The United Nations Global Compact, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative and the Global Reporting Initiative are marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights by calling on companies to make a commitment to improve at least one aspect of their human rights reporting.  The invitation to companies to participate is central to the three organizations’ new collaborative project: “Human rights – A call to action” which aims to foster greater integration of human rights principles into corporate sustainability reporting. Ultimately, the project aims to significantly improve companies’ understanding of how and why to publicly disclose policies and practice relating to human rights.

In parallel to calling on companies to make this commitment, GRI, UN GC and Realizing Rights are assembling a multi-stakeholder expert Working Group to shape greater consensus on what constitutes good human rights practice and measurement. Workshops for companies and other reporting organizations will be held throughout the period of the project. These efforts will lead to the development of practical resources to help companies to improve their human rights performance, measurement and reporting. Watch this space for further developments as the project progresses.