National Round Table "Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in Kazakhstan"
03.07.2023
On June 26, 2023 the Secretariat of the National Contact Point of the RK (hereinafter - NCP RK) took part in the round table on "Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in Kazakhstan".organized by the United Nations Development Programme (hereinafter - UNDP). In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (hereinafter the UN Guiding Principles), which subsequently became a platform for the development of National Action Plans (hereinafter the NAPs) on business and human rights. The NAP requires a National Baseline Assessment of the current state of implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in a particular state and identifies legal and regulatory gaps in the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles. The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights defines the NAP as: an evolving policy strategy developed by the State to protect against adverse human rights impacts of business enterprises in line with the UN Guiding Principles. During the roundtable, Olena Uvarova, Head of the Business and Human Rights International Laboratory, highlighted some of the criteria for the effectiveness of these NAPs, such as: • Respond to specific issues in the national context, drawing attention to actual and potential human rights violations related to business in the country; • Developed and implemented through an inclusive and transparent process; • Are regularly monitored, reviewed, and updated in response to changing contexts and seek to evolve. In addition, Abay Abylaiuly, Head of International Law and Competition Law programs at the M.S. Narikbayev University of KAZGUU, noted that Kazakh companies and individual entrepreneurs do not show much interest in applying to the EAEU Court for protection of their rights. Thus, since 2014, only two Kazakh companies have applied to the EAEU Court of Justice. Thus, the main conclusions were formed based on the results of the National Baseline Assessment monitoring: • Nearly 40 companies (or 66%) have such employee grievance mechanisms in place and operational, but as noted, such mechanisms are more common in the corporate sector and foreign-owned companies; • 39 companies have the same mechanisms for external individuals and communities and use them to address and resolve human rights disputes and conflicts; • 47 companies (or 78%) have no or low level of mechanisms and company commitments to address adverse impacts caused by human rights abuses and the impact of company operations on stakeholders and the local community. Moreover, based on the above findings, specific recommendations have been developed: • Publish information on complaints received on human rights violations; • Actively inform and motivate company employees and external stakeholders to contact via internal messaging channels; • Utilizing new trends, development strategies (ESG) and focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as international human rights commitments, will help companies choose the right strategy and tactics in this area.
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