Danish Institute for Human Rights and Kenya Human Rights Commission to play key role in Kenya national action plan
The fact base consists of two components. The first, the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights, will comprehensively map government efforts to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This includes laws relating to labour conditions, environmental protections, revenue sharing, and land purchase by companies, among others. It also includes an assessment of the enforcement capacity of government bodies, such as the labour inspectorate and the investment authority.
The Baseline will be prepared according to a methodology jointly developed by DIHR and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and recommended by the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Business. The methodology has been used in a number of countries by civil society, NHRIs and academic institutions and was recently applied in the preparation of the Zambia National Baseline Assessment. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights will play a key supporting role in this process.
The second component commissioned as part of the National Action Plan process is a survey of business-related human rights impacts in Kenya. This will provide an overview of potential and actual abuses by businesses, with a focus on sectors and regions with the most severe impacts. This will be prepared according to a methodology created as part of DIHR’s Human Rights and Business Country Guide.
The Baseline and the impact survey will be carried out through comprehensive research and consultation, and drafts will be released to the public and presented to the government for comment on May 31, 2016. On the basis of the findings of the two documents, the government will carry out further consultations toward the completion and implementation of the National Action Plan.
Funding partner: Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA)
Photo from Nakuru in Kenya by Viktor Dobai
KHRC was founded in 1991 and registered in Kenya in 1994 as a national non-governmental organisation. Throughout its existence, the core agenda of the Commission has been campaigning for the entrenchment of a human rights and democratic culture in Kenya. Its founders and staff are among the foremost leaders and activists in struggles for human rights and democratic reforms in Kenya. KHRC works at community level with human rights networks (HURINETS) across Kenya and links community, national and international human rights concerns.