Research has revealed that 83 per cent of executives say human rights is of major importance to their business with 71 per cent of business leaders claiming that their firm’s responsibility to respect human rights goes beyond mere obedience to local laws. The survey, by the Economist, found that 44 per cent of respondents said human rights were an issue on which CEOs take the lead, and that companies were integrating human rights considerations into their policy making. However, only 22 per cent of respondents said that they have a publicly available human rights policy. The responses indicate that companies do not see a business case focused on immediate costs and benefits for human rights, but rather see respecting human rights as a leading driver in building good relationships with local communities (48 per cent); protecting the company’s brand and reputation (43 per cent); and serving moral/ethical considerations (41 per cent).

Lack of understanding

Respondents listed a lack of understanding of their company’s responsibilities and a lack of training and education as the first and third most common barriers to progress in this area and further indicated that public benchmarking, having access to reliable information and making human rights due diligence a legal requirement would support them in embedding within their corporate culture a sense of responsibility for respecting human rights. Requiring mandatory reporting on human rights was also highlighted as an enabler for better rights performance. The study 'The road from principle to practice: Today’s challenges for business in respecting human rights”, was published  by The Economist Intelligence Unit and surveyed 850 executives. Organisations such as the United Nations, which has promoted human rights initiatives, were also included.