Africa-Press – Mauritius. A one-day Business and Human Rights workshop, aiming to raise awareness and strengthen understanding on the United Nations (UN) Business and Human Rights Guiding Principles, opened, this morning at Labourdonnais Hotel, Port Louis.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo; the Senior Chief Executive of the Ministry, Ms Asha Burrenchobay; and the Head of the Human Rights Unit, Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Shavana Haythornthwaite, were present.
Organised jointly by the Human Rights Division under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the workshop is seeing the participation of stakeholders from several Ministries and departments, the private sector, parastatals bodies, NGOs, the civil society, and the Federations of the Trade Unions.
In his address, Minister Ganoo recalled that human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.
They are classified into four generations, namely civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; collective rights, and subjective rights. Business and Human Rights, he stressed, form part of the third generation category.
He underlined that in 2008, the UN endorsed the “Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework” for business and human rights which recognises the responsibilities of States and businesses to take steps to protect, respect, and address human rights abuses committed by businesses.
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights which operationalises the UN Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework, he added.
He emphasised that Government is committed to enhancing and facilitating greater involvement of civil society and businesses in the promotion and protection of human rights. Business enterprises, he observed, can significantly impact the human rights of employees, consumers, and communities throughout their operations.
These can be positive, including increasing employment opportunities or enhancing public services, or negative, such as environmental damage, underpaying workers, or forcibly evicting communities.
With a view to enable the Government of Mauritius to strengthen its existing policy and institutional frameworks in the area of business and human rights, it is of utmost importance to consider international milestones and best practices, and key areas of concern for Mauritius, he remarked.
For her part, Ms Asha Burrenchobay dwelt on the objectives of the workshop which include highlighting opportunities to strengthen policy and institutional frameworks on business and human rights in Mauritius; identifing gaps, opportunities and challenges, and examining the impact of COVID-19 on business and human rights in various sectors.
The expected outcomes, she underlined, are to strengthen understanding and commitment among key stakeholders on critical issues impacting Mauritius related to business and human rights, identify possible avenues to address existing gaps around the “Protect, Respect, and Remedy Business and Human Rights Framework” in Mauritius; and enhance tripartite engagement between government, business, and civil society in Mauritius on business and human rights, including through existing mechanisms and forums.
As for Dr Haythornthwaite, she spoke about human rights and its impact on businesses. With regard to the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework’ for business and human rights, she said that States have the duty under the international human rights law to protect everyone within their territory and/or jurisdiction from human rights abuses committed by business enterprises.
This duty means that States must have effective laws and regulations in place to prevent and address business-related human rights abuses and ensure access to effective remedy for those whose rights have been abused, she pointed out.
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