By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, Oct.18, GNA – Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana will soon adopt and launch its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights towards advancing responsible business conduct.
This follows an ongoing collaboration between the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, with support from other key stakeholders.
Vice President Bawumia announced this at the 14th Biennial Conference of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions in Accra, on Wednesday.
The three-day conference was on the theme, “Nurturing Responsible Business Conduct and Respect for Human Rights in Africa: The Role of African National Human Rights Institutions in Centring Human Rights and People’s Rights in the Context of Business Operations and the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement”.
The event brought together 46 national human rights institutions from six African countries, human rights commissioners, and activists to deliberate on the way forward towards advancing responsible business conduct and human rights of the citizens.
Dr Bawumia entreated national human rights institutions in Africa to continue to monitor business operations and investigate allegations of abuses and ensure that victims received the needed remedies.
“The violations that do not get reported but come to your attention through your monitoring and engagements, take all the necessary steps available to you legally and in line with the Paris Principles to see to it that they are addressed,” Dr Bawumia advised the participants.
He commended the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) for the ground-breaking roles it had been playing in business and human rights and organising the conference to engender best practices among member countries.
“I am aware that the Commission in the year 2020 conducted a national baseline assessment on the Voluntary Principles of Security and Human Rights in the Extractive Sector in Ghana and in 2021 concluded the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights in Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration as a prelude to the processes towards the development and adoption of a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
“As a government, we will support the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to always deliver on its mandate,” the Vice President assured.
“I urge all African leaders to do same for their national human rights institutions as we need very strong, independent and results oriented national human rights institutions to provide the necessary guidance in improving on the human rights records in our respective countries and the continent as a whole,” he stated.
The Vice President noted that it would require a collective action by all stakeholders including governments, national human rights institutions, corporate actors, and civil society organisations to advancing responsible business conduct and the respect for human rights.
He said the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights represented a courageous and essential call to action by all stakeholders to help transform the world into a better place to live in.
Vice President Bawumia congratulated the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whittal, for taking over the reins of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions and CHRAJ in general for the good works done over the years in promoting human rights issues in Ghana.
The Vice President expressed the belief that the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions would continue to build on its gains, undertake more research activities in the area of business and human rights and come out with very significant findings and recommendations that would shape policy, improve the business climate, contribute massively to building resilient economies in Africa, which would lead to sustainable development.
The Government, he said, was looking forward to receiving the outcome document at the end of the conference.
GNA