Responsible business

Institutions discuss application of human rights principles to Brazilian companies

The Thematic Group on Human Rights and Labor of the Global Compact Network Brazil held the second edition of the Human Rights Due Diligence Training Course on August 19. The purpose of the course was to develop strategies to introduce human rights practices into the routines of Brazilian companies.

The event took place at the headquarters of the Regional Administration Council in São Paulo and was attended by representatives of 56 institutions. It is one of the initiatives organized by the Thematic Group on Human Rights and Labor, considering the recommendations of the 2015 Report of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

According to Caio Borges, coordinator of the Business and Human Rights program at Conectas, addressing violations in the production chains will benefit the whole value chain of companies, since the line between accountability and collusion is very tenuous. “It is very clear from the times in which we are living in Brazil and the world that we need to think about the kind of society we are building and the kind of relationship that needs to be established between the State, society and the market,” he said.

The training addressed the report produced in 2015 by the UN Working Group, of which Conectas is a member together with another 40 companies and organizations. The report presents various cases of human rights violations committed by companies and also identifies possible solutions, which were studied in depth during the meeting and transformed into actions.