Thursday, 17 December 2015
The Global Compact Network Australia (GCNA) and the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) have published a summary of a jointly convened webinar focused on business and human rights in ASEAN and China. The discussion explored the human rights context and challenges for multinational companies operating in those geographies.
Speakers included representatives from GCNA, GBI, the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN and Peking University International Law Institute, as well as business representatives from ABB and Flextronics.
Key messages emerging from the webinar included that:
- Business and human rights is gaining attention and momentum in both ASEAN and China.
- The space to talk about human rights amongst business colleagues in ASEAN and China had changed.
- The business case for respecting human rights is emerging and becoming clearer to companies in ASEAN and China.
- As part of understanding human rights risks and impacts in specific geographies, companies should engage with local stakeholders and can use NGOs as interlocutors.
- There is a wealth of experience and practices that already exist, and so companies are not starting from scratch.
- There is a clear need for capacity building both within and amongst companies.