High-level Presentation of the future IOE Centre on Human Rights and Responsible Business Conduct

Virtual public presentation with the participation of the ILO Director-General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday, 12 December 2022.

Watch it here!

Organised by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) together with the German Federal Foreign Office, this high-level event brings together global leaders from the UN and business, including Mr Gilbert F. Houngbo, ILO Director-General, Mr Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a high-level State representative of the German Foreign Office. The Centre aims to shape policies and debates related to business and human rights and promote corporate respect for human rights.

Enterprises are under growing pressure to run their businesses in alignment with internationally recognised principles and standards on human rights. New mandatory human rights due diligence regulations and associated impacts are adding an additional layer of complexity over the already extensive requirements for companies. Against this backdrop, companies of all sizes face important challenges trying to meet all these requirements, in particular small and medium enterprises and those with operations and/or business partners in countries with complex social/environmental conflicts and state weaknesses.

Due to IOE’s global network of 151 members in over 140 countries, the new IOE Centre of Excellence will be able to rely on its powerful membership of national and local employer organisations to provide the most reliable and up-to-date data for companies on their corporate responsibility to respect human rights and associated risks. IOE’s Centre of Excellence will go beyond a superficial overview/risk assessment and will be able to support both foreign and national companies of all sizes on business and human rights issues in producing countries by engaging directly with IOE’s member business organisations.

Find attached in the "Resources" section:

• The draft concept note and agenda of the event
• The two-pager presentation document of the IOE Centre on Human Rights and RBC.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Matthias Thorns (thorns(at)ioe-emp.com) or Jason Pegat-Toquet (pegat-toquet(at)ioe-emp.com) should you have any questions.