Businesses play a major role in societies by creating jobs, revenue, innovation, and delivery of goods and services. The UN guiding principles on businesses and human rights recognize that states and companies must work to ensure they prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses in business operations.

To support businesses to respect human rights, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with funding from the Government of Japan is implementing a project to ensure responsible business practices in 17 countries globally including three African countries (Kenya, Mozambique, and Ghana). In Ghana, as part of the project implementation, a national action plan is being developed. To facilitate the development and implementation of the action plan, the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in collaboration with the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, and UNDP organized a training workshop for the Steering Committee members who are developing the action plan. The members are drawn from the Government sector, Academia, Civil Society Organizations, and the private sector. The aim of the training was to equip them with the requisite skills and relevant knowledge on business and human rights.

In her opening remarks, the UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Angela Lusigi, called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to drive a transformational change and co-create together the future of business towards sustainable development.

“At UNDP, we believe that there are opportunities for us to work together to consolidate gains and take bold and decisive steps in the area of business and human rights to ensure that human rights are protected at all times”, Dr. Lusigi noted.

Speaking at the workshop, the CHRAJ Commissioner emphasized the importance of the development of the national action plan on business and human rights in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and encouraged concerted efforts to motivate institutions to respect human rights.

“The fight to protect human rights in businesses is a fight for all. As we advance policies to promote responsible business conduct, businesses must leverage these policies to adopt human rights approach in their operations," he stated.

Participants at the training, were taken through topics such as the development process of the national action plan, its purpose and scope. The training also emphasized the need to ensure inclusivity and non-discrimination in the development process.