29 Finnish companies accelerating their human rights work in new training programme
A group of Finnish companies has begun their journey in the Business & Human Rights Accelerator, a programme in which participants learn about the human rights responsibilities of business and establish an ongoing human rights due diligence process.
The six-month-long programme has been developed by the United Nations Global Compact in cooperation with Shift. Over 800 companies are participating in the programme around the globe.
According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), companies must respect human rights and work to avoid infringing on the human rights of others in their operations. The human rights impacts of business can concern stakeholders such as workers in value chains, surrounding communities and consumers.
Despite this, around 46 % of the world’s biggest companies are unable to prove that human rights risks in their value chains have been assessed or mitigated. In Finland companies are committed to respecting human rights in principle, but concrete actions and monitoring ought to be performed more systematically.
In the new Business & Human Rights Accelerator, participating companies will learn the practical ways to identify, prevent, mitigate, and remediate human rights risks throughout the value chain.
“All businesses must respect human rights, regardless of company size, industry, or location. We are glad to have such a large group of companies participating in our new human rights programme. The great interest towards the programme shows that human rights are being placed into the core of sustainability work”, says Marja Innanen, the Executive Director of UN Global Compact Network Finland.
A goal of the programme is also to deepen business cooperation and dialogue concerning human rights due diligence. Company representatives will meet face to face in workshops, participate in international deep dive sessions as well as study independently online.
The Finnish participants are Cargotec, Castrén & Snellman, Coor Service Management, Ensto Group, Fiskars Group, Huhtamäki, Ilmatar Energy, Kemira, Kesko, Konecranes, Lune Group, Matkahuolto, Miltton Group, Neste, Nokian Tyres, Olvi, OP Financial Group, Outokumpu, Paptic, Sanoma, SOK, Sponda, Tokmanni, Tradeka, Varma, Veikkaus, VR Group, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Wärtsilä.
In Finland the Business & Human Rights Accelerator is offered and organized by UN Global Compact Network Finland.
Further info:
Sophia Lawson Hellu
Programme Manager, Social Responsibility & Human Rights
UN Global Compact Network Finland
+358 50 313 1351 / sophia.lawsonhellu(at)globalcompact.fi
Business & Human Rights Accelerator webpage (ENG)