Nomogaia was invited to be a primary presenter at a conference at the prestigious Osterreichische Forschungsstiftung Fur Internaltionale Entwicklung (Austrian Research Foundation for International development (“OFSE”) in Vienna Austria last week. The goal of the gathering was to investigate the usefulness of Human Rights Impact Assessments for development research and policy. The audience included senior representatives of government, finance, NGOs, academia and business. Nomogaia’s Mark Wielga was a featured speaker and commentator.
Human Rights Impact Assessment has a track record of being employed as an analytic tool for government action, primarily trade agreements and welfare programs. These were described by Prof. James Harrison of the University of Warwick, England, a recognized expert on Human Rights Impact Assessment generally. Prof. Harrison also introduced the audience to Nomogaia’s work on private Human Rights Impact Assessments of business activities. He called Nomogaia a “pioneer” and “the leader” in this field.
Mark summarized Nomogaia’s methodology and case studies. He also addressed the possibility of creating a Human rights Impacts Assessment methodology for infrastructure projects. These include highways, pipelines, and telecommunications systems and are particularly important for development. Mark discussed Nomogaia’s analysis of the Disi Water Conveyance system in Jordan as an example.
There were many hours of informed questions and engagement with the attendees. One vital issue vocally supported by Prof. Harrison and Mark Wielga is the need for transparency in the corporate use of Human Rights Impact Assessments. Prof. Harrison called this a potential a dangerous potential “fatal flaw” with the entire current business and human rights framework.
The takeaways verbalized from the attendees include the need for reliable research and analysis of human rights issues using sophisticated methodology, such as Nomogaia’s. Nomogaia’s work was roundly applauded. Many were impressed that such a small organization had accomplished so much. Mark was repeatedly asked where he got “all the funding” that was clearly needed for such a long and elaborate effort. The answer is that, it was due to our devoted volunteers and our generous donors. Speaking of which, none of your donations were used for this conference. OFSE picked up the expenses.
