Projects

Business and Human Rights Documentation Project

The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) has joined together with the International Network for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) to develop the Business and Human Rights Documentation Project (B-HRD or the Project), an interactive, multi-lingual website to be launched in 2010 that will provide users with vital information about the human rights impacts of business activities.

B-HRD will offer: a Database of human rights reports, an In Focus section, and a Working Papers series. Through its innovative combination of documentation and advocacy tools, B-HRD will:

• Expand global knowledge about the human rights impacts of business activities;
• Illustrate gaps in the international protection regime;
• Promote the enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights; and
• Bolster the capacity of a variety of actors to enforce and develop international standards.

The B-HRD Database

A boy searches through trash in a harsh environment for plastic and metal to sell on the Filipino open market. © 2008 Tham Joo Kit /Mio Cade Photography

The Database will provide a searchable and ever-expanding compilation of published, credible reports by human rights NGOs, intergovernmental organizations, grassroots organizations, and other reputable authors. The reports included are selected according to strict criteria related to subject matter, investigative methodology, and human rights analysis. The Database will be fully searchable by: industry sectors; geographic locations; human rights affected; accountability mechanisms pursued; and groups affected. The Database will use our innovative and unique B-HRD Human Rights Framework to categorize the impact of business activity on human rights. For information on submitting human rights reports to the Database, please click here.

In Focus section

The In Focus section will highlight particular business-related human rights abuses as well as efforts to hold those businesses accountable. It provides information on key developments and global efforts to use judicial and other mechanisms to seek redress for alleged abuses. To encourage advocates to learn from each other’s experience, it will also brings together information about and links to organizations documenting business-related abuses and advocating for accountability at the local, regional, and international levels.

Business and Human Rights Documentation Project Launch: Bogota, Colombia (August 10, 2011)

Bogotá, Colombia played host to the Latin America launch of the B-HRD Project, hosted by the Program for Global Justice and Human Rights at the University of the Andes Law School.

Helena Alviar García, Dean of the of the University of the Andes Law Schhol and César Rodríguez-Garavito, founding Director of the Program on Global Justice and Human Rights at the University of the Andes, opened the Conference. Marcela Vieira from the Working Group on Intellectual Property (GTPI) from the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP), and Felipe Carvalho from Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS (ABIA) both provided insightful commentary on B-HRD with a unique perspective into HIV and the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil. Alirio Uribe of the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo followed, providing historical insights into the corporate accountability movements internationally and the important role B-HRD can play. The launch event ended with a lively discussion amongst participants.

For more information and to watch video of the launch, please visit: http://www.B-HRD.org.

Working Papers series

The Working Papers series will solicit and present cutting-edge academic scholarship on business and human rights issues. It aims to generate new scholarship and research on business and human rights that can inform legal and policy debates.

Send Us Your Documentation

B-HRD Project relies on the efforts of many organizations and individuals worldwide to investigate and report on the human rights effects of business activity. We encourage you to send us your reports on business-related human rights abuses.

To be considered for inclusion in the Database, reports must:

• Be reports (not newspaper/magazine articles or press releases);
• Be published either in hard copy or on the web (please no drafts or non-public reports);
• Detail a research methodology and be based on first-hand, on-site investigations (reports based solely on secondary research will not be accepted);
• Use a human rights-based methodology to analyze business impacts; and
• Describe a discernible business impact on human rights (reports concerning state-controlled business enterprises will be included as will reports on corporate complicity in abusive government activities).

We welcome reports in English, French, or Spanish. All reports will undergo a screening process to ensure that they comply with the above criteria.

To submit reports by email, please send them to bhrdatabase@gmail.com.

To submit reports by post, please send them to:
Business and Human Rights Documentation (B-HRD) Project
C/O Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
New York University School of Law
110 West Third Street, Room 204
New York, NY 10012

Donate

Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution to B-HRD through CHRGJ. Please note that you should specify “other” when asked to designate where you would like your donation to go and then, in the box provided, fill in CHRGJ and B-HRD. We also welcome the donation of business and human rights-related photographs for use on the B-HRD website. For more information on donating photos, please email CHRGJ Fellow Elizabeth Sepper at sepper@exchange.law.nyu.edu.

Project Staff

B-HRD is directed and supervised by CHRGJ Faculty Director Smita Narula and ESCR-Net Director Julieta Rossi. Project staff includes ESCR-Net Program Associate Nicholas Lusiani, CHRGJ Fellow Elizabeth Sepper, and interns and volunteers from both organizations.