On 26-27 October 2015, the Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the National Focal Point for the OECD invited representatives of non-governmental organizations to participate in a workshop titled “Plan for a Better Future. The role of the NGOs in the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and development of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.” The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Dutch (SOMO), OECD Watch and support of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The Event was organized under the honorary patronage of the Polish Ombudsman, Dr Adam Bodnar.

We are pleased to announce that BALAJCZA was a partner of this event.

The purpose of the workshop was to better acquaint representatives of non-governmental organizations with business and human rights issues, as well as to advance their knowledge and competencies in this area to increase the influence of NGOs in the implementation of the UN Guidelines on business and human rights by businesses and public administration institutions. The workshop also aimed to enable substantive and constructive participation of NGOs in the process leading to the development by the public administration of the  National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP)), on which work is due to commence this Autumn. The workshop also provided an opportunity to present the experience of NGOs from other countries i.e.,   SOMO, ICAR, Sherpa and Bern Declaration.

During the workshop, particular attention was devoted to the procedures and mechanisms for seeking justice in cases of human rights violations by enterprises and how the process leading to the development of the NAP can be used to improve the efficiency of the complaints mechanism related to the National Focal Point of the OECD in Poland and the popularization or development of other mechanisms and complaint procedures.

Furthermore, during the workshop we will attempt to map the expectations of NGOs regarding their participation in the work process on the NAP as well as the content of the NAP.