EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: FIRST EXPERTS MEETING TO INFORM THE CSO NATIONAL BASELINE ASSESSMENT (NBA) ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
As part of its Business & Human Rights strategy, and in order to inform the development of the CSO NBA in line with the first objective of ensuring communities’ challenges, needs and solutions are put at the centre of the business and human rights discourse in Thailand, Manushya Foundation, together with members of the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR, organised the First Experts Meeting to inform the CSO National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on Business and Human Rights, which was held on 2-3 September 2017, at the Sampran Riverside Hotel, in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Since the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) of the Ministry of Justice is the government agency responsible for the development of the National Action Plan (NAP) on Business & Human Rights, Manushya invited RLPD to collaborate to ensure communities and experts could also share knowledge with the Thai Government and inform the government's upcoming NAP. This secured a bottom-up approach was implemented in the NAP process, as well as provided a safe space for participants, by guaranteeing the protection of local communities and human rights defenders who engaged in Manushya Foundation’s Business & Human Rights strategy.
The Executive Summary captures the proceedings of the 2-day meeting which brought together national, regional, and international experts in the field of Business & Human Rights, including: community leaders, civil society representatives, academics, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Representative of Thailand to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the Thai government.
By giving communities and experts a platform to share their experiences of business and human rights and to offer recommendations based on affected communities' lived realities and good practices, the event endeavoured to guarantee accurate data and lessons learned were shared to shape and influence the evidence-based CSO NBA and the government NAP.
Read more about our Business & Human Rights strategy here.
Thai version of the Executive Summary will be available for download soon.