International businesses suggest unified corporate responsibility framework

London, Dec. 9, 2004 – The three-year Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR) reached its mid-way stage today when the ten leading companies involved launched a report detailing their progress to date in defining the role of business in human rights, saying that the UN Norms on Human Rights could be a starting position for developing a single universal corporate responsibility framework.

The 2004 report, launched today at The 2004 International Business and Human Rights Seminar (www.bhrseminar.org) in London, detailed the progress to date in defining the role of business in human rights, highlighting the following key areas:

• A single universal framework for corporate responsibility based on internationally recognized human rights standards;
• The ‘United Nations Norms on the Responsibilities of Trans-national Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights’ (the Norms) provide a useful starting place for developing such a framework;
• A joint submission was sent by all ten companies to the United Nations in September 2004 to support the work of the United Nations in this regard;
• The companies have worked both collectively and individually in their own sectors during 2004 to find ways of strengthening practical applications of human rights in diverse business environments. The work is co-ordinated by ‘Respect Europe’ based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The ten BLIHR member companies reporting their progress are: ABB, Barclays PLC, Gap Inc., Hewlett Packard, MTV Networks Europe, National Grid Transco, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Statoil and The Body Shop International.

The 2004 International Business and Human Rights Seminar is being chaired by Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is currently Executive Director of ‘Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative’ and Chair of the ‘Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights’ (BLIHR).

Speakers at this year’s Seminar include senior representatives from: ABB, Barclays, British Government, International Finance Corporation (World Bank), F&C Asset Management, Global Reporting Initiative, MTV National Grid Transco, Networks Europe, The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, The United Nations, Trades Union Congress and Transparency International. The panels are chaired by Robert Davies (Executive Director, Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum), Chris Marsden (Chair, UK Amnesty International Business Group) and Mary Robinson.

Mary Robinson states: “The companies in the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR) acknowledge that the protection of human rights has always required a combination of voluntary and mandatory initiatives and they indicate the importance of clarifying the boundaries of business responsibilities for human rights. I believe the BLIHR submission to the United Nations will make an important contribution to the discussions of the Norms next year by member governments of the Commission on Human Rights.”

The ten participating companies state: “We, as BLIHR members, recognise that our concrete practical actions to align and raise standards represent small actions against scale of human rights abuses around the world. But we firmly believe that developing best practice tools and ‘road-testing’ the Norms in a pragmatic manner can contribute to advancing human rights as being central to the concept of business responsibility. We realise that if the majority of companies around the world do not also engage in such actions, there will be increasing calls for more regulation.”

The 2004 Seminar will also hear from some of the ‘road-testing’ work on human rights carried out from across specific sectors and involving a wider range of companies in Europe, North America and increasingly in South America, Africa and Asia.
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