Amfori BSCI lead 2021 UN South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights

Facilitator: amfori – Natasha Majumdar, amfori Network Representative, India 

2021 UN South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights

Background

The Inaugural UN South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights – held in New Delhi, India, on 14-15 March 2019 – brought together over 200 participants representing over 90 organisations from 16 countries. This regional forum was aimed at raising awareness about business and human rights issues in South Asia and facilitating the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), including through national action plans. Building on the success of the Inaugural UN South Asia Forum, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (UNWG) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) is organising the 2nd UN South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights on 17-19 March 2021.

The UNWG, in collaboration with other partners, has been promoting the effective dissemination and implementation of the UNGPs in different world regions, including by organising regional events to foster races to the top. The annual South Asia Forum is part of this wider engagement strategy. The Forum aims to facilitate a robust and multi-stakeholder dialogue which will foster joint action to prevent, mitigate and remediate business-related human rights abuses and advance decent work in South Asia. This South Asia Forum will also inform the UNWG’s project ‘Business and human rights: towards a decade of global implementation', which is taking stock of practice to date, identifying gaps and challenges, and developing a vision and roadmap for scaling up implementation of the UNGPs over the course of the next decade.

Objectives

To raise awareness and build the capacity of various stakeholders around business and human rights standards, including the UNGPs and the ILO MNE Declaration;

To take stock of the key challenges, opportunities and progress made in South Asia on the business and human rights agenda, including in implementing the UNGPs by developing national action plans and encouraging business to conduct human rights due diligence;

To explore linkages between the business and human rights agenda and the 2030 Agenda; and

To encourage peer-learning amongst governments, national employers’ organizations, trade unions, national human rights institutions (NHRIs), businesses, and civil society organisations (CSOs) in South Asia, facilitating the regional exchange of good practices in implementing the UNGPs and the ILO MNE Declaration and contributing to achieving the SDGs.