Events

Panel Discussion on "The EU Due Diligence Initiative: Promises, Possibilities and Pitfalls" - 1 July 2020
In the context of the Toogdag 2020, the business and human rights working group hosted a panel discussing the European Commissioner for Justice's recent commitment to new legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence in EU company supply chains. Working group chair Chiara Macchi (Wageningen University) introduced the topic and moderated the session. Lise Smit (British Institute of International and Comparative Law) introduced the background to the initiative, including her work with BIICL and the EU Commission report. Ekaterina Aristova (Oxford University) discussed the broader trend towards mandatory due diligence and what this might mean for the EU initiative. Nicolas Bueno (University of Zurich) provided insights into parallel national initiatives and how the pertains to the EU initiative. The panel closed with a Q&A session. Please see below for presentations with recordings from the panel. 

Lise Smit's Presentation 

Ekaterina Aristova's Presentation

Nicolas Bueno's Presentation

Q&A Session

NLNBHR Workshop “The Gender Dimension of Business and Human Rights” - 9 October 2019
The Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research’s working group on business and human rights (@NLNBHR) recently held a workshop on the Gender Dimension of Business and Human Rights, under the auspices of the Asser Institute in The Hague. While it has long been recognised that corporate-related human rights harms affect men and women differently, there has been little attention paid to the gender dimensions within business and human rights scholarship and practice. This workshop sought to bring scholars together to provide an overview of the ‘state of the art’ within business and human rights in relation to gender issues and to facilitate a constructive dialogue around potential spaces for collaboration and paths forward.
The workshop was divided into three sessions, each followed by a question and answer session with the audience. The first session was an introductory presentation delivered by Professor Surya Deva (City University of Hong Kong and member of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (UNWG)). He discussed how we unpack ‘gender’, the UNWG report on applying a gender lens to the UNGPs, and suggestions for potential paths forward. The second session sought to provide an overview of the current debate and state of research on the gender dimension of business and human rights. The speakers were Marian Ingrams from OECD Watch/ SOMO, Nadia Bernaz from the University of Wageningen, and Elin Wrzoncki from the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The panel was moderated by Antoine Duval from the Asser Institute. The goal of the third session was to discuss existing and developing standards and instruments in the business and human rights field from a gender perspective, to understand what shortcomings and good practices are, and to analyse the potential of the new draft treaty to account for a gender perspective on business and human rights. The panel included Marian Ingrams, Kelly Groen from ActionAid, and Tara van Ho from the University of Essex. We would like to thank all speakers for their very relevant contributions to the workshop. A more elaborate report on the discussions and outcomes of the workshop can be found here.

FIFA and Human Rights Conference - 8 May 2019
NNHRR members Antoine Duval (Senior researcher at the Asser Institue and member of the Business and Human Rights Working Group) and Daniela Heerdt (chair of the Business and Human Rights Working Group) organised a conference on FIFA and human rights, discussing the impacts, policies, and responsibilities FIFA has with regard to human rights. The conference took place on May 8th at the Asser Institute in The Hague. Participation is free for NNHRR members. 

PhD Workshop - 20 March 2019
On March 20th, the Business and Human Rights Working Group of the NNHRR organised a workshop for PhD researchers in the business and human rights field, supported by the network. A total of four business and human rights-related PhD projects were presented and discussed by other PhDs and senior colleagues from the field. Ben Grama presented his PhD project on the privatisation of remedy and corporate-based grievance mechanisms. Casilda Zarauz discussed a chapter from her research on extraterritorial human rights protection of indigenous people in the context of the right to consultation. Daniela Heerdt presented her work on shared responsibility as part of her PhD project on the establishment of responsibility for human rights violations that occur in the context of organising and staging mega-sporting events. Finally, Philipp Wesche presented his draft article on violence against business and human rights-defenders in Columbia. All presenters received valuable feedback and comments to revise and improve their drafts to continue their PhD journey.