Fundamentally, all human rights policies should commit expressly to “respect” human rights as laid out in the UN Guiding Principles and enumerated in key international human rights instruments. They should also commit to conducting human rights due diligence so that companies know, and have evidence, that their human rights impacts are accounted for and, where adverse, remedied. In alignment with human rights principles of transparency and accountability, human rights due diligence should be made public. In 2015 the UN Global Compact published a Guide on How to Develop a Human Rights Policy. Prior to that, NomoGaia produced sample, recommended language for a standard human rights policy. Yet policy commitments are likely to vary by industry and sector, reflecting the diverse types of impacts different corporate actors have on rights. Below are links to three human rights policies we think reflect a strong commitment to respect for human rights. NomoGaia did not draft these policies and advocates for them as a third-party observer.
