The corporate responsibility to respect

The second pillar of the Guiding Principles sets out the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. According to the Guiding Principles, this means avoiding infringing on the rights of others and addressing adverse human rights impact that does occur. In other words, a company must operate in a way that does not interfere with or have an adverse impact on the human rights of others, be they employees, community members, consumers or others. This responsibility has been affirmed by the Human Rights Council, and has also been recognized by bodies such as the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations Global Compact, and is increasingly reflected in the statements of companies themselves, too.

Related Subject(s): International Trade and Finance