In its bid to ensure that businesses operating within the country adhere to both nationally, regionally and internationally recognised human rights standards, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has inaugurated a national working group on Business and Human Rights.
The executive secretary of the NHRC, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, SAN, who disclosed this during a high-level forum on business and human rights, which took place on Wednesday in Abuja, said the occasion marked a significant milestone in the journey towards promoting responsible business practices and upholding human rights in Nigeria.
While expressing his gratitude to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approving the 2024-2027 National Action Plan on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Ojukwu revealed that the plan also contains the national action plan on business and human rights.
He added that the landmark decision demonstrated government’s recognition of the crucial link between business activities and the protection of human rights as well as marked the end of series of stakeholders’ engagement and consultative process on the draft document.
He further reiterated that inaugurating the national working committee on business and human rights will also set the stage for a sustained comprehensive and coordinated approach to address the challenges and opportunities at the nexus of business and human rights.
“The inauguration of the National Working Group on Business and Human Rights at this occasion is targeted at exploiting the opportunities presented by the National Action Plan for the Promotion of human rights to chart the future for mainstreaming Human Rights into business in Nigeria.
“Through these deliberations, we aim to identify practical strategies, innovative approaches, and effective mechanisms to ensure that businesses respect and protect human right throughout their operations and value chains. The National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights serves as our guiding framework, providing a roadmap for integrating human rights considerations into business practices. It outlines key priority areas, such as human rights due diligence, the duty is to protect by government, the responsibility to request by businesses access to remedy, sustainable development goals, and the rights of vulnerable groups,” the NHRC boss stated.
