Basis for making a discussion guide

The following questions might help you focus the discussion following the films about the theme of Business and Human Rights, and Norway's role in this. You might want to cut and paste some of the following questions into a document and develop it into a guide you can use and maybe distribute during your own Mini-festival. The links below are excellent sources for more information, as are the individual websites for the films (see themes and chose the relevant film in the menu).

Questions to think about during each film

Darwin's Nightmare
How can corporate globalisation occur without having a negative impact on local human rights?

Shadow of the Holy Book
Statoil are opening a new office in Turkmenistan in 2009. Should they?

China Blue
Where do Norwegian jeans come from, and how much should they really cost?

General questions to ask after each film

We ask that you feed back a short summary of all or some of these general questions to us- as an email to sarah@humanfilm.no See Feedback Form

- To what extent do you think companies should be responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in the areas they operate? Isn't the state also responsible?
- How far down the supply chain/sphere of influence should responsibility go?
- How aware were your attendees of the role of Business in Human Rights- did they know of any Norwegian examples already where this has been an issue?
- What can individuals in Norway do?
- What should the Norwegian Government do?

Additional questions you might like to consider:
- Do you know if companies have obligations with regards to international human rights law?
- Can companies be held legally liable for international crimes?
- Are voluntary initiatives and corporate codes of conduct sufficient?

Links to more information

Norway: Business and Human Rights in foreign policy

Stortingsmelding- Næringslivets samfunnsansvar i en global økonomi. January 2009
The Norwegian Government recently issued a new white paper on Business responisbilities in a global economy.

Stortingsmeldingen tydeliggjør bedrifters ansvar når det gjelder menneskerettigheter, anstendig arbeidsliv, miljø og anti-korrupsjon. Regjeringen og utenrikstjenesten vil styrke sitt engasjement gjennom økt rådgivning, samarbeid og dialog med næringslivet. Regjeringen understreker at norske myndigheter har et selvstendig ansvar for å ivareta etiske hensyn og opptre ansvarlig, og at staten selv skal ta samfunnsansvar, som eier, investor, innkjøper og i forvaltningen av bistandsmidler.

Les stortingsmeldingen
Se lanseringen av meldingen på nett

Norwegian organisations working with these issues

ForUM for utvikling og miljø
Amnesty International Norway
Initiativ for Etisk Handel
Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative

International resources on the web

OECD watch - an international network of civil society organisations from across the world promoting corporate accountability and responsibility. The OECD Guidelines and other internationally agreed standards, principles and guidelines (such as the ILO Conventions and Declarations and The International Bill of Human Rights) provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the role and responsibility of the private sector in sustainable development and poverty eradication.

The European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) brings together national platforms of civil society organizations including NGOs, trade unions, consumers’ organizations and academic institutions promoting Corporate Accountability (CA) from all over Europe. ECCJ believes CA and also Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mechanisms should be based on international legal frameworks and principles, serving as the foundation of corporate justice.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has become a leading independent resource on the subject. The website is updated hourly with news and reports about companies’ human rights impacts worldwide – positive and negative. They seek responses from companies to allegations of misconduct: thus aiming to ensure that the coverage is balanced and encouraging companies to address concerns raised by civil society. The website covers over 4000 companies, over 180 countries. It receives over 1.5 million hits per month.
“An essential guide to the world's companies and their records on human rights.” Guardian newspaper
“No debate can move forward, no positive change can be made, without facts. The Resource Centre is the only website to provide such a broad range of balanced information on business and human rights – company by company, country by country, issue by issue.” Mary Robinson (Director of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland)

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