Experiences gained through Thilawa Resettlement/Income Restoration Program(IRP) was shared twice with the global community on “United Nations(UN) Forum on business and human rights” in 2015 and 2017.
About the UN Forum on business and human rights
The UN Forum is the world’s largest annual gathering on business and human rights with more than 2,000 participants from government, business, community groups and civil society, law firms, investor organisations, UN bodies, national human rights institutions, trade unions, academia and the media.
Over three days, participants take part in 60+ panel discussions on topics that relate to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the United Nations works to “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework), as well as current business-related human rights issues.
The Forum is the foremost event to network, share experiences and learn about the latest entities to promote corporate respect for human rights.
The UN Human Rights Council established the Forum in 2011 to serve as a global platform for stakeholders to ”discuss trends and challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles and promote dialogue and cooperation on issues linked to business and human rights, including challenges faced in particular sectors, operational environments or in relation to specific rights or groups, as well as identifying good practices.” It is guided and chaired by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, as per Human Rights Council resolutions 17/4 and 35/7.
UN Human Rights
About the UN Forum on business and human rights
Sharing Experience with Global Community
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2015
On 16 November 2015, representatives from the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Management Committee（TSMC）, Project Affected Persons (PAPs), Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development (MJTD), the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), non-government organisations (NGOs) and the JICA Expert Team participated in a panel at the 4th United Nations (UN) Forum on Business and Human Rights held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The panel was organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in collaboration with the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights.
The focus of the panel was the Multi Stakeholder Advisory Group (MSAG) that had been formed in relation to the Thilawa SEZ. Through the MSAG, all three pillars of the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework could be applied to address specific impacts and create sustainable solutions.
The panel was titled Multi-stakeholder action across Protect, Respect and Remedy.
Panel speakers were:
- Dr. Than Aung, Joint Secretary of the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee (TSMC),(showing government commitment as the first pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights);
- Mr. Takashi Yanai, President of MJTD (showing corporate commitment as the second pillar); and a
- Thilawa resident (PAP) and Ms. Vicky Bowman, Executive Director, Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) (showing commitment to the MSAG as a grievance mechanism i.e. access to remedy as the third pillar).
Further information about the 2015 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights is available here:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Forum/Pages/2015ForumBHR.aspx
Further information about the Panel session is available here:
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2017
UN annual Forum on Business and Human Rights was held at Geneva in Switzerland from 27 to 29 November 2017. In the forum, one panel was organized concerning ‘access to remedy’ at the Thilawa SEZ. Two affected people by Thilawa SEZ development, the representative of Yangon Regional Government, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Myanmar Office, CEO of Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Limited（MJTD）, and Legal Advocacy Coordinator of Earth Rights International were invited as the panelists.
In the forum, the overview of Thilawa SEZ , the perspective of the Myanmar government regarding the benefits of SEZ on the local community, and most importantly the progress of complaint management system at Thilawa SEZ, so called ‘Thilawa Complaint Management Procedure(TCMP)’ was shared.
Further information about the 2017 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights is available here:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Forum/Pages/2017ForumBHR.aspx
Further information about the Panel session is available here:
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/ForumSession6/39_CaseStudiesAchievingAccess.pdf
