Overview

Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) is rapidly emerging as a key policy and business expectation, requiring companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and address human rights impacts throughout their operations and supply chains. While this shift presents significant opportunities to strengthen corporate accountability, it also raises important questions about implementation, regulatory coherence, meaningful stakeholder participation, and access to remedy.

This multi-stakeholder panel will explore how MHRDD can move beyond a compliance exercise to become an effective mechanism for protecting rights and strengthening responsible business conduct. Bringing together perspectives from government, business, trade unions, and civil society, the session will examine practical implementation challenges, emerging good practices, and opportunities for collaboration across the Asia-Pacific region.

Participants will explore how public policy, responsible business practices, worker participation, and multi-stakeholder engagement can contribute to effective Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), and how MHRDD can complement existing accountability and remedy mechanisms to strengthen resilience and trust across global supply chains.

Why it matters

Given that Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) gains momentum across global markets and regulatory frameworks, organizations throughout Asia-Pacific are navigating how to translate new expectations into meaningful practice. This session provides a timely opportunity to exchange practical experiences, explore implementation challenges, and identify collaborative approaches that strengthen accountability, protect rights holders, and deliver meaningful human rights outcomes.

Key questions

• How can Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) move beyond legal compliance to effectively prevent and address human rights impacts?

• What are the key challenges and opportunities for implementing MHRDD across the Asia-Pacific region?

• How can meaningful engagement with workers and affected communities strengthen accountability and access to remedy throughout the HRDD process?

• What forms of collaboration between governments, businesses, trade unions, and civil society are needed to support effective MHRDD implementation?

Who should attend?

This session is designed for government representatives and policymakers, businesses and industry associations, trade unions and workers' organizations, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, researchers, development partners, and practitioners working on Business and Human Rights, responsible business conduct, ESG, and Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD). It will also be valuable for organizations seeking to prepare for or strengthen Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) implementation in the Asia-Pacific region.

What participants will gain

• Understand the practical opportunities and challenges of implementing Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (MHRDD) across different stakeholder groups.

• Learn how governments, businesses, trade unions, and civil society can collaborate to strengthen accountability, stakeholder participation, and access to remedy.

• Explore emerging practices and lessons for translating MHRDD requirements into effective Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) implementation.

• Identify practical approaches to advancing credible, inclusive, and rights-based due diligence across global supply chains.