Singapore Management University (SMU) and the ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) co-organised the consultation workshop on human rights at the ASEAN Responsible Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur, on 29 October 2015. 

The workshop, "Implementing the UN Guiding Principles in Business and Human Rights", was designed to gather input from government, business and civil society stakeholders on how developing national and regional strategies on business and human rights (BHR) can help to create an enabling environment for the greater protection and respect for human rights in ASEAN.

At the workshop, participants included government representatives, representatives to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission of Human Rights (AICHR), business representatives and civil society organisations and representatives from the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) within ASEAN.

There were three panel sessions and one breakout session for the day. The first two panel sessions discussed implementing the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs) and national action plans on BHR (NAPs) in ASEAN. The third panel session and the breakout session discussed human rights due diligence practices in businesses. The breakout session focused on the Due Diligence Project, which is a study aimed at providing practical recommendations for businesses with regard to their human rights due diligence. The Due Diligence Project is jointly carried out by BIICL and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.

For more details of the workshop report on Business and Human Rights, please click here

The workshop was supported by the Government of Sweden through its embassy in Bangkok, the Asia-Europe Foundation with the financial support of the European Union, and the Britishi Institute of International and Comparative Law.