Helping companies integrate the protection of business and human rights into their business strategies, with a particular focus on their operations and value chain. This is the goal of the Business & Human Rights Accelerator, promoted by the Italian Network of the UN Global Compact for the third consecutive year. The program involves 33 participating companies - 85% corporate and 15% SMEs - from various business sectors.
During the first local session of the training program—moderated by Oxfam Italia and supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO)—the focus was on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), outlining a clear and authoritative framework for the policies and processes companies should adopt to ensure full compliance.
The UNGPs are based on three main pillars:
I. Protect: States' obligation to protect individuals from human rights violations committed on their territory by third parties, including business enterprises.
II. Respect: Business enterprises have a responsibility to ensure respect for human rights, through due diligence processes, as well as by preventing and mitigating the negative impacts their activities may have on them.
III. Remedy: In the event of human rights violations, victims must be guaranteed access to legal remedies and complaint mechanisms.
Private Sector and Due Diligence: Concrete Action Points
Taking into account the values underlying the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, participants were then offered concrete action points for the private sector regarding the entire due diligence process and its first step: identifying actual and potential negative impacts on human rights.
Specifically, companies are encouraged to:
1. adopt a public commitment/policy, i.e., a declaration of intent expressing the company's commitment to respecting internationally recognized human rights. Adopting a policy is the foundation for embedding this responsibility throughout the organization. The policy must be developed by a cross-functional working group, informed by the input of professionals and subject matter experts, shared and approved by the company's top management, made publicly available, and supported by adequate training for all company personnel. A key step is its operational implementation, i.e., integration into company processes, monitoring, and periodic review.
2. when mapping risks, consider specific factors related to the countries in which they operate, their industry, and suppliers.
3. start by identifying the business areas where the risk of negative impacts on people is most significant, in order to determine where to conduct more in-depth due diligence, based on information from both internal sources (e.g., audits, grievance mechanisms) and external sources (e.g., NGO reports, articles) to the company.
Due diligence: changes for companies with recent regulatory modifications
A specific focus during the meeting was dedicate to the legislative update regarding the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), in light of the formal approval of the Omnibus I package. The regulation applies to large European Union companies (at least 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion in global net turnover, with a significant restriction compared to the criteria of the previous regulatory proposal) and to non-EU companies that generate turnover in the Union above the same threshold. Small and medium-sized enterprises are not directly subject to the obligation but may be involved as suppliers or subcontractors.
The directive introduces Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) obligations, specifically:
- Integrating due diligence into corporate policies
- Assessing human rights and environmental risks using a risk-based approach
- Stakeholder engagement
- Preventive and corrective measures, grievance mechanisms, monitoring, and reporting.
The role of the United Nations Global Compact
In a climate of crisis and uncertainty, including backlash on business and human rights, businesses are advised to continue to refer to the United Nations Guiding Principles, still the most comprehensive and authoritative framework on human rights for due diligence.
The UN Global Compact strategy 2026-2030 maintains indeed a high focus on human rights, which is a cross-cutting theme across the four priority areas of action: climate and nature, decent work and living wages, gender equality, and sustainable finance. The strategy also strengthens its focus on action, focusing on due diligence, transparency, and concrete progress, reported through the Communication on Progress (CoP), the reporting tool available to member companies.
Read also:
Omnibus I package: final EU green light for the directive
Image source: Lidia Montanari ph