The United Kingdom on Wednesday launched its action plan on business and human rights to set out guidance to companies on integrating human rights into their operations in the wake of Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh. The UK foreign secretary William Hague and business secretary Vince Cable launched the plan at an event in London with guests from businesses and civil society organisations, said a press release of the British High Commission in Dhaka on Thursday.
The UK became the first country to set out such a guideline on business and human rights, it said.
The British media had earlier reported that the UK would formulate such guideline following the Rana Plaza collapse that killed more than 1100 garment workers in Bangladesh in April. Some UK companies had businesses with the garment units located in the collapsed building.
Speaking at the launch, British high commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson said, ‘The action plan demonstrates the UK’s commitment to ensuring UK companies remain world leaders in protecting the human rights of their employees. We will
monitor how UK companies observe their commitments in Bangladesh.’
‘We will also raise with Bangladesh authorities our concerns should a UK company have problems implementing its respect for human rights due to any incompatibility between local regulations and international law,’ he said.
According to the action plan, the UK government will implement its obligations to protect against human rights abuse within UK jurisdiction involving business enterprises.
The government will support UK businesses to meet their responsibility to respect human rights throughout their operations both at home and abroad.
It will also support access to effective remedy for victims of human rights abuse involving business enterprises.
The government will also promote understanding of how addressing human rights risks and impacts can help build business success, international adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including for states to assume fully their duties to protect human rights and assure remedy within their jurisdiction.
The companies will comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally recognised human rights, wherever they operate and seek ways to honour the principles of internationally recognised human rights when faced with conflicting requirements.
They will treat as a legal compliance issue the risk of causing or contributing to gross human rights abuses wherever they operate and adopt appropriate due diligence policies to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights risks, and commit to monitoring and evaluating implementation.
They will also consult people who may potentially be affected at all stages of project design and implementation, for example taking into account language and other potential barriers to effective engagement.
Country representative for DFID Bangladesh Sarah Cooke also welcomed the launch. She said, ‘Protecting the human rights of workers is at the heart of efforts to resolve the problems laid bare by the collapse of the Rana Plaza building earlier this year. When our minister of state Alan Duncan visited in June, he was clear that UK companies must assume responsibility for their products throughout their supply chain. The business and human rights action plan will support UK companies in making this a reality.’
-With New Age input
