#13 Fernanda Hopenhaym: Reflections on the 11th UN Business and Human Rights Forum

Listen to Fernanda Hopenhaym, Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The new Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Fernanda Hopenhaym, joins Frankly Speaking to reflect on the key insights from last week’s global gathering of 1000 businesses, government and civil society representatives. A Uruguayan Mexican researcher and advocate who has been active in civil society organisations and social movements for over 20 years, Fernanda is currently the executive director of PODER, which promotes corporate transparency and accountability across Latin American countries.

Listen in to learn more about:

How rights-holders were at the centre of all the discussions
Rebalancing of power between corporations and citizens and local communities
Russian invasion of Ukraine and human rights in times of conflicts
State of play of the negotiations of the international legally binding instrument on business and human rights
Responsible lobbying vs. corporate capture
What's next on the UN Working Group agenda

Resources

UN experts launch new guidance for businesses working in conflict-affected regions: https://bit.ly/3P9mwVj
ECSR NET: Corporate Capture Project: https://bit.ly/3XWL2Nz
Business engagement with political processes must not lead to human rights abuses: UN experts: https://bit.ly/3XVveKO‍
Summary of the 11th UN Business and Human Rights Forum in the series of articles by Richard Howitt: https://bit.ly/3F5ZRER

“A key message of this year’s UN Forum was ‘We need to listen to people firsthand’. If I'm a company, I need to sit down with rights-holders directly, not just through advisors that tell me how to engage with communities. I heard from different rights-holders that they felt they were outside in front of the UN protesting. And now they are in the room, not only as audience, but with a mike in the panel. That's a long way to go!”

Fernanda Hopenhaym in Frankly Speaking