Consultation on National Action Plan for Business & Human Rights in Pakistan – an event organized by Ministry of Human Rights in collaboration with Research Society of International Law and United Nations Development Program- Pakistan was held on1 7th October at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore. CCL was proud to be a part of this important event represented by Amna Iqbal who also attended the consultation as a lawyer on an invitation from the Ministry of Human Rights of Pakistan. Pakistan has begun the important process of drafting a comprehensive NAP on Business & Human Rights coming in par with countries like Netherlands, UK and Germany. The event was attended by notable people including Joint Secretary-Ministry of Human Rights Malik Kamran Azam Khan Rajar, Founder of Research Society of International Law Mr. Ahmer Bilal Sufi among other government officials, civil society members, business owners and lawyers.
B&HR was discussed with reference to United Nation’s Guiding Principles (UNGP’s) adopted in 2011 which has three main pillars “The State Duty to Protect Human Rights, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights and Access to Remedy”. Business enterprises should respect human rights which means that they should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved. Amna Iqbal, CCL’s representative from the company’s legal department talked about the company’s contribution to basic human rights at their organization which include Labor Rights (working hours, leaves, minimum wages, WPPF, PF, EOBI, Life insurance, Social Security etc.), Equal Opportunity Employer and Diversity & Inclusion i-e gender, religion, ethnicities, differently abled persons, Harassment policy as per law, Environmental compliance, Safety and Security of workers and employees.
