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Regional BHR workshops held to demystify corporate accountability concepts with HRDs
THAILAND — Manushya Foundation brought together human rights defenders and activists, members of the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR, working on a number of pertinent business and human rights issues, around four regional BHR workshops, held in Chiang Mai (12-14 May 2017), Hat Yai (19-21 May 2017), Khon Kaen (9-11 June 2017) and Rayong (23-25 June 2017). The workshops aimed at demystifying business and human rights concepts to local communities, including knowledge on corporate accountability, supply chains and human rights due diligence. Facilitated together with regional expert Debbie Stothard, Secretary General at FIDH & Coordinator at ALTSEAN-Burma, the 3-day workshops brought together communities working on: rights of migrant workers, labour rights (formal and informal workers), trade unions, indigenous peoples, stateless persons, community rights, land-related rights, environmental rights, people with disabilities, LGBTI individuals, sexual and reproductive health, drug users, people living with HIV, sex workers, women’s rights, the protection of human rights defenders, the impact of Thai outbound investments and trade agreements, with these issues being addressed throughout the course of the workshops.
The BHR capacity building workshops contributed to the implementation of the UPR recommendation made by the Swedish government during the Second UPR cycle of Thailand regarding Business & Human Rights, in particular, through capacity building allowing local communities to meaningfully contribute towards the development of the Thai Government's National Action Plan (NAP) on Business & Human Rights.
Additionally, the workshops are part of Manushya Foundation's overall Business & Human Rights strategy, furthering two core objectives. Firstly, they contributed towards our second objective, sharing knowledge for evidence-based community-led research, by enabling communities to effectively document rights violations and utilise the data they gathered to effectively advocate for change in Thailand. Additionally, they advanced our third objective, empowerment of communities through sub-grants, as grantees and case studies were selected as a result of these workshops.
Check out the reports to see how we demystify Business & Human Rights and empower local communities to be part of the Business & Human Rights response in Thailand.
View photos from the workshops by clicking the links below: