Business and Human Rights Workshop

Dates for live sessionsJuly 16th, 23rd, 30th from 8:30am-11:30am ET 

Overview: This three-part workshop organized by ISHR and Rights CoLab focuses on how corporations impact human rights and how they can manage those impacts. Through group exercises based on real-world cases, workshop participants will gain exposure to human rights practice within a company, including: human rights impact assessments, risk management, internal and external communication, stakeholder engagement and collaborative standard-setting through multi-stakeholder initiatives. It aims to replicate real-world conditions by modeling techniques of stakeholder engagement and dialogue in a trusted, participatory learning environment. In addition to the two workshop facilitators, leading business professionals will join to facilitate skills-building exercises.

Target audience:

This workshop is designed for business, human rights, and development professionals, including those in graduate-level programs. The target audience includes, but is not limited to:

1) business professionals, including finance professionals, looking to better understand business and human rights standards, and best practice of human rights compliance;

2) human rights professionals who want to better understand how corporations can identify and  manage the human rights impacts of  their operations, including their global supply chains;

3) development specialists, including those from the UN and other multilateral institutions, who want to better understand the role that private enterprises can and should play in ensuring corporate respect for human rights; and

4) journalists, who want to bring a business and human rights angle to their business reporting. 

Learning Objectives: Through real-world examples, participants will:

- gain exposure to business and human rights normative and legal frameworks;

- identify the key stakeholders and their roles and objectives;

- learn how to apply business and human rights frameworks and tools (e.g., human rights impact assessments, reporting, etc.) to specific challenges in a range of industries;

- understand the key tools that are used by governments, corporations, and civil society for ensuring respect for human rights within the context of business operations.;

- be able to evaluate which business and human rights practices are emerging as best practices and as recognized norms.

Facilitators: Joanne Bauer, Senior Researcher, Business and Human Rights Program, Institute for the Study of Human Rights and Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, Columbia University https://sipa.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/joanne-bauer

Meg Roggensack, Co-Director, Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum,  Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/roggensack-margaret-ellen.cfm

Registration: To register, access this link: http://bit.ly/BHRW21

Early bird rate of $350 for those who register by July 2nd with discount code: EARLYBIRD. Regular rate of $400. Columbia students are eligible for a 40% discount. Prospective participants who wish to apply for a need-based discount, as well as registered participants, are asked to complete the following survey: https://forms.gle/GGygQx8fk1W3QaWd8