UNIGE to Launch Business Center to Sensitize Industry on Human Rights

The University of Geneva
(UNIGE)will launch the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights (GCBHR) to
sensitize businesses about pressing human rights challenges and to train future
leaders to develop and integrate human rights standards in their respective
industry contexts. The launch will take place on November 25, 2019.
The GCBHR collaborates with the
NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights to promote human rights in
business education through the Global Network of Business Schools for Human Rights.
The law of supply and demand
and the pursuit of the lowest possible production cost often lead to extremely
abusive working conditions for workers in production facilities. However, in
recent years, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the production
conditions of the goods and services that they purchase. As a result, human
rights violations by brand companies, can cause considerable pressure on companies
to improve their practices. In Switzerland, the Responsible Business Initiative
is currently discussed in the Swiss Parliament.
The initiative aims to make
human rights due diligence obligatory for Swiss companies of a certain size. To
support companies in the implementation process of human rights due diligence,
the Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM) has set up the Geneva
Center for Business and Human Rights (GCBHR), whose official launch will take
place on November 25th. “We want to show that it is not only the reputation of
companies that is at stake, but that respect for human rights also offers
opportunities”, explains Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, Director of the
Centre. “For example, if a company cares about the working conditions of
employees, they will stay longer in their jobs and develop more skills, which will
have a positive impact on product quality.”
One of the major challenges is
to put into practice the high level guiding documents for corporations, like
the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. These require further
operationalization in specific industry contexts. Initially, the Centre will
work with companies in the financial services, commodity trading, and the
luxury good sector in Switzerland. This initiative, which is unprecedented in
Europe, could help shaping UNIGE’s managerial studies. For companies in
consumer-facing industries, respecting human rights in their business
operations is particularly important. “Human rights are universal and we want
the Center to make a contribution to establishing industry-specific standards
that can become the level playing field for corporations that operate
globally”, says Dorothée Baumann-Pauly.
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