Toolset: Country Risk Assessment
Developer: Danish Institute for Human Rights: Human Rights and Business Project
The objective of the CRA report is to determine areas where companies are at risk of human rights violations - both direct and indirect - due to ineffective laws or poor practices in the country of operation. The CRA is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and examines each human right from a corporate perspective. It uses a red-light/green light system to assign risk ratings to each human right according to strengths and weaknesses identified in the formal laws, societal practices and general business environment in the country of operation. The risk ratings are followed by a list of recommended action items to help the company address specific vulnerabilities and improve its performance in relation to the identified risks. Issues (e.g. child labour, forced labour, wages, working hours, etc) identified in the analysis as most high-risk are compiled into a list of suggested focal areas for the company to use in compliance processes with local partners and suppliers. The CRAs can be used in conjunction with the Human Rights Compliance Assessment Tool (HRCA) to help the company localise and streamline its internal compliance processes.
Note:
The CRAs are part of the Corporate Membership package offered by the Human Rights and Business Project. As part of this package the CRAs can be accessed by companies. They have to pay a fee for the corporate membership. For details click here.
The CRAs can also be purchased individually without corporate membership. New CRA's can be purchased for €3000 by companies and €1000 by NGOs. CRAs that are older than 6 months cost €1000 for companies and €350 for NGOs.
Bibliographic Details
Author: Danish Institute for Human Rights
Publisher: (2005) Danish Institute for Human Rights: Human Rights and Business Project: Copenhagen
English and Danish hard copies can be ordered from the Human Rights and Business Project website for €25.
The Eight Step Approach is a comprehensive HRIA framework that provides a cyclic approach to policy development and project management.
This toolset covers the following steps: