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s it possible to exercise the principles of human rights in business corporations? This crucial question came to the fore when senior leaders from a number of giant corporations in Indonesia, civic society organizations (CSOs) and NGOs gathered in a two-day workshop themed '€œThe Importance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights for Sustainable Development'€ in Jakarta recently.

The event, co-sponsored by the Indonesian Global Compact Network (IGCN), Oxfam America, Oxfam Novib and facilitated by Shift from the Netherlands and Oxfam Indonesia, aimed to '€œreconcile'€ business interests and ethics so as to boost cooperation among business corporations, CSOs and NGOs and to address their common problems and interests.

Peer-to-peer group discussions on how to bridge business interests and worker'€™s rights highlighted some major problems, such as labor disputes over low wages, long-standing polemics on business interests versus human rights and the contradictions between profits and workers'€™ rights.

Among other common concerns of CSOs and NGOs were land grabbing by oil palm plantation projects, deforestation committed by pulp industries, poor access to water sources and bad sanitation and massive damage to the '€œlocal genius'€ of both human culture and animal habitats resulting from the destruction of forest and its conversion into oil palm plantations or pulp production facilities.

These major problems demonstrated the need for basic human rights principles to be practiced and guaranteed. Ethics and respect for human rights in the workplace and business world are urgent matters to address.

The application of the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) in the field of business and enterprise, with particular attention to the protection of water resources, land expropriation and workers'€™ rights in Indonesia need to be promoted.

David Vermijs of Shift and Gine Zwart of Novib recommended that conducting human rights due diligence could support the implementation of the UN Global Compact'€™s human and labor rights principles. Key questions arise: how do business corporations implement the UNGPs in practice and what are the key practical considerations when implementing the UNGPs?

In other words: what do the UNGPs mean for the business community and how can the same UNGPs contribute to sustainable development projects and how can the UNGP framework work to advance civil society'€™s agenda of poverty alleviation and social justice?

As Zwart and Vermijs put it, the implementation of UNGPs means a lot to civil society in Indonesia, whose economy is growing. CSOs need to organize meetings with business sectors focusing on ethics in business, because human rights and business practices are not inherently contradictory.

This urgency makes sense, since business corporations '€” both local and multinational '€” often come under suspicion by CSOs and NGOs for not respecting human rights, particularly when it comes to forced expropriation of land and other natural resources such as water. Business corporations are also suspected of not caring about the environment and promoting truly sustainable development.

To enable the business sector and workers to exchange views and perspectives and find common interests that benefit all, a forum to '€œbridge'€ the two parties is urgently needed. Collaboration and teamwork will help them properly address their common concerns and interests.

Three key issues resonate in the basic principles of the UNGPs when human rights due diligence is performed: the state'€™s duty to protect; corporations'€™ responsibility to respect and the need to give greater access to effective remedy.

The state is politically obliged to protect its citizens from human rights abuses committed by third parties, including business enterprises, through appropriate policies, regulations and adjudication. Business corporations are morally obliged to respect human rights, meaning that they should act with due diligence to avoid infringing the rights of others and to address adverse impacts that they may cause or contribute to. They are also asked to provide access to remedy to victims, both judicial and non-judicial.

In order to meet the responsibility to respect human rights, companies should set up a process to enable remediation of any adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute. Within the framework of '€œprotect, respect and remedy'€, constructive cooperation between corporations, state, CSOs and NGOs can be finally realized to pursue sustainable development goals.
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The writer is media and communication officer at the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC). The views expressed are his own.