Human rights impact Assessment:

an INtroduction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

executive summary3

I. human rights are NOW the business of business4

II. WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?5

III. WHAT IS AN HRIA FOR? (WHAT GOOD IS IT?)9

IV. WHAt does an hria Add to all of the other studies and assessments?10

V. WHAT IS NEEDED FOR AN HRIA TO BE EFFECTIVE10

VI. EXAMPLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACT ASSESSMENT12

A. PHASE I: DESKTOP RESEARCH13

B. PHASE iI: FIELD RESEARCH13

C. PHASE IiI: rate impacts14

D. PHASE iV: Feedback16

E. PHASE v: RECOMMENDATIONS AND MONITORING16

APPENDIX I: ACRONYMS17

APPENDIX II: REFERENCES18

Executive Summary

The term “Human Rights Impact Assessment” is new. References to human rights are everywhere. It is a topic constantly in the news, in analyses, in the mouths of the activists, academics, and government officials. “Impact assessment” is familiar when describing a study done on the environment, or on public health. But the novel combination of “human rights” and “impact assessment” can surprise and confuse. Human rights are constantly discussed, but rarely defined. Some companies take “human rights” to mean proper use of private security personnel. Some governments use it to mean freedom to protest. Adding to this confusion are new international structures, initiatives and protocols that require companies to conduct human rights impact assessments. When are these to be done? How are they to be done? What are they? How can they help the company? What’s the risk of not doing one?

This Introduction answers these questions. We explain where the recognition of corporations’ obligations towards human right came from, what its status is today and what corporations need to do. We define what human rights mean in this context. We describe a method for human rights impact