Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this evening in a great setting.  

Tonight, we are celebrating a very special milestone – 10 years of our collective work on business and human rights in Asia!

A decade ago, this was still an emerging conversation. But for workers, communities and civil society organisations experiencing the impacts of business activity, the challenges were neither new nor abstract.

So, Business & HR Asia began with a fundamental question: as economic growth transformed the region, how do we ensure that everyone benefits fairly, that everyone has a voice and has access to remedy when harm occurs?

This is what motivated UNDP’s original engagement. Today, Business +HR works in 52 countries and territories globally, including 17 across Asia and the Pacific.

As we look back to inform the way forward, three features stand out:

First- the focus on people.

·      Our starting point has always been the lived experience of workers and communities.

·      Asia’s economic transformation has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

·      But for development to be lasting and successful, the benefits and the risks need to be distributed fairly.

·      We know we cannot protect people without protecting the planet. A clean and healthy environment is the foundation for the rights, livelihoods and resilience of communities.

Second, the first decade built momentum. The next must deliver implementation.

·      Value chains do not stop at national borders. Regional cooperation helped countries learn from one another and connect national reforms with global debates.

·      Today, eight countries in the region have National Action Plans on business and human rights.

·      But we must go beyond policies and plans. Implementation must reach businesses, workers and communities. This means working directly with businesses. That is why, earlier today, we launched UNDP’s Facility for Responsible and Sustainable Business, to help companies move from commitment to practice and collective action.

Third, progress has been built on trust and partnership.

So let me take a moment to appreciate:

o    the governments that trusted us to support complex reform processes;

o   the national human rights institutions that partnered with us;

o   the businesses that engaged openly; and

o   the CSOs, trade unions, communities and human rights defenders that kept this work grounded.

I would also like to thank Sweden for their leadership and help us build the foundations of this work in Asia Pacific. We are grateful also to the European Union for helping to expand the national policy work to environmental dimensions and, for broadening our engagement to work with young people and the media. We are thankful for our newest partners: Porticus that is helping us deepen our engagement on corporate sustainability and environmental rights, and Walk Free, which is supporting national mandatory human rights due diligence processes.

We look forward continuing to work with all of you all to translate this incredible momentum to tangible impact.. measured by whether workers and communities experience meaningful change in their lives.

Thank you and I wish you a lovely evening and conversations (in these magnificent surroundings).