The Genpact Centre for Women’s Leadership (GCWL) and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (Working Group) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Asia-Pacific, invite you to join the Asia Consultation on applying a gender lens to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

The invitation letter is here.

Building on the consultation organized by the Working Group in Geneva on 30 November 2017, this will be one of several consultations organized by the Working Group in different world regions. The aim of this consultation is to raise sensitivity amongst all stakeholders about the need to adopt a gender lens to implement the UNGPs and inform the Working Group’s proposed guidance to assist both States and business enterprises on how to “protect, respect and remedy” the rights of women in a business context in line with the UNGPs.

Despite references to gender in the UNGPs, adequate attention has not been given to the gender-differentiated impact of businesses on women’s rights and the barriers that they face in accessing effective remedies. It is in this context that the Working Group is collaborating with all relevant partners to mainstream the gender lens to the UNGPs and business and human rights (BHR) generally.

The consultation will take place on 20-21 February 2018 at Ashoka University, Sonipat (near New Delhi) in India.

This two-day Asia consultation will provide an opportunity to:

a) unpack what it means to apply a gender lens to all three pillars of
　the UNGPs;

b) encourage states to adopt a gender lens in their National Action Plans to
　implement the UNGPs;

c) distill how businesses can integrate a gender perspective into their
　policies, processes and operations (including in supply chains);

d) discuss issues specific to women and their rights in the BHR context in
　Asia;

e) initiate a multi-stakeholder dialogue to explore ways to empower women
　who are at risk or have been adversely affected by business-related
　human rights abuses; and

f) identify elements of the guidance to be developed by the Working Group
　to assist both States and business enterprises with practical
　recommendations for what it means to “protect, respect and remedy”
　the rights of women under the UNGPs.

We would be delighted if you are able to join this consultation. Please register for the consultation here to confirm your participation.

Enquiry
Ms. Urmi Duggal
[e-mail]urmi.duggal@ashoka.edu.in