During the last decades, international developments to define human rights responsibilities of companies have been largely driven by the United Nations (UN), most notably the unanimous adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human (UNGPs). According to the UNGPs, all business enterprises regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership, and structure, are now obliged to undertake human rights due diligence (HRDD) to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts on people and the environment, thereby helping them manage potential and actual risks. This obligation has been adopted by major economies, including Germany, France, Australia, and Norway, and looks set to be adopted by the EU. Undoubtedly, this obligation will also have significant implications on both Japanese companies and Türkiye’s companies that are part of or have the global supply chain.
Japan and Türkiye have close economic ties. According to the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ data, as of 2021, 257 Japanese companies operate in Türkiye. Traditionally, the value of trade and other financial factors contributing to enabling environments for the investment had been a primary focus in the economic partnerships, however, global discourse have been evolving towards the importance of Responsible Business practices. This requires business enterprises to consider non-financial factors – their environmental and social impact, beyond their traditional focus of generating returns for owners and investors. As part of this social responsibility, business enterprises need to be able to ensure that their own actions, as well as actions of their partners along the value chain, do not adversely impact any person.
Against this background, UNDP Türkiye in association with Minerva Business and Human Rights Association and with support from the Government of Japan will implement the “Business and Human Rights: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in Türkiye” project.
The project will take a two-pronged approach. First, the project will provide guidance to Japanese companies operating in the country along with their Turkish suppliers in carrying out HRDD to assess, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts. To achieve this, Minerva and UNDP Türkiye will support Japanese companies in Türkiye and their local partners in managing human rights risks potentially associated with their operations. Companies stand to benefit from applying this approach, as businesses that demonstrate clean operations have clear advantages in placing their products on the market.
The second objective of the project is to provide capacity building and awareness-raising support for the Turkish public sector to develop policies to tackle human rights abuses in business. Minerva and UNDP Türkiye will work with public sector partners to create the rules and guidance needed to encourage companies to embrace responsible business practices.
