Day 2 | 8 June

From ‘Consultation’ to ‘Participation’: A pathway to address power imbalances

9:00-10:30 ICT

Background

Consultation with relevant stakeholders is a key component of various business and human rights standards, processes and mechanisms. For example, both the UNGPs and the MNE Declaration underscore the importance of businesses consulting affected stakeholders while undertaking human rights due diligence and establishing operational-level grievance mechanisms. Consultation is also emphasized by States formulating policies, plans and laws aimed at promoting business respect for human rights, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, or conducting an environmental impact assessment.

However, there is growing evidence that States and companies consult rights holders and communities without realizing or addressing the imbalances related to information, expertise and power. The result often is a ‘tick box’ consultation on the terms and timing set by decision makers. Consequently, genuine concerns and grievances of rights holders are either not identified or addressed.

About this session

To address these imbalances between States and companies on the one hand and rightsholders on the other, this session will explore whether an informed and empowered participation of rightsholders in all decision-making processes will be a better approach. Such a participatory approach will recognise the centrality of rightsholders and respect their agency. However, not all rightsholders are the same. Therefore, the session will also examine how multi-layered and intersectional discriminations faced by vulnerable or marginalised people and groups impact their ability to participate effectively in various BHR-related decision-making processes.

Key questions

Panelists will reflect on the following questions:

Will participatory approaches better preserve the agency of rights holders in comparison to existing consultation processes?
How will the participation of affected rights holders and communities look in human rights due diligence processes and/or operational-level grievance mechanisms?
What role could various civil society actors play in ensuring that rights holders participate in decisions affecting them in an informed and empowered manner?
What does participation in various decision-making processes mean for different rights holders and communities from an intersectional perspective, e.g., children, ethnic minorities, migrants, persons with disability and Indigenous Peoples?

Speakers

Shubha Sekhar

Shubha Sekhar, Regional Director Human Rights, South Asia, Middle East and Eurasia, & Global Ventures, The Coca-Cola Company

Shubha has over 26 years of international & cross-functional experience in Human Rights, Sustainability, CSR, Law and Government, giving her a unique and practical understanding of different facets of responsible & sustainable business.

She is presently part of Coca-Cola’s global human rights department and is responsible for implementation of Coca-Cola’s Human Rights policies, due diligence efforts and multi stakeholder projects across South Asia, Middle East & Eurasia, and Global Ventures.

She represents the Company at various multi stakeholder & industry forums at global and local level. She is presently member of the Expert Committee on Business and Human Rights set up by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India), and AIM PROGRESS’ Human Rights Steering Committee and Co-Chair Grievance mechanism working Group.

She was named as one of India’s Top 25 CSR professionals, and is a regular speaker at international and regional forums organised by United Nations and other expert organisations.

Prior to The Coca-Cola Company, Shubha has worked for the Indian Government, and Norton Rose, a British Solicitor’s firm in Singapore.

She is a Masters in Law (LLM) and a Solicitor England & Wales (presently non-practising).

Betty Yolanda

Betty joined the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in 2019 as its first Asia Regional Manager and was appointed, in 2021, as Director of Regional Programmes. Betty came to the Resource Centre from 5 years at FORUM-ASIA, and prior to that at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. Betty started her human rights work at the Institute for Policy Research & Advocacy, where she spent 8 years developing and strengthening its research and international advocacy work.

Caroline Brodeur

Caroline Brodeur is a human rights practitioner specialized in capacity building and accompaniment of local communities. She works as a business and human rights senior advisor with Oxfam America since 2014 where she leads the work on community-based human rights impact assessment (COBHRA). She has recently steered the revision process of the COBHRA tool to integrate intersectional and gender-based analysis. Before that, Caroline worked at Rights & Democracy where she was part of the team that developed Getting it Right, the only tool for communities to assess the impact of investment projects on human rights. She conducted HRIAs in several countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Colombia and Ecuador and has provided trainings to a wide range of actors. She has authored many publications on COBHRA and meaningful rights holder engagement more broadly.

Tyler Giannini

Tyler Giannini is a Clinical Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School. Giannini’s work focuses on Alien Tort Statute (ATS) litigation, business and human rights, human rights and the environment as well as communities and human rights. He has extensive experience with Myanmar and South Africa and a strong interest in social entrepreneurship and clinical pedagogy in the human rights context.
Tyler Giannini is a Clinical Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School. Giannini’s work focuses on Alien Tort Statute (ATS) litigation, business and human rights, human rights and the environment as well as communities and human rights. He has extensive experience with Myanmar and South Africa and a strong interest in social entrepreneurship and clinical pedagogy in the human rights context.

AnnaMaria Oltrop

AnnaMaria Oltorp is Head of the Development Cooperation Section at the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok since September 2021. She is a staff member of the Embassy, and sent out by the Swedish development cooperation agency (Sida). Her area of responsibility is to implement Sweden’s strategy for regional development cooperation in Asia and the Pacific. For the last seven years (2014-2021), she was heading the Unit for Research Cooperation at Sida in Stockholm, with a global mandate and supporting research in all disciplines and research capacity building in countries such as Bolivia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Prior to this (2008-2014), she worked as Head for Regional Development Cooperation in Asia out of Stockholm and later in Bangkok (2011-2014). Throughout that period, she was responsible for Swedish regional development cooperation in Asia as well as bilateral development cooperation with Myanmar, and 2008-2011 also with Laos, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste. She joined Sida in 2002 and worked until 2008 at the Unit for Research Cooperation as a senior research adviser and later as head of the section for health and social sciences research. AnnaMaria has a research background in Economics and Environmental Economics from Stockholm School of Economics, focusing on trade, institutions and tropical deforestation. In 1995/1996 she worked as lecturer for MSc students in international economics at Cambodia Development Research Institute (CDRI) in Phnom Penh.

Harpreet Kaur

Harpreet is a Business and Human rights Specialist at UNDP. She provides technical and advisory support to governments and businesses on how to mitigate and address human rights risks and impacts in operations and supply chains in Asia. Previously, Harpreet led Genpact Centre for Women’s Leadership at Ashoka University where she steered the Women, Workplace & Rights agenda and designed cutting-edge programs that enabled women to lead with equality and dignity. At the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Harpreet highlighted corporates’ human rights impacts through her research and writing. In her early years, Harpreet led governance projects in the conflict-ridden Jammu and Kashmir in India using media and communication and supported the track-II diplomacy process. Harpreet serves as a Council Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Human Rights.

United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum, Asia-Pacific

Day 2 | 8 June

From ‘Consultation’ to ‘Participation’: A pathway to address power imbalances

9:00-10:30 ICT

Background

About this session

Key questions

Speakers

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United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum, Asia-Pacific

Day 2 | 8 June

From ‘Consultation’ to ‘Participation’: A pathway to address power imbalances

9:00-10:30 ICT

Background

​

About this session

​

​

Key questions

Speakers

Contact us

Menu