In 2016, the German government issued a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights,a global standard to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights by economic activities
In 2016, the German government issued a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. The document is based on the United Nations “Guiding Principles”, a global standard to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights by economic activities. Currently, the government is evaluating the adherence to the NAP in a two-year monitoring process. If until 2020, less than half of German companies with more than 500 employees observe human rights due diligence in their business conduct, the government has announced to consider making the NAP legally binding.
The core elements of the NAP that companies have to realise are a human rights statement, the identification of and measures to ward off adverse impacts on human rights, reporting and grievance mechanisms. Since these specifications also apply to German subsidiaries abroad, the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) in cooperation with the German Embassy and other partners established the Indo-German Network Business and Human Rights and is working on structures to aid companies in implementing the NAP.
The first step is to assess the awareness and existing activities of German companies. Towards this end, IGCC in cooperation with the German Consulates conducted round tables at six locations and discussed conditions and requirements as well as advantages and disadvantages of the NAP. About 120 representatives of leading German companies participated in the round tables in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai.
The results of the discussions show that the demographic, cultural and geographical conditions in India complicate the realisation of the NAP. While about half of the participants were conscious of the German initiative, major tasks of the Network that were identified will be to increase the awareness for human rights and to offer practical knowledge on its enforcement. Participants also asked for platforms to exchange experiences and award-like incentives to foster its implementation. IGCC and its partners will be starting to offer such services in autumn 2019.