Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs)

An important feature of corporate social responsibility is compliance assessment of International Human Rights norms. In the International community human rights are considered to be a matter of interest and the UN Secretary-General of human rights and business John Ruggie developed a policy framework to anchor the business and human rights debate. The framework emphasizes the corporate responsibility to respect human rights due diligence (the steps companies must take to identify, prevent and address adverse human rights impacts). Recently, several organisations have developed HRIA tools to assist companies in the process of due diligence. These tools help assess business policies and work methods and provide practical advice to make them "human rights proof".

Practical assistance

The Guide to Corporate Human Rights Impact Assessment Tools, developed by Aim for human rights, presents an overview of the existing HRIA tools and supports business managers of (multinational) corporations and their stakeholders to find their way in the world of Human Rights Impact Assessments. It gives advice and practical assistance to select the tool(s) to assure the best HRIA process for the corporation. This guide contains theory and history of the HRIAs, gives a summary of all the HRIA tools, maps these tools and provides an overview of when and how these tools can be used best in order to facilitate the selection of the proper tool for your business. This guide offers the practical assistance that corporations need to become social responsible and leads managers through the labyrinth of Human Rights Compliance Assessment.

More information

The guide (pdf-file) can be downloaded here. A print copy can be ordered for 3 euro’s forwarding-charges at info(at)aimforhumanrights.nl or by calling +31 30 2334027.

Advice on human rights

The human rights and business department of Aim for human rights also supports businesses on corporate social responsibility issues by providing policy development, training and consultancy on the impact assessment tools. More information can be found here.