UN Forum series – meaningful rights-holders engagement is key for human rights impact assessments

This post was contributed by Alejandro González, senior researcher at the Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER). One of the key challenges, and indeed an important benchmark, with regard to the effective implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) is that of meaningful consultation, dialogue, and engagement with affected, or potentially affected, rights-holders during human rights due diligence (HRDD) processes. The responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights means that enterprises should, on the one hand, avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights violations (including legal and non-legal, and actual or potential, acts of complicity) and, on the other hand, proactively conduct HRDD.