Shift Chair and former United Nations top official on business and human rights John Ruggie has been asked by the world governing body of football FIFA to develop recommendations for embedding the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into FIFA’s policies and practices. Ruggie’s recommendations will be based on a comprehensive review of human rights in the context of FIFA’s activities and events. Ruggie will publish an independent public report at the end of March 2016.
Ruggie will be supported by a team from Shift and will consult with a range of internal and external stakeholder to undertake the review and develop his recommendations.
“FIFA’s global reach means that this initiative has the potential to make a difference where it matters most: in the daily lives of people,” said Ruggie. “I fully recognize that there will be challenges and complex change takes time. However, this has the potential to set the bar for other global sports organizations, and place respect for human rights front and center for a broad range of entities involved in global sporting events.”
“This is another important step in our ongoing reform process,” said acting FIFA President Issa Hayatou. “I am proud to see that FIFA is taking the lead among international sports organizations on such an important topic. Football and FIFA have an important role to play in this field; respect for human rights has to be at the core of our sport.”
This initiative builds on FIFA’s commitment to recognizing the relevance of the UN Guiding Principles to its operations, seeking technical support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and announcing publicly its plans to make the Guiding Principles part of how it conducts its activities.
Press releases: Harvard Kennedy School | FIFA |
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