SEF/INEF NEWS. Stakeholder Engagement - a Contribution to Companies Human Rights Due Diligence? July Dear Reader,

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1 SEF/INEF NEWS July 2015 Dear Reader, In the current edition of the newsletter, sef: and INEF shine a light on stakeholder engagement as a contribution to companies human rights due diligence. An INEF Report has just been published on the topic as well. We wish you a fruitful reading and a nice summer! Rebekka Hannes, sef: Jan Schablitzki, INEF HEADLINE TOPIC Stakeholder Engagement - a Contribution to Companies Human Rights Due Diligence? CONTENTS : Headline Topic Stakeholder Engagement - a Contribution to Companies Human Rights Due Diligence? : Past events sef: Berlin Summer Dialogue KHK/GCR21-Midterm Conference Video-Interview Awad Video-Interview Lakkis Video-Interview Somer CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 United Nations Photo/flickr.com : Publications "Global Trends" online! INEF-Report 109 GG-Spotlight GG-Spotlight Global Cooperation Re:search 2014 Global Dialogues 8 SIPRI Blog Since quite some time, the famous assumption of US economist Milton Friedman that the sole social responsibility of companies is to increase their profits is considered out-dated. Today, under the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), companies orientation towards the shareholder value is complemented by a social dimension, taking also into account stakeholder interests. The term stakeholder refers to any internal or external group, which is directly or indirectly affected by a company s action. Already in the 1980s concepts of stakeholder management were developed. Thereby, a primary objective was to obtain societal approval for business activities, a so-called license to operate. Since the 1990s stakeholder engagement is mainly discussed in the context of businesses CSR policies and has thus become an important procedure of private governance. Such engagement can take place in diverse manners, i.e. by information, consultation or comprehensive participation.

2 The importance of stakeholder engagement is also emphasised in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This international instrument, which is currently the most relevant one in terms of shaping global economy on the basis of human rights standards, was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in June Particularly in the context of human rights due diligence, the Guiding Principles ask for a risk assessment of business activities by companies including to involve meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders (Guiding Principle 18). Especially the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank subsidiary, elaborated comprehensive guidelines for stakeholder engagement in the context of big investment projects. Beside several handbooks, the IFC Performance Standards are highly relevant. Based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, they have been reformed and now consider human rights more clearly. Among others, Performance Standard 1 in several units deals with the importance of stakeholder engagement and also discusses concrete procedures for it. However, just recently it was shown that not even the World Bank itself is following its own guidelines, by granting loans for projects in which the stakeholder engagement was neglected: In the wake of World Bank projects slums in Africa were cleared, partly without any advance warning to the inhabitants, and people were resettled under constraint or became homeless in effect. Infrastructure projects resulted in the eviction of millions of affected people. Often, victims were indigenous communities that had to leave their territories. As a reaction to this critique, the World Bank president admitted serious failures and promised corrections (SZ 16. April 2015). Research, such as the recently published INEF Report on stakeholder engagement by a company in the context of a planned copper-gold mine in the Philippines, shows that not only mistakes are made in practice, but that also multiple programmes as well as the guidelines of the IFC reveal important weaknesses with negative effects on the process of human rights due diligence. If the human rights of affected persons are not given priority, and instead stakeholder engagement programmes are conceptualised as top-down approaches in which the company decides who is included in which way, those forms of private governance are insufficient in terms of human rights. Instead, it is necessary to critically reflect private actors alignment to their human rights due diligence. Only then, programmes of stakeholder engagement can be used as an effective form of private governance also with respect to implementing corporate human rights due diligence. PAST EVENTS Berlin Summer Dialogue 2015 International responsibility in refugee situations: Prevention regional stability peace work 17th/18th June 2015 in Berlin On 17th and 18th June 2015, the Development and Peace Foundation (sef:) hosted its annual Berlin Summer Dialogue under the title of International responsibility in refugee situations: Prevention regional stability peace work in the Berlin Town Hall. The conference took place in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). High-ranking international experts debated examples of good practice and remaining challenges regarding an integrated approach to international refugee policy in situations of crisis and conflict. A conference report will be available online soon. : find out more

3 KHK/GCR21-Midterm Conference Global Cooperation: Findings and Perspectives 1st 3rd July 2015 in Duisburg/Mülheim a. d. Ruhr The Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research used the midterm of its funding-phase as an opportunity to take stock of the past and to look out to the coming three years of the Centre. Under the title Global Cooperation: Can We Build on It?, the Centre invited to its Midterm Conference as a forum for intensive debate and scientific exchange. The participating researchers included about 30 international guests, with several former fellows ( Alumni ) of the Centre among those. The conference was opened with the 12th Käte Hamburger Lecture given by Scott Barrett of Columbia University, which was followed by two days of intensive panel discussions about themes, concepts and methods of the Centre s research. Here, representatives of relevant thinktanks and research institutions identified future trends in global cooperation research, which will also influence the coming years of the Centre. : find out more KHK/GCR21 Video-Interview with Amin Awad "The Syrian crisis will characterise this generation of leaders" During the Berlin Summer Dialogue sef: spoke to Amin Awad, Director and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Amman about the most profound challenges in the current crisis in Syria and the region. : find out more

