The importance of the Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights

The key role of business is to generate investment, employment and economic growth. But we also need to think about how business operates and the importance and impact that they may have on reducing poverty through the creation of jobs. This, in turn, can be achieved by providing access to knowledge and technology, and by contributing to the promotion of human rights.

We live in an increasingly globalised world, where the free market is not always conducive to respect for human rights. And this can be especially complicated for businesses operating in areas of conflict or in which governments are fragile. Bringing business, governments and NGOs together in initiatives like the Voluntary Principles helps ensure a more diligent approach.

The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights play a very important role within the framework of a national Business and Human Rights Action Plan. They provide guidance to companies on how to carry out risk assessments; help them work with local police and military forces; or provide advice on managing private security companies where that is needed.

We believe that in order to make progress, it is necessary to have solid institutions which take steps to comply with the law and established anticorruption policies. And this is the context in which the United Kingdom has chaired the Voluntary Principles Initiative over the past year and which concluded with the Annual Plenary Meeting in London last week, handing the chairmanship over to the Government of the United States.

Throughout this past year we have organised working groups in highly vulnerable environments, such as some African countries. Looking back, we have made good progress during our chairmanship. With the cooperation of our overseas’ Embassy network, we have participated in different working groups on the Voluntary Principles with the aim of involving businesses and governments. The clearest examples are Ghana, the first African government to join the initiative, and Angola, which has made a public commitment to join the initiative.

We are keen to see more businesses, governments and NGOs join the initiative. We believe that, if governments commit, they can encourage businesses in their country to follow their example, contributing to improving the country’s reputation and economic development. Businesses which are capable of adopting a human rights approach as a crucial pillar underpinning their corporate social responsibility, will not only be doing humanity a great service, but will also enhance their competitive advantage in the market.

We think that close collaboration between companies, governments and NGOs is necessary if we want to reduce infringements of human rights. But we cannot do this alone. We need the support of institutions to raise awareness of the issue, which is increasingly popular in international discussions.

If you are a business and would like to receive more information on how to join the initiative, please do feel free to get in touch with me.