Agenda Item 4: Report of the Forum on Business and Human Rights A/HRC/41/49

General Debate

Statement by: International-Lawyers.Org and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ

3 July 2019

Thank you, Mr. President.

International-Lawyers.org and the Geneva International Center for Justice thank the Working Group on Business and Human Rights for their report on last year’s Forum.

However, firstly, the report did not reflect much discussion on discrimination against women already in the workforce. Often, female employees are subjected to sexism that is embedded into and normalized by our vernacular and practice. To this end, we advocate for mandatory Human Resources trainings, for codified best practice in mannerisms and speech, and for the abolition of disrespectful treatment toward women in the workforce.

Secondly, the Forum report highlights the role of investors in encouraging companies to respect human rights. But this role should extend not just to existing companies, but also to those in the making. We advocate for making it a compulsory prerequisite for startups to have a comprehensive human rights plan, adhering to the UNGPs or a future legally binding instrument, in order to receive capital.

Finally, we call on the Working Group to reinforce and codify the fact that businesses don’t just have a crucial role in upholding human rights in their own activities and supply chains, as in the UNGPs, but also in society at large. The role of businesses in social welfare no longer ends with periodic CSR or charity work – it lies in the constant and continuous upholding of society’s fundamental human rights.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Justice, Human rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice