Business & Human Rights
The Business and Human Rights research programme focuses on the business and human rights issues relevant to commercial actors operating in our focal region. It places an emphasis on existing regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives for securing responsible business conduct whilst drawing on our in-region expertise to support emerging efforts to ensure corporate human rights compliance and sustainable responsible business.
The Business & Human Rights programme focuses on human rights issues relevant to corporate actors operating in our focal region, encompassing also environmental, social and governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) matters. The last two decades in particular have seen increasing attention on the capacity of business actors to undermine human rights enjoyment and contribute to conflict and inequality in developing and fragile states. It has also nevertheless seen recognition of the role of these actors in supporting peace, development and good governance in such countries.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Business & Human Rights NEWS

Op-ed: Belgium’s inaction on diamond trade with Russia is not justifiable
This op-ed was published in Dutch in De Standaard on April 12, 2022 — Hans Merket The Antwerp diamond hub presents itself as the most ethical in the world. This does not sit well with turning a blind eye on the war in Ukraine. There

KP CSC Highlights of 2021
At the start of this new year the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition looks back on the previous one with these highlights from 2021

WEBINAR ALERT: Conflict diamonds are real, real talk is rare & affected communities want answers
On 20 October 2021, the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KP CSC) is convening its second webinar of 2021 in the conversation on “Conflict diamonds are real, real talk is rare”. IPIS, as part of the KP CSC, is co-hosting this 90-minute webinar. The webinar

An updated human rights complaint system for Tanzania
Over the past three years, IPIS has been collaborating with Tanzania’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) to create a new system that allows the public to lodge human rights grievances with CHRAGG. This work is part of the EU-funded project “Improving monitoring,