Session organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Partnership for Global LGBTI Equality
Webcast of the session:Meeting linkMeeting number: 848 528 134
Password: xUFKhDFj
Background to the discussion
The publication of the UN Standards of Conduct for Business Tackling Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People presents for the first time a clear articulation of the rights of LGBTI communities and what role the private sector can play in respecting these rights. The Standards lay out specific steps companies should take to tackle discrimination within their workplaces and those of their suppliers and business partners, and also calls on the private sector to stand up for the human rights of LGBTI communities in the places they do business.
However, companies face a difficult challenge with regard to implementation of these standards in countries that prohibit marriage equality, or worse, criminalize same sex relationships. This raises the question of the role of companies operating in environments where governments either fail to protect the human rights of LGBTI people or restrict or violate those rights.
In this session, we will discuss how the UN Standards can be operationalized to help companies move from respecting the rights of their LBGTI employees in countries where the rights of LGBTI people are generally protected by law to most effectively advancing and standing up for those rights in places where they do business where those rights are restricted.
Format of the session
After a brief introduction and welcome from the moderator, this interactive session will begin with observations and thoughts on the UN Standards by the OHCHR representative on the panel and Salil Tripathy, Sr. Advisor of Institute for Human Rights and Business drawn from the series of region-wide consultative meetings held to help inform development of the Standards. The discussion will then turn to Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda for his observations on the impact the Standards have had on the ground in Uganda. The moderator will then bring the ILGA representative into the conversation to comment more broadly on the global impact of the Standards and ask for specific examples of where the Standards have helped advance local discussions in particularly challenging geographies. We will then pivot to the role companies have played (and should play) in working to change discriminatory laws as we bring the corporate representative into the conversation. Finally, Leanne MacMillan, Director of Global Programs at Stonewall will highlight the Business and Advocacy Guide Stonewall is releasing to help businesses most effectively meet their responsible under the fifth Standard to “act in the public sphere”.
Throughout the discussion attendees will be invited to join the conversation and share thoughts/observations. There will be NO PowerPoint presentations, no speeches or long introductions
