New moderator for Danish Business Network for Human Rights
The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) have been established as secretariat and moderator of the Danish Business Network for Human Rights (DBNHR).
DBNHR is a business network for global companies that work strategically and operationally with human rights issues in their organisations and supply chains. The network has been expanding since its establishment, in terms of membership and activities, and will continuously work towards capturing new opportunities and linkages to develop the network and ensure a high level of support and benefits to the members and their implementation efforts.
The role as moderator of this network gives us a unique opportunity to support the way big Danish companies work with human rights.
DBNHR serves as a forum for capacity development and peer-to-peer learning on human rights. This is a key element in the network says Claus Teilmann Pedersen, Vice President in the Ethics Group at PANDORA: "It is important to us that we get a chance, and a space, to discuss the human rights challenges that we face in our respective companies. When we meet challenges or want to make a special effort in one area, then the network is a great sounding board to have. "
Improve human rights performance
Ultimately, the aim of the network is to enable improved human rights performance by the members. DIHR will contribute to this by moderating the meetings and serve as a professional secretariat for the network. The knowledge that the institute brings, as secretariat of the network, has been pivotal to choosing the institute, says Malene Østergaard, CSR & Environment Director at Danfoss: "With The Danish Institute for Human Rights, we get access to a lot of human rights experts. These experts have experience in advising companies on concrete action in regards to human rights, and that is very valuable to us".
Open to new members
For the moment, the network is open to new members and Malene Østergaard believes that it is very attractive to confer with like-minded people in a confidential space: "Global companies share the challenge that we all have to deal with human rights. The network functions as a forum where we can work out how to handle these challenges.
Companies, who are interested in more information or wish to become members, can contact Signe Andreasen Lysgaard via sigl@humanrights.dk or +45 91325780.
The network is targeted at dedicated professionals who recognize the value of getting concrete advice from international experts in human rights. It is member-driven, and has a steering group, which manages the development of the network and co-develops agendas for the meetings. The Steering Group is composed by representatives of the members as well as DIHR. Members of the network include A.P. Møller Mærsk, Arla, Danfoss, Haldor Topsøe, LEGO, PANDORA, Top-Toy, Vestas, Hempel, IKEA and Novo Nordisk.