News
| 29.05.2020

What is the status of human rights performance of Finnish companies?

Hanken School of Economics, FIANT Consulting Oy, 3bility Consulting and The Human Rights Centre (HRC) implement a research project called SIHTI (Status of Human Rights Performance of Finnish Companies). The aim of the project is to obtain comprehensive overview of how Finnish companies are fulfilling their human rights responsibilities in relation to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The project uses the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) methodology, which estimates how companies fulfill their human rights responsibilities. Companies in four sectors (agricultural products, information and communications technology manufacturing, apparel industry and extractives industry) are evaluated on comprehensive sector-specific methodology.

The research project also seeks information on how the CHRB methodology is suited for regular monitoring of the human rights performance of Finnish companies. In addition, a significant number of other large Finnish companies are evaluated on a narrower methodology that concentrates on the core human rights responsibilities of companies. The research includes approximately 80 companies that are on the TE500 list, which is the list of the biggest 500 companies in Finland.

Decision makers are given important knowledge about companies' human rights performance that helps them in policy steering, legislation, and development of other operations. Companies are provided important information about concrete actions that they can take in order to develop their activities in respecting human rights.

The project aims to find the best ways to support Finnish companies in communicating about how they are fulfilling their human rights responsibilities. Other stakeholders, such as investors and non-governmental organizations, can utilize the results and knowledge produced in the project in their own actions which promote responsible business.

The project is implemented under Government of Finland’s research, analysis and assessment activities. The steering committee of the project is comprised of Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and the Government of Finland.

More information:

 

Nikodemus Solitander
Project lead
Phone 040 352 1451
E-mail: solitander(at)hanken.fi

 

Web site: http://www.hanken.fi/sihti   

Twitter: @ProjectSihti #sihti