THIS CONTENT HAS BEEN ARCHIVED

Workshop on AU policy on business and human rights set to take place in Addis Ababa

20.03.2017
Teaser

A Draft AU Policy Framework on Business and Human Rights will be discussed in Africa's capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 21-22, 2017 at the African Union Commission Headquarters.

Text

At the event, the Draft Policy will be presented to the gathered representatives from AU Member States, Regional Economic Communities, national human rights institutions, business community and other stakeholders, in an effort to incorporate their inputs and comments and to validate the Draft Policy for presentation to the AU policy organs for consideration and adoption. The stakeholders should also agree on an Action Plan for the dissemination and implementation of the Policy Framework.

 

The event will open with statements from AU Department of Political Affairs and  and the EU Delegation to the African Union, after which there will be three sessions at which the processes, indicative elements, resources and actors involved in the Policy Framework will be presented and discussed.

 

The main Objective of the event is to facilitate the development of Draft AU Policy Framework on Business and Human Rights by incorporating inputs and comments from representatives of member states, civil society, businesses and other concerned stakeholders and validate it for the presentation to the African Union policy organs for consideration and adoption.

 

Background

Business and human rights has become one of the evolving thematic areas with significant implications for human rights work in Africa. Africa is currently the world’s fastest growing continent, and GDP is expected to rise over the next decade, as foreign direct investment continues to grow. Many African countries have significant wealth in extractable natural resources and the continent continues to be a key source of minerals for the rest of the world. These developments provide a timely opportunity for promoting the integration of the Human Rights Guiding Principles into regional governance frameworks and state and business practices with a view to addressing business-related human rights challenges in Africa.

For more information:

Mr. John Ikubaje| Senior Governance Officer at the Department of Political Affairs | African Union Commission | Tel:  +251 0923208041| E-mail:  Gbodij@africa-union.org

Category
Press releases
Location

Bruxelles

Editorial sections
African Union (AU)