The Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights: Companies Taking a Rights-Aware Approach to Development

Abstract

The case studies in this publication were initiated during the final year of the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR),' which completed its work in March 2009 after a period of six years. BLIHR's aim was to show how international human rights standards as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could be applied in the context of business policy and practice. Although its members were exclusively businesses, BLIHR was chaired by Mary Robinson' for the full period and enjoyed close working relationships with representatives from a range of civil society organizations, trade unions, inter-governmental organizations and states. This brief overview of BLIHR's key activities provides context to the motivation for writing the case studies in this publication and the spirit in which they were intended BLIHR was formed in 2003, as a time limited business-led attempt to better understand the meaning and practice of applying human rights principles and standards in business contexts. Its initial members were ABB, Barclays Bank, MTV Europe, National Grid, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and The Body Shop International. The group grew in subsequent years to include other businesses and industry sectors (extractives, energy, food and beverage, technology, clothing, information technology, telecommunications) and other geographies (in particular beyond Europe to North America and increasingly into emerging economies). These additional members were Areva, Ericsson, Gap Inc., General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Newmont Mining, Statoil, The Coca-Cola Company and Zain.