UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator Program 2025

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About UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator Program

The idea of human rights is as simple as it is powerful: That all people have a right to be treated with dignity. 

Business is about people. Directly or indirectly, businesses often impact the human rights of their employees and contract workers, workers in their supply chains, the communities around their operations and the end users of their products or services. Businesses impact virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights. 

As a result, companies have both a responsibility and an opportunity to advance human rights across their operations, supply chains and beyond. Is your company able to know and show that it supports and respects the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights, and that it is not complicit in human rights abuses? 

The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme activating companies participating in the UN Global Compact across industries and regions. The objective is to help businesses swiftly move from commitment to action on human rights and labour rights through establishing an ongoing human rights due diligence process.

• Sponsor Organisation: United Nations (UN)

Benefits of UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator Program

What You Will Learn

• How to identify your responsibilities in respecting human rights and labour rights, expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
• How to establish an ongoing human rights due diligence process in line with international standards
• How to prepare organizations for evolving human rights due diligence legislation that is aligned with international standards 
• How to report and communicate on your human rights due diligence outcomes, including through the Communication on Progress, the annual public disclosure requirement for all UN Global Compact participants
• How to connect human rights and the human rights due diligence process with social sustainability initiatives

What You Will Gain

• An understanding of where your company is on their human rights journey
• An assessment of actual and potential adverse human rights impacts and the ability to prioritize action
• The ability to mitigate your human rights impacts, including grievance mechanisms and remedy
• Ways to effectively engage stakeholders on operational impacts on people
• A network of peers, UN partners and experts to support your human rights journey and work collectively to tackle persistent barriers to human rights due diligence.
• A certificate demonstrating completion of programme

UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator Program Requirements

Who can participate?

To take part in the Business & Human Rights Accelerator, companies are required to be participants of the UN Global Compact or willing to join. Your company should also be:

• Currently engaged with a Global Compact Country Network in your region or willing to join
• Willing to identify its human rights risks and impacts and scope a core area of your value chain for further focus
• Committed to developing an Action Plan to help address the human rights risks identified and prioritized
• Able to appoint two working-level representatives to attend sessions and participate in Accelerator activities and an additional executive-level representative to follow programme developments, provide support and participate in high-level events.
• Commit to completing the programme and embedding the learnings across the company strategy and operations

Application Date and Process

Interested in Participating?

In-Country Track: In-country tracks are facilitated in the local language and local time zone wherever possible. It will feature a series of live and on-demand sessions, hands-on support, workshops, and peer-to-peer networking opportunities.

In addition to the in-country tracks, there will be several regional tracks. 

Africa Track: The Africa track will bring together companies from across the continent and offer the same curriculum as the in-country track delivered through a series of global and on-demand sessions. Peer-to-peer sessions will focus on regional best practice and case studies.

Asia Track: The Asia track will bring together companies from across the region and offer the same curriculum as the in-country track delivered through a series of global and on-demand sessions. Peer-to-peer sessions will focus on regional best practice and case studies.

Latin America Track: The Latin America track will bring together companies from the region and offer the same curriculum as the in-country track delivered through a series of global and on-demand sessions. Peer-to-peer sessions will focus on regional best practice and case studies.

Global Track: Facilitated in English, the global track is available for companies that do not have a Country Network running the Business & Human Rights Accelerator. It will offer the same curriculum as the in-country track, and is delivered in English through a series of live and on-demand sessions. Space is limited. Please apply early.

Participating companies of the UN Global Compact based in the countries below have the opportunity to sign up to the in-country track through their Global Compact Country Network. If your company is not located in one of the countries below, you can still apply to the global track.

• Click on the link to the application website to get started. 

Application Deadline

20 December, 2024

Scholarship Application Portal

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