system and putting human rights at the forefront, serves to mitigate operational risks and not the least being a respected contributor to the community. That is good business!
Kjerstin
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