Status of implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Central Asia
30.05.2023
On 25 May 2023, a webinar on "Status of Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Central Asia: Presentation of the UNDP scoping study" was held. The webinar was attended by Aliya Musina and Sman Gulim from the Secretariat of the National Contact Point of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of the webinar was to raise awareness of all stakeholders in the region on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles and emphasise the need to advance the business and human rights agenda in the region by developing and adopting a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. The webinar featured Ainura Bekkoenova, a human rights policy specialist, who spoke about regional trends on business and human rights issues in Central Asia. In her speech, she noted that in 2022, the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub published a scoping study to map the current business and human rights situation in 18 countries and territories in Europe and Central Asia. The study also contains: • UN member states' obligations to protect human rights under Pillar I of the UN Guiding Principles; • challenges and best practices of the corporate sector in the region according to Pillar II of the UN Guiding Principles; • access to remedy and accountability for business-related human rights violations under Pillar III of the UN Guiding Principles; • regional business and human rights trends; • recommendations for further improvement of the Business and Human Rights agenda in the region; • the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the region. The webinar also featured a presentation by Sinisa Milatovic - Business and Human Rights Specialist, and Mindia Vashakmadze - Programme Specialist on Corporate Governance, Remedy and the UN Guiding Principles. The speakers addressed issues related to the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and access to remedy. It is worth noting that the webinar is part of awareness raising activities under the "Promoting RBC with a special focus on promoting human rights due diligence in global supply chains and using the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for Just Recovery" project implemented by UNDP Kazakhstan with the support of the Government of Japan. In turn, the implementation of tools such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the "Human Rights" in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises will assist in preventing, mitigating and addressing adverse human rights impacts associated with business activities, including through a mechanism such as Kazakhstan's National Contact Point. At the end of the webinar, participants were able to exchange views and discuss what additional actions are needed to accelerate the development of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. In conclusion, the participants were thanked for a fruitful and interesting discussion.
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