Human Rights Governance

Board oversight of human rights is an essential element of corporate governance, reflecting the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and emerging mandatory human rights due diligence legislation.

Effective human rights governance requires board-level responsibility for human rights policy and oversight, a publicly available human rights policy commitment, human rights due diligence processes integrated into business operations, grievance mechanisms for affected stakeholders, and regular reporting on human rights performance. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence across their value chains, with board-level oversight.

Further Reading

• G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
• ESRS

Key Resources

• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Corporate Human Rights Benchmark

Related Topics

• Board Responsibilities
• Disclosure & Transparency
• Sustainability & Resilience