Human Rights and Business

The private sector is a strategic partner in the promotion and protection of human rights and the advancement of the 2030 Agenda in the region. From a co-responsibility approach, working hand in hand with companies, whether small, medium, or large, operating in various sectors, is a priority.

UNDP has a line of work on "Human Rights and Business" aimed at consolidating partnerships between governments and the private sector to promote poverty reduction, the generation of new decent jobs and inclusive growth, based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, adopted in 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council.

What we do

To achieve these objectives, UNDP LAC, aligned with the roadmap for the next decade, provides support in the following areas:

• Generate knowledge to find innovative and effective solutions to sustainable development challenges through entrepreneurial activities and initiatives.
• Connecting experiences and solutions between countries and regions.
• Technical advice on the design and implementation and monitoring of national plans.
• Design and implementation of training courses in human rights and business.
• Based on experiences, develop tools, guidelines, and methodologies to accelerate transformations and measure the impact on HR.
• Facilitate dialogue between the public and private sector, civil society, UN system agencies, and other strategic partners.
• Support the mobilization of resources to advance the agenda in the countries: Partnership with the Government of Japan and the partnership with the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID).

Solutions for action

1. Self-assessment tools

Check our virtual tool on HR for business. It is freely available and serves as a tool for companies to measure the impact of their operations on human rights and identify areas where they can improve.

2. Guide on business and human rights

Read our guide on business and human rights. It is freely available and aims to provide the private sector, as well as governments, civil society, and academia, with a better understanding of the practical steps that need to be taken to ensure that companies can develop effective human rights due diligence systems.

3. Regional course on business and HR

Join our regional course on HR for business. It is open access and consists of five modules, where the different topics related to the business and human rights agenda are addressed in depth. Special emphasis is placed on due diligence and self-assessment tools.