The report Human rigths due diligence in the global defence industry: lessons from other sectors is the result of a collaborative effort between HIVA (KU Leuven), the Flemish Peace Institute, and IPIS. This report draws vital lessons from the technology and minerals sectors—particularly high-risk supply chains for gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum, and diamonds—to help the defence industry accelerate the integration of effective due diligence practices. 

The defence sector, characterized by complex and sensitive supply chains, faces growing international scrutiny to mitigate risks related to human rights violations, conflict financing, and environmental harm. While the sector faces a unique combination of challenges, the report assesses these challenges individually and demonstrates that valuable lessons can be drawn from other industries. 

For example, the diamond industry, through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, combines government-led import-export controls with private sector measures to address conflict risks. The gold sector faces comparable challenges with opaqueness in its supply chain. The technology sector has established downstream due diligence mechanisms to manage supplier risks, while collective industry efforts to improve traceability and risk management for tin, tungsten, and tantalum (3Ts) provide further valuable insights. These sectors began advancing their due diligence frameworks earlier than the defence sector, and thus inspiration can be drawn from their successes and challenges in areas such as industry cooperation, auditing, remediation, and contractual leverage. 

By analyzing how other sectors have tackled these challenges, the report aims to provide a framework for advancing due diligence practices tailored to the complexities of the defence industry. 

This report was commissioned and coordinated by the Flemish Peace Institute, an independent institute dedicated to peace research and hosted by the Flemish Parliament.