Multistakeholder Initiatives

2021 ◽  
pp. 768-768
Keyword(s):  
Multistakeholder Initiatives

From Voluntary to Obligatory

2021 ◽  
pp. 259-324
Author(s):  
Erika George
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Social License To Operate ◽  
Social License ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Multistakeholder Initiatives ◽  
Human Rights Standards ◽  
Industry Sectors ◽  
Rights Issues

This chapter examines what corporations say they are doing to address human rights risks presented by particular business practices in particular contexts. It offers an overview of the different strategies being used by transnational business enterprises to respond to concerns expressed by investors, consumers, and affected communities. Among the self-regulation strategies used by businesses examined are participation in multistakeholder initiatives designed to address human rights issues, human rights impact assessments, audits and certifications, supply chain contract provisions, and corporate responses to ratings and reports by concerned stakeholder constituencies. The chapter presents the findings of a discourse analysis of codes created by competing corporations in selected industry sectors assessing over time the extent to which codes incorporate reference to human rights standards and refer to emerging self-regulation strategies. Corporate responses to allegations of complicity in abuse are analyzed. The chapter argues that the discursive frame asserted by corporate responsibility incorporating rights increasingly treats voluntary norms as obligatory to maintaining a “social license” to operate.

Bridge-Building for Social Transformation in Sport for Development and Peace

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 426-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per G. Svensson ◽  
Richard Loat
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Sport For Development ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Multistakeholder Initiatives ◽  
Theories Of Change ◽  
Bridge Building ◽  
Recent Policy

The need for new and evidence-based solutions for mobilizing stakeholders and resources in sport for development and peace (SDP) is increasingly emphasized in a number of recent policy documents including the Kazan Action Plan and a set of publications by the Commonwealth Secretariat. This paper provides a response to these calls for the development of mechanisms and toolkits to support multistakeholder collaboration. We draw on our combined experiences in SDP research, practice, and funding to identify how multistakeholder initiatives in SDP can be better leveraged. Specifically, we discuss how Brown’s (2015) five elements of bridge-building for social transformation, namely, compelling and locally relevant goals; cross-boundary leadership systems; generative theories of change; systems enabling and protecting innovation; and investment in institutionalizing change, apply in the SDP domain. The practical framework we have outlined provides a common ground and starting point to build upon for generating improved synergies among a multitude of stakeholders.

scholarly journals The Information Regulation of Business Actors

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 130-133
Author(s):  
Kishanthi Parella
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Rainforest Alliance ◽  
Persuasive Power ◽  
Multistakeholder Initiatives ◽  
Industry Associations

A transnational legal order (TLO) is emerging regarding the role of businesses in respecting human rights. This legal order includes multistakeholder initiatives, international organization recommendations and guidelines, NGO certifications, and other voluntary instruments. Many of the norms within this TLO are nonbinding and therefore lack mandatory compliance; what they may possess is persuasive power, particularly when the norms are developed, endorsed, and managed by reputable organizations. It is that reputational, or legitimacy, advantage that matters for encouraging industry associations to comply with the nonbinding norms associated with these organizations. Industry associations and other business actors will gravitate more towards legitimacy enhancing organizations when their own legitimacy is at stake. They pivot towards public organizations such as the United Nations or private NGO initiatives like the Rainforest Alliance, seeking to associate themselves publicly with these organizations that enjoy more perceived legitimacy. These business relationships with legitimizing bodies can take the form of partnerships, certifications, or other arrangements where an industry association adopts and incorporates nonbinding norms when it otherwise might not. In this essay, I discuss three transnational legal processes that encourage industry associations, their members, and other business actors to abide by nonbinding transnational legal norms concerning business and human rights.

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