Vicky Bowman, Director MCRB, and Allan Lerberg Jorgensen, Director, Human Rights and Development Department, of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), one of MCRB’s co-founding organisations, made presentations to a seminar on 29 June in Tokyo on ‘Responsible Business, Responsible Supply Chain: How should Japan implement UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in its policy and practice?” Read more: http://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/news/seminar-business-human-rights-tokyo.html

1. Responsible Business and
Human Rights Risk in
Emerging Markets
Vicky Bowman, Director, Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
IDE-JETRO
Tokyo 29 July 2016
www.mcrb.org.mm
myanmar.responsible.business

2. Current core funders:
• UK Department
for International
Development
• DANIDA (Danish
development aid)
• Norway
• Switzerland
• Netherlands
• Ireland
www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org
15 Shan Yeiktha Street,
Sanchaung, Yangon
Tel/Fax: 01 510069
Founders:
Objective: To provide an effective and legitimate
platform for the creation of knowledge, capacity and
dialogue concerning responsible business in
Myanmar, based on local needs and international
standards, that results in more responsible business
practices.

3. http://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/pdf/trifold/jp.pdf

4. www.mcrb.org.mm
myanmar.responsible.business

5. What are the human rights
risks and challenges that
businesses face, particularly in
developing economies?

6.  Land
 Supply chain issues such as weak labour law, poor safety
practices
 Poor protection of children’s rights
 Ethnic and Indigenous Peoples
 Discrimination
 Conflict, insecurity, role of military
 Lack of effective regulation and weak institutions
 Lack of transparency
 Restrictions on freedom of expression and association
 Lack of remedy for abuses
 Corruption
 Poverty, lack of health and education

7.  Myanmar civil society
and NGOs
 International NGOs
 Media – local and
international
 Shareholders
 Governments –
Myanmar, and home
states, particularly US

8.  Lack of jobs
 Lack of access to electricity, health and education
 Water shortages
 Poor infrastructure and roads
 Access to Insecure land tenure, loss of land and livelihood
 Mistrust of government especially in ethnic states
 Lack of information
 Lack of access to remedy
 Fear of military particularly in post-conflict areas
 Intercommunal tension

9. Japan’s investment/trade in Myanmar
 Telecoms
 Thilawa (and Dawei?)
Special Economic Zone
 Garment
manufacturer/supply chain
 Light manufacturing including
beverages
 Infrastructure eg power,
hydropower, railway (incl
JICA funded projects)
 Financial services
 Trading: electronic
equipment, healthcare etc
 JV partner in offshore gas

10. 10% MOECO, 90% Shell
3 offshore blocks in
Myanmar
Human rights issues
 Impact on fishing
communities
 Potential for oil
spill/emergency and
other environmental
damage
 Interaction with boat
people

11. www.global-business-initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Chapter-Five-Joint-Ventures.pdf
 Multiple (clashing?) company cultures
 Capital intensive, heavy human rights impact
projects (e.g. extractives)
 Complex business and governance
relationships
 Minority partners may be held
accountable/assumed to have leverage

12. 55% Kirin
45% Union of Myanmar
Economic Holdings (military)
Human rights and RBC issues:
• Water use/communities
• Land/squatter communities
around factory
• Responsible drinking, safety
• Beer girls/promotion
• Labour, freedom of
association
• Taxation

14. More beer &
human rights……

15. Choose JVs and JV partners with care
Before forming a JV, use various avenues to convey
human rights expectations to business partners.
Understand the issues - human rights due diligence;
consult external stakeholders
Design JV agreements to consider human rights explicitly:
 operating procedures and human rights policies
 management positions
 reporting arrangements, audit rights
 Contractual requirements, exit clauses
 Reference to existing company or international
standards – provides leverage
 Protect against human rights legacy issues (‘conditions
precedent’; liability)
Managing human rights risk in JVs

16. • Action Labor Rights (ALR) March 2016 report
• Compares mid-2015conditions in Korean-connected
factories to Myanmar legal requirements.
• Reveals significant non-compliance on the part of many
factories, particularly concerning laws on working hours
and overtime.
• Almost 30% of the factories surveyed failed to abide by
the maximum 16 hours weekly overtime limit.
• Nearly two thirds of workers surveyed (62%) reported
being unable to refuse working excessive hours.
• 30% of workers said they were provided payslips only in
English or Korean, direct breach of Myanmar law which
requires payslip information to be provided in Burmese.
• Only 40% of workers claimed that they have signed
employment contracts; many of these did not have their
own copy.
• 14% of factories surveyed have Workplace Co-
ordinating Committee (a legal requirement).
Labour and
supply chain

17.  Make this an area of competitive advantage
 Use the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as a guide
 Consider other rightsholders in addition to employees
 Adopt policy commitment that covers key risk areas for the company
 Undertake ‘Enhanced human rights due diligence’ to understand potential impacts
of company in specific situations, markets, projects;
 Don’t rely on legal documentation
 Don’t wave chequebooks or talk about ‘CSR’ – focus on behaviour and
engagement
 Proactively engage with communities, workers/their representatives, and ‘at risk’
groups e.g. women, minorities, children, NGOs
 Accessible, frequent two-way communication (e.g. language, format of meeting)
 Establish accessible “one stop shop” for effective resolution of concerns
(Operational Grievance Mechanisms)
 Be transparent – make information about operations available online and locally
 Participate in peer-to-peer forums, and multistakeholder discussions
 ‘Know and show’

18. Public “Business Sustainability Update” every
six months which covers:
 Health and Safety Incidents
 Incidents of child labour (under-18) and follow-
up steps
 Other breaches of Supplier Conduct Principles
(SCP)
Telenor’s mitigation and
remedy measures
 Policies on child labour
etc
 employee and supplier
training (including with
ILO), training for local
community on its child
labour policies.
 unannounced site
inspections of
towers/fibre-laying
 Community Liaison
Officers in all regions and
divisions to maintain
dialogue with
communities e.g on
safety concerns,
generator noise

19. Developed an Operational Grievance Mechanism (GM) for Mann oil field
 Consistent with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
 Ability to lodge concerns/complaints directly with a community volunteer in
each village or through GM suggestion boxes
 MPRL E&P Field Officer
◦ contacts community member who lodged the complaint,
◦ identifies with them an appropriate response
◦ informs of the time it will take to address the concern
 MPRL E&P and MOGE: review, record and measure damage
 Outcomes are recorded, tracked and publicly reported on
 The advantages of GM:
◦ building effective partnerships between communities
◦ improve brand and reputation
◦ risk mitigation

20.  Support implementation of the corporate responsibility to respect human
rights; help Japanese companies to ‘Know and show’
 Embassies should build good civil society and human rights defender
contacts and facilitate initial introductions with companies
 Embassies can share information with companies on human rights
risks
 Embassies/Tokyo can help showcase good practice by Japanese
companies
 Support in-country strengthening of environmental/social policies/legal
frameworks through technical assistance.
 Ensure investment and free trade agreements reinforce responsible
business practices
 Promote transparency, including of corporate governance

21. ありがとうございました
Thank you!
www.mcrb.org.mm
myanmar.responsible.business