Increasingly, investors are becoming interested in understanding to what extent companies are respecting human rights, and whether their efforts are likely to improve the lives of affected people. A good place to start is by reading a company’s human rights disclosure. But company reports are often hard to analyze. On the surface, many companies will seem to be doing the right thing. But, how can investors tell whether what they are reading is meaningful and in line with what the UN Guiding Principles expect? This collection of resources was designed by Shift to help investors apply a people-centered approach to gain deeper insights from company disclosure.
In particular, this resource uses excerpts from companies’ reporting on their engagement with vulnerable stakeholders. We have selected five excerpts from companies that have generally taken a forward position on business and human rights and are considered leaders in reporting within their sector. We provide a brief analysis of each excerpt highlighting strengths in the insights it offers and noting elements that could make it stronger.
This may also be a useful tool for practitioners within businesses who want to improve how they report on these issues, and for other stakeholders who are interested in analyzing and assessing the quality of a company’s human rights disclosure.
