Programme Overview

The idea of human rights is as simple as it is powerful: That all people have a right to be treated with dignity.

Businesses often impact the human rights of their employees and contract workers, workers in their supply chains, the communities around their operations and even the end users of their products or services. Whether directly or indirectly, they 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 operations, supply chains and beyond. Is your company able to know and show that it supports and respects the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and that it is not complicit in human rights abuses?

The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme activating companies participating in the UN Global Compact across industries and regions. The objective is to help businesses swiftly move from commitment to action on human rights and labour rights through establishing an ongoing human rights due diligence process.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

  • How to identify your responsibilities in respecting human rights and labour rights, expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
  • How to establish an ongoing human rights due diligence process in line with international standards
  • How to report and communicate on your human rights due diligence journey, including through the Communication on Progress, the annual public disclosure requirement for all UN Global Compact participants

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN

  • An understanding of where your company is on their human rights journey
  • An assessment of actual and potential adverse human rights impacts and the ability to prioritize action
  • The ability to mitigate your human rights impacts, including grievance mechanisms and remedy
  • Ways to engage stakeholders on business impacts
  • An action plan to advance human rights in your company and beyond
  • A network of peers, UN partners and experts to support your human rights journey and work collectively to tackle persistent barriers to human rights due diligence
  • A certificate demonstrating completion of programme

Stage 1

Participants understand the Human Rights and Labour Principles of the UN Global Compact, UN Guiding Principles and the human rights due diligence process and determine where they are on their human rights journey.

  1. Global kick-off webinar
  2. E-learning course on “How companies can operationalize the UN Guiding Principles, Module 1”
  3. Global deep dive session on UNGP core concepts, human rights due diligence and facilitation of the Responsibility to Respect Human Rights’ gap analysis tool
  4. Local Network facilitated peer-learning session
  5. Participant working session to complete the UNGP gap analysis tool

Stage 2

Participants scope the company value chain and identify potential impacts.

  1. E-learning course on “How companies can operationalize the UN Guiding Principles, Module 2″
  2. Global deep dive session on understanding salient human rights, identifying risk factors, where to find risk information and how to map the value chain and determine focus areas
  3. Local Network facilitated peer-learning session
  4. Participant working session to complete value chain mapping tool and risk identification matrix

Stage 3

Participants prioritize salient human rights impacts and understand their involvement with those impacts.

  1. E-learning course on “How companies can operationalize the UN Guiding Principles, Module 3”
  2. Global deep dive session on prioritizing potential impacts, understanding severity and likelihood and how to plot impacts on the risk heat map
  3. Local Network facilitated peer learning session
  4. Participant working session on completing the risk heatmap

Stage 4

Participants start developing specific actions and related metrics.

  1. Global deep dive session on developing an appropriate action plan based on at least one salient impact identified with articulation of desired outcomes and high-level metrics
  2. Local Network facilitated peer-learning session
  3. Participant working session on completion of action plan for one salient impact, including metrics

Stage 5

Participants understand how to effectively engage affected stakeholders and communicate their impacts.

  1. Global deep dive session on communicating with a range of stakeholders, both within and external to the business and examine the components of effective communication, including formal disclosure processes
  2. Local Network facilitated peer learning session
  3. Participant working session on starting a communication plan and stakeholder engagement plan

Stage 6

Participants understand remedy and grievance mechanisms.

  1. E-learning course on “How companies can operationalize the UN Guiding Principles, Module 4”
  2. Global deep dive session on the different types of remedy and pathways for providing remedy including operational level grievance mechanisms that support the broader hrdd process
  3. Local Network facilitated peer learning session including best practice case studies
  4. Participant working session to complete the grievance gap analysis and develop a remedy plan

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Timeline

Applications Open:
6 September 2023		 Application Deadline:
22 December 2023 		 Accelerator Begins:
February 2024
APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN