Conference “Business and human rights”

Invitation to the conference « Business & human rights »

organised by UEL and INDR in partnership with the Ministry of the Economy and its National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

 22nd October 2019 at the Chamber of Commerce, Luxembourg-Kirchberg at 5 pm

The globalisation and intensification of interactions between businesses and states, individuals, civil society and customers, have strongly enhanced the responsibility of companies, especially international ones, to protect human rights by reducing or eliminating their negative impacts in economic, social and environmental terms, and by assuring access to remedy. The conference will present the international and national contexts of the issue.

Yet, how can companies tackle this issue?

A panel of economic actors will debate on the respect of human rights within companies, the implementation of a due diligence policy, the means put into place, the remedies in case of incidents, the access to grievance and remedy mechanisms, the companies’ commitment to meeting their responsibilities, how to address the problems encountered etc. Best practices will be helpful to other companies or any stakeholders with an interest in this matter.

Programme

Participants :

• Claude Lanners, Head of Group Strategic Purchasing, CERATIZIT Luxembourg
• Hakan Lucius, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Civil Society Division, European Investment Bank
• Jean-François Orban, CEO, Maâ-oui!
• Christian Schuller, National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, Ministry of Economy
• Michel Wurth, Chairman of the Board, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg

Modération :

• Norman Fisch, Secretary general of INDR

Honorary guests will have the opportunity to present their role and position in business and human rights :

• Catia De Oliveira Goncalves – Direction des Relations économiques internationales du Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes
• Marie-Anne Marx – Directrice adjointe, Direction de la coopération au développement et de l’action humanitaire
• Me François Prum – Union internationale des Avocats
• Anne-Catherine Richard – Responsable des partenariats, UNICEF-Luxembourg
• Fabienne Rossler – Secrétaire générale, Commission Consultative des droits de l’homme (CCDH)
• Paul Schmit – Ambassadeur – Diplomatie économique, Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes
• Jean-Louis Zeien – Président de Fairtrade Luxembourg, Justice et Paix, et porte-parole de l’Initiative pour un devoir de vigilance

Practical information :

Working languages will be English and French. Simultaneous translation will be provided in both languages.

Participation is free of charge but registration is compulsory via the form further below

Chambre de Commerce :
7, rue Alcide de Gasperi
L-1615 Luxembourg-Kirchberg

Parking spaces available

Bus lines 8, 20, tram (arrêt Coque)

Contact : indr@indr.lu

Please note that by participating to this event, you agree to the broadcast and posting of photos that may be used for communication purposes.

Please download the programme here

Business & Human Rights – Commitment of UEL and INDR

The conference is part of the concrete actions set by the first National Action Plan (NAP)* for the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights 2018-2019, initiated by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and to which UEL and INDR have actively contributed. It follows a first conference held by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on 7 June 2019.

For UEL and INDR, the priority is to raise the awareness of companies in order to give them the tools to recognise the expectations in this regard but also seize the opportunities that compliance with the UN Guiding Principles may present in terms of competitiveness, risk management, and in particular reputational risk. The Guiding Principles do not impose legally binding obligations for companies, the reasonable due diligence put forward in the national action plan remains a voluntary approach. In order, however, to engage businesses in the pursuit of human rights diligence, UEL and INDR support company specific training initiatives. From a normative perspective the CSR labelling “Entreprise Responsable” or Responsible Company (CSR strategy, governance, social, environment), granted by INDR and supported by UEL, includes the human rights dimension. Companies are encouraged to formalise their approach through a self-check with the ESR Guide (www.esr.lu).

*A second NAP has been published in January 2020.