WBCSD Campaign: Mobilizing Business Leadership for Human Rights

Every year in November, the attention of the global human rights community turns to Geneva for the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights. Throughout the month, WBCSD will be running a campaign that brings to life a significant shift happening in the world of business and human rights: leaders of multinational corporations around the globe are speaking out about human rights issues faced in their business operations and supply chains.

These business leaders are breaking the norm for a subject firmly categorized within companies’ risk, compliance and legal departments. They are building awareness of the foundational business responsibility to respect human rights and raising the bar for their companies, industries and supply chains. And beyond this, they are sharing an inspiring message with their peers and partners: that they have the collective power to drive transformative change in people’s lives – especially those of the most vulnerable.

To support this movement, WBCSD has launched the Call to Action for Business Leadership on Human Rights. The call builds on the concrete actions and examples outlined in the CEO Guide to Human Rights. So far, it has been endorsed by senior executives of 35 WBCSD member companies. These executives represent diverse companies headquartered in 17 countries, with 2.8 million direct employees and extensive global supply chains. In addition, over 70 business leaders have signed local calls to action to peers in their nations and regions – in French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian - with more on the way.

Starting today, every working day in the run-up to the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights on 25^th November, we will be launching a new video featuring a signatory of the Call to Action. These videos will share the personal perspectives, challenges, actions and calls to action from our WBCSD Council Members – all with the aim of inspiring and mobilizing business leadership for human rights.