Professor Jan Eijsbouts, Chairman of the World Legal Forum foundation, WLF, Board Member of the CSR Conflict Management Center, ACCESS On 6/7 December 2012 you will present the conference "Resolving Company-Community Conflicts“ in The Hague. What is it about? The World Legal Forum foundation and its partners in the HUGO CSR Initiative will host the launching conference of a CSR Conflict Management Center at Madurodam in The Hague, the Netherlands to discuss multi-stakeholder perspectives on company-community conflicts. Over the course of two days, panels and workshops will reveal the nature of company-community conflicts, processes involved in resolving these types of disputes, and the landscape of appropriate remedies. With a broad range of speakers and contributors, the conference will offer a comprehensive view of multi-stakeholder perspectives bearing on the resolution of conflicts. Representatives from the international community will compare the challenges they have encountered in resolving company-community conflicts. Representatives of Civil Society Organizations will share information about judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms, conveying a retrospective analysis of what makes alternative dispute resolution successful. Panelists from the local and international business community will impart their knowledge and experience about processes in managing risk and addressing conflict at the company level. Dispute resolution facilitators will inform the audience on the various roles that neutrals play throughout life-cycles of company-community relations. A unique feature of the conference will be the presentation of five recent case stories by the involved parties themselves. This will give the conference participants a valuable opportunity to exchange and appreciate multi-stakeholder viewpoints of company-community disputes. The conference will be an ideal launch for ACCESS (the official name of the CSR Conflict Management Center), an independent international facility designed to facilitate, support, and contribute towards locally driven processes of company-community dispute resolution. Are CSR-related company-community conflicts increasing these days? Business inevitably has impacts on local communities all over the world; these impacts can be positive (including social and economic development in the region), but also negative (such as human rights impacts and environmental and labor concerns). CSR is about the responsibility of enterprises for all impacts that they have on society. Over the last decades, globalization has allowed companies to expand their business worldwide, and has led to greater awareness of the impacts that business has on society, such as consumers questioning the origin of the products they buy in the supermarket. There is not necessarily an increase in company-community conflicts. Rather, there is an increased awareness of the benefits for both companies and communities of preventing possible conflicts between them through dialogue, promoting positive business impact, and mitigating negative business impact. In June 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as prepared by United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie, have been unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council. These Guidelines and the underlying "Protect, Respect and Remedy" framework, are expected to promote more responsible business conduct and for this reason are endorsed by the OECD as well and adopted in the 2011 edition of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Regarding the third pillar of the Guiding Principles, "access to remedy", Prof. Ruggie concludes that the "current patchwork of mechanisms remains incomplete and flawed", and that "it must be improved in its parts and as a whole". Recent research demonstrates that there is a clear need for an independent international facility to support locally driven dispute resolution for CSR related disputes between companies and local communities. Non-judicial mechanisms for handling grievances, complaints or disputes provide an essential supplement to the court system. These kinds of mechanisms are in particular useful for international company-community conflicts. In many situations, a voluntary approach may be most appropriate for finding a sustainable solution for these types of conflicts. One feature in The Hague will be the presentation of the CSR Conflict Management Center, ACCESS. What will be its mission? After two years of preparation, research and multi-stakeholder consultations, ACCESS will be launched at its opening conference in The Hague, the Netherlands. The conference "Resolving Company-Community Conflicts: Practical approaches and multi-stakeholder perspectives" will offer a comprehensive view of multi-stakeholder perspectives on the non-judicial resolution of company-community conflicts. ACCESS is an independent international facility that aims at supporting the implementation of the "access to remedy" pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. ACCESS is not a grievance mechanism itself and will not be involved in the actual resolution of conflicts. ACCESS aspires to be the global portal for building knowledge and enabling access to effective non-judicial dispute management in CSR-related company-community conflicts. The objective is to contribute to enhancing dialogue-based resolution of disputes between companies and communities. It has joined forces with Harvard CSRI, the Company-Community Dialogue Facilitators Forum and The Hague Institute for Global Justice. Next to its managing board, a multi-stakeholder advisory board is in preparation to secure ACCESS' credibility and neutrality towards all of its stakeholder groups. ACCESS aims at fulfilling its objectives by cooperating as much as possible with its stakeholders and other actors already active in this domain. Being the host of a redesigned version of BASESwiki.org, ACCESS offers: 1. a substantial database of case stories with multi-stakeholder perspectives, related to a diversity of company-community dialogue processes; 2. a (searchable) repository of information on grievance mechanisms as well as a navigational tool to help parties make an informed choice with respect to selecting the most suitable mechanism(s) related to their specific situation; and 3. a (searchable) directory of professional neutrals developed and maintained in cooperation with the Company-Community Dialogue Facilitators Forum (CCDFF: "the Forum") Due to new technology we see more and more organisations running their conferences virtually. Why do you decide to meet face-to-face? Virtual conferences are a convenient way to meet and discuss issues briefly, but are no substitute for face-to-face interactions. By bringing people from around the world together in one place, WLF helps foster more meaningful relationships that last over the long-term. Over the course of two days, conference participants are able to discuss professional topics while simultaneously socializing and getting to know each other and understand each other’s backgrounds. This is especially important in multi-stakeholder conferences, such as the upcoming conference in December. Face-to-face interactions allow for spontaneous discussions and encourage more active involvement. WLF strives to be an international organization, arranging memorable conferences that truly bridge the gap between different national perspectives. As the public interest becomes increasingly global, it is important that leaders are part of a global community. Face-to-face meetings create a sense of community that would be impossible in a virtual conference. Why did you choose The Hague for your conference? The secretariat of the ACCESS will be located in The Hague, the world’s leading hub for peace and justice. The city is home to a range of important courts and tribunals, including the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice. Additionally, the city hosts many international civil society organizations and outstanding knowledge institutions in the field of international law and justice, and houses the famous Peace Palace Library. For these reasons, we feel that The Hague is an appropriate location to have the launching conference take place. The World Legal Forum foundation (WLF) enhances the interaction between international law and public and private stakeholders worldwide. WLF’s activities include developing and establishing international market oriented products and services. www.worldlegalforum.org To access the program, or register for the conference "Resolving Company-Community Conflicts“, please visit: www.csr-conflictmanagementcenter.org | ||||||