{"id":3646,"date":"2019-01-18T03:42:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T03:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/ikmas\/?page_id=3646"},"modified":"2019-07-14T03:30:54","modified_gmt":"2019-07-14T03:30:54","slug":"abhr","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/ikmas\/abhr\/","title":{"rendered":"ASEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION FORUM (AEIF)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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ASEAN Business & Human Rights (ABHR)<\/strong><\/h1><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Introduction\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>

Globalization has brought together with it \u2013 the increasing economic interdependence through a rapid expansion of cross-border movement of goods, services, technologies and human capital in the Southeast Asian region.<\/p>

Such expansion has placed ASEAN as both the world\u2019s sixth-largest market and third-largest labour force, and has been projected to become the fourth-largest economic bloc by 2030. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) aims to create a single market and production base \u2013 facilitating stronger economic, political, social, and cultural cooperation.<\/p>

The key challenge in the development of the AEC is how to promote and achieve equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth \u2013 while ensuring enjoyment of fundamental freedoms, human rights and social justice for all.<\/p>

\u201c\u2026the responsibility to respect human rights is a global standard of expected conduct for all business enterprises wherever they operate\u201d.
<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Source: UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, 2011<\/p><\/blockquote><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

Corporate-related human rights violation has been argued to be one of the critical negative consequences brought by the expansion of business activities. In particular, the expansion of businesses has created gaps in human rights governance, including amongst others, the lack of regulatory and policy framework, and capacity of societies, including businesses to manage their adverse impacts.<\/p>

A Game Changer<\/em><\/span>\u00a0– Business and Human Rights<\/span><\/p>

\u201c\u2026 the root cause of the business and human rights predicament today lies in the governance gaps created by globalization \u2013 between the scope and impact of economic forces and actors, and the capacity of societies to manage their adverse consequences<\/em>\u201d.

<\/em>Source: Ruggie, 2008.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

The release of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP-BHR) in 2011 aims at guiding the States, businesses and communities at large to reduce or compensate for the gaps in governance created by rapid expansion of businesses across the globe. These gaps exist in many forms, including the lack of regulatory and policy framework, and capacity of societies to manage their adverse impacts. This permits permissive environment for wrongful acts by companies even without their intention.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>

Corporate entities are not duty bound to express publicly of their human rights commitment, to undertake human rights due diligence, and report their progress on a regular basis.<\/p>

Despite the absence of such regulatory infrastructure, a handful of companies in the region, in different sectors of economy \u2013 have shown modest progress in manifesting human rights into their business operations. Some large and public listed companies have produced ambitious human rights commitment and publicly reporting their progress with respect to the promotion of human rights. Nevertheless, very less information available as to how and\/or whether such commitment is on par with the expected standards outlined in the UN guiding documents.<\/p>

Besides, too few of the industry players that have progressed and reached a scale commensurate with the challenges at hand. Oftentimes supply chains comprising small and medium-sized enterprises are left behind and unregulated (on human rights responsibility). In certain occasions some problematic suppliers are being excluded from the network of supply chains due to the failure to comply with their buyers\u2019 human rights commitment. In this case, irresponsible practices may prevail and escalate as they continue their \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d while being excluded from human rights transformation journey.<\/p>

Our Vision and Aims <\/strong><\/p>

To complement the building of an ASEAN community, IKMAS envisions to contribute in addressing governance gaps in business and human rights in the region. We are committed to explore evidence-based and sustainable ways of addressing corporate-related human rights violations.<\/p>

In doing that, we aim to undertake the following activities:-<\/p>