Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
The energy and extractive industries have a direct impact on human rights from a security perspective through the nature and scales of their operations across the world. Additionally individual companies often have a significant role to play in the countries where they choose to operate - both economically and socially.
Recognising that the safety and security of their physical assets, infrastructure and people posed a big potential risk to both governments and companies, a number of governments, NGOs and companies in the sector decided to collectively develop the Voluntary Principles (VP) on Security and Human Rights. The objective of the VPs is to provide guidelines aligned with international human rights standards, including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for companies to adopt in their operations.
All participating organisations are to adhere to criteria which involve engaging in dialogue with other members to promote and determine ways to implement the VPs. The ultimate goal of the VPs is to safeguard consistent human rights for all by encouraging companies to commit to their actions, engage with civil society and enable organisations to contribute to the welfare of local communities. The VPs fall into 3 activities:
- Risk assessment: Looks at the different factors which companies need to consider in order to conduct a comprehensive, effective risk assessment
- Interactions between companies and public security: Provides guidelines to ensure company security arrangements are aligned with both human rights standards as well as national laws
- Interactions between companies and private security: Considers the areas to focus on when companies are required to use private security to protect their assets and people in regions where no such government support exists.
Participating companies are from the energy and extractive industries and have operations in a number of countries which have been recognised to have breached international human rights requirements. Companies are required to work with other members to ensure that best practices and lessons learned regarding the 3 activities above are appropriately shared.
Individual company have developed an array of responses which outlines their approach to incorporating the VPs in their operations.
More information on the VPs can be found here
One of the member companies, BP, recently produced their guidelines which outline their Element 7 approach to implementing the VPs where the first element is engaging stakeholders and the seventh is evaluating and reporting performance. At the assessment level they have incorporated additional tools within 'Getting Security Right' - BP's security management systems - to encompass the areas set out in the VPs.
This has been supported by an effort to train staff and those they work with across private and public organisations enabling them to develop an understanding of how the principles affect the way security risks are managed within organisations.
The seventh element, evaluating and reporting, contains verification points which are assessed using a combination of both lagging and leading KPIs.
It is easy to think that the VPs apply only to the energy and extractive industries, but as these have been applied it is clear that the lessons learnt can clearly apply across all sectors and organisations. Each company has to determine how it will manage its human rights impact whether on their employees, or the wider communities in which they work.
