Niger’s human rights commission focuses on business
In September 2015, the Danish Institute for Human Rights collaborated with the National Human Rights Commission in Niger on their first common workshop on human rights and business.
The purpose of the workshop was not only to strengthen Niger’s Human Rights Commission on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights but also to reflect on the strategic role of the commission in that area. The Commission has already investigated a number of cases of human rights abuses involving business.
“By introducing international standards and sharing experiences of national human rights institutions’ work around the world, the workshop reinforced the commission in its endeavour to monitor how state and businesses operating in Niger are living up to their human rights duties and responsibilities. This is an essential agenda for Niger, where exploitation of natural resources has too often been linked to negative impacts on human rights,” the president of the commission, Khalid Ikhiri, explains.
The baseline study on the human rights impact of extractive industries published by the civil society network ROTAB with the support of the Danish Institute for Human Rights earlier this year, revealed a number of adverse human rights impacts by the mining and oil sector.
Commission can boost dialogue
The workshop was the first activity within the framework of the partnership between Niger’s reformed Human Rights Commission and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, which was concluded in early 2015. The newly independent commission has a strong mandate to promote, protect and monitor human rights.
“As an independent and trusted actor, the commission is well placed to boost the dialogue amongst business, civil society and state actors, on how to make business activities more responsible in Niger,” says senior adviser Elin Wroncki from the Danish institute.
This project was part of the Institute’s blended learning programme for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to assist NHRIs, such as the Nigerien commission, in understanding and operationalising their mandate to work on business and human rights.