Koforidua-Ghana, Dec. 09, GNA – The Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) have started stakeholder engagements to solicit inputs for a national action plan on businesses and human rights.
In this respect, the Attorney General’s Office and the CHRAJ are conducting nationwide interviews and focus group discussions to obtain public opinion on the strategy and ensure human rights observance in business settings.
A National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR) is an evolving policy strategy designed to safeguard business enterprises from negative human rights impacts in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles.
Mrs Sylvia Adusu, the Chairperson of the Steering Committee, NAP-BHR, at a regional consultation in Koforidua, said if the public and private sectors made contributions to the NAP, it would be easier to implement and enforce.
“This national stakeholder engagement will promote law enforcement because when the plan is finally drawn for public use, the public will be familiar with it and it will not be as if the committee sat in Accra to draw the action plan for Ghanaians,” she said.
The NAP-BHR is intended to increase institutional capacity, operations, policy coordination, and implementation, as well as raise state actors’ and agencies’ awareness for the protection and promotion of human rights by businesses.
The Eastern Region was the second location for the stakeholders’ engagement, which was attended by representatives of various organisations in Koforidua.
Participants were from traditional and religious groups, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Association of Small-Scale Industries, Hairdressers and Beauticians Association, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union, and the International Child Development Programme Ghana, among others.
Mr Victor Brobbey, a member of the steering committee and lead anchor on NAP-BHR, said the committee is composed of representatives of the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Trades Union Congress, Ghana Employer Association, Ministry of Finance, Environmental Protection Agency, Private Enterprises Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Mr Thompson K. Afari, the Chief Executive Officer of Heroes under God, a Christian non-governmental organisation, and a participant, said the programme was inspiring and insightful, from which he had learnt more about business and human rights concerns.
“In our various workplaces, people tend to play down on people’s rights. I advise that we respect the rights of every human being, as every human being matters,” he added.