4 Video-Interview with Dr Ramy Lakkis "A negative relation between Syrians and Lebanese will make the peace process collapse" In a video recorded at the Berlin Summer Dialogue, Dr Ramy Lakkis of the Lebanese Organisation for Studies and Training (LOST) gives an insight into the tense relation between Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees. : find out more Video-Interview with Irem Somer "The Syrian crisis is not only a humanitarian crisis" Irem Somer of the Turkish NGO Association for Solidarity with Refugees (Mülteci-Der) spoke to sef: on the challenges Turkey is facing regarding the Syrian refugee situation during the Berlin Summer Dialogue. Further, she gave recommendations for a future engagement of the international community. : find out more PUBLICATIONS New website "Global Trends" online! The Development and Peace Foundation, the Institute for Development and Peace and the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research are pleased to present their new website For the first time, a complete English translation of the standard volume Global Trends is available online and for free. Furthermore, the website presents In Focus contributions linking latest developments and events to the long term trends described in Global Trends So the new website is worth a visit time and again! : find out more

5 INEF-Report 109 Human Rights Due Diligence through Stakeholder Engagement? The Case of a Copper Gold Mine in the Philippines In the newly published INEF Report, the authors INEF senior researcher Dr Brigitte Hamm and former INEF researcher Anne Schax examine to what extent stakeholder engagement as a form of private governance can contribute to a corporation s human rights due diligence performance. In their discussion they refer to the case study of a stakeholder engagement program implemented for a planned copper-gold mine in the Philippines. The analysis shows that the company s stakeholder engagement program as well as the relevant international criteria and guidelines have several shortcomings from a human rights perspective, which in turn negatively affect other due diligence processes. : find out more Global Governance Spotlight From R2P to RwP. Emerging powers and the future of intervention Particularly after the contentious NATO-led intervention in Libya in 2011, established and emerging powers are pit against each other in the debate regarding intervention for the protection of individuals human rights. While established powers prioritize intervention and see military force as a useful tool, emerging and postcolonial states see non-intervention as a crucial guarantee of their autonomy, and favour non-military means of assistance. In the current Global Governance Spotlight Prof Dr Kai Michael Kenkel argues why the support of both, states from the Global North and South, is necessary to reestablish the legitimacy and effectiveness of the responsibility to protect (R2P) and gives recommendations how the debate might be invigorated. : find out more

6 Global Governance Spotlight Follow-up and Review of the Post-2015 Agenda. Contributing to effective implementation of the SDGs? From 26th June through 8th July 2015, the High Level Political Forum will meet in New York to discuss its role in reviewing the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. In the latest issue of our Global Governance Spotlight series the author, Dr Marianne Beisheim, analyses the main challenges for the negotiating parties to facilitate an effective implementation of the (Sustainable Development Goals) SDGs and provides some recommendation for the German delegation. : find out more Global Cooperation Re:search 2014 Annual Report 3 The Centre for Global Cooperation Research is the youngest of ten Käte Hamburger International Centres in the Humanities sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research. At the midterm of its funding-phase, the Centre has recently published its third annual report. In the course of its first three years, the Centre has brought together guest researchers representing 23 nationalities and 9 different disciplines. As a whole, they have shaped an impressive research community, which has inter-disciplinarily contributed to the new field of global cooperation research. This year s report gives readers a detailed insight into the Centre s research in 2014 and is intended to arouse curiosity to deal with the challenges of global cooperation. The Centre s annual report are freely accessible and can also be ordered via the Centre s website. : find out more

7 Global Dialogues 8 Global Cooperation Through Cultural Diversity: Remaking Democracy? This special issue within the Global Dialogues series deals with the relation between cultural diversity and democratic global cooperation. It is common to view cultural differences as a problem and an obstacle for democratic cooperation. In contrast to that, the authors of this issue question, whether it is not exactly this diversity, which allows the construction of a democratic global public. In this context, the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research organised, in collaboration with the Building Global Democracy programme (BGD), a working group of ten researchers with broad experiences in theories and practices of cultural politics. Indeed, the group itself encompassed large geographical, social, disciplinary and ideological diversities. Edited by Jan Aart Scholte, the results of their exchange have been collected in the Centre s Global Dialogues 8 to broaden the perspectives on democratic global cooperation as well as initiate further discussions about the issue. : find out more SIPRI Blog BRICS: realistic alternatives with stuttering motor Economic growth in the BRICS countries is cooling down slowly. Not only is Russia struggling to generate growth in the context of the Ukraine sanctions and the low oil prices. Times of almost two-figure growth rates are also over in Russia s fellow BRICS members. Herbert Wulf, Adjunct Senior Researcher at INEF, writes in a blog article for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) about the future of the BRICS under these new circumstances and also reflects on the future global role of the club. : find out more SIPRI LEGAL NOTICE AND SERVICES Thank you! I would like to recommend your newsletter Recommend Newsletter I would like to unsubscribe the newsletter Unsubscribe Newsletter I would like to edit my account details Edit Data 2015 Development and Peace Foundation (Stiftung Entwicklung und Frieden - sef:) Dechenstr Bonn Germany Phone +49 (0) Fax +49 (0) sef@sef-bonn.org The Development and Peace Foundation (sef:) was founded in 1986 on the initiative of Willy Brandt. The cross-party, non-profit-making foundation argues for a new political order in a world increasingly marked by globalisation. More information under: The SEF has a particularly close working relationship with the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University of Duisburg- Essen. The two institutions are linked by a cooperation agreement. The aim of INEF s application-oriented research is to build bridges between theory and practice. More information under: