Pre-Subscribe Now: Handbook on UN Guiding Principles

This Handbook is based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, written by UN Special Representative John Ruggie and his team, which were endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in June 2011. It is designed to help companies operationalize the UN Guiding Principles, which include the "Protect, Respect and Remedy" framework. The Handbook was developed in response to the growing need of companies who struggle with transforming the principles into daily practice. The Handbook and Toolkit will help companies address questions concerning the scope, their risk and the practical integration of their responsibility to respect human rights in their supply chain.

  The Handbook is applicable to companies in any industry, country and size. It is designed for use by senior management, as well as professionals in the human resources, corporate social responsibility, compliance and sourcing departments. Companies that are just getting started can go through the Handbook's six-step approach to build up their knowledge, policies and procedures. More experienced companies can use the Handbook to adapt their existing policies and codes to the Guiding Principles. In addition, the Handbook is also intended for CSR and sustainable supply chain management experts and consultants who train or advise companies, as well as for NGO and trade union representatives to learn about the implications of the Guiding Principles on their work.   The Handbook uses a six-step method to help companies implement a supply chain management system that integrated the respect for human rights. The six-steps are:

1. Embedding human rights via a policy commitment
2. Assessing human rights impact
3. Integrating human rights in policies, procedures and responsibilities
4. Tracking human rights implementation
5. Communicating human rights impact
6. Remediating human rights impact

The Handbook offers more than just an overview of the policies and procedures needed, it also offers practical knowledge with its section on the main human rights problems typically encountered in the supply chain. Based on over a decade of global experience, the Handbook describes common problems, but more importantly, it provides possible ways to address them.   For inquiries and to pre-subscribe, please contact SAI Europe Representative Edwin Koster (EKoster@sa-intl.org).   This article originally appeared in SAI's May 2012 newsletter.