Nepal
Nepal’s first NAP was launched on 23 March 2024.
Available NAPs
Nepal: 1st NAP (2024-2028)
NAP Development Process
Status
Nepal endorsed its first NAP on BHR on 27 December 2023 and it was launched by the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari on 23rd of March 2024.
Process
The government of Nepal began a process to develop a BHR NAP in September 2020.
The development was one of the key actions in the national human rights action plan introduced by the Nepal government in 2020.
The development process was led by a task force under the leadership of the labour ministry, including representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office; the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries.
Support was provided by the UNDP in Nepal and the governments of Japan and Norway.
Stakeholder Participation
In 2023, the Nepal BHR Network and other stakeholders led national consultations on a draft National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
The Nepal BHR Network organised the 2nd national consultation on the draft National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights with CSOs leaders and human rights defenders represented from 77 districts and 7 provinces on 15th March 2023 after the government of Nepal officially made the public the first draft for the comments and suggestions by the people. The consultation and conference program were organised to inform stakeholders on the preparation process of the National Action Plan on BHR as well as gather perspectives, suggestions and comments of the civil society organisations and human rights defenders on the draft NAP. More than 150 representatives from various organisations actively participated and 20 people shared their views on NAPs and the importance of the BHR standards for Nepal. Major issues highlighted which should be addressed through the NAP include the informal workforce, conducting assessment of BHR issues in certain sectors, developing due diligence processes for the business sector and sensitising local governments on BHR.
Some major recommendations provided by consultation include:
– Conduct an assessment of status of BHR in certain sectors to identify the gap in compliance between standard of the NAP and actual status.
– Organise inclusive consultation on the NAP with CSOs and thematic groups including children, disabled, women, youth, LGBTIQ and indigenous communities.
– The NAP should focus on FDI enabled infrastructure projects while being mindful of the sensitive nature of this topic and the impacts that abuses of environmental and cultural rights can have on rightsholders when these projects are not conducted correctly.
In May 2023, the Nepal BHR Network reiterated their demands.
At the launch, press reports note that the task force’s “collaborative effort adopted a rigorous, participatory approach, including a series of consultation workshops, focus group discussions, validation, online feedback collection, thematic expert discussion, assessment and technical working group discussions to solicit feedback from businesses, civil society organisations, international experts, and others on drafts of the action plan to ensure its quality and effectiveness, according to the UNDP.”
Transparency
The NAP is available in Nepali on the government website.
Explore NAP by Issue
he Nigeria NAP provides a list of existing constitutional obligations, domestic legislation, internation obligations, and police and administrative steps. This breakdown only looks at the list of challenges and the implementation of the 3 pillars of the UNGPs. 8.6 CHALLENGES PILLAR 1 – STATE DUTY TO PROTCT HUMAN RIGHTS B. LEGISLATION AND POLICES C. DUE DILIGENCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS The Central Bank of Nigeria shall ensure that in every loan agreement in all banks, as part of the conditions for the loan facility, there is a clause that spells pout that the loan receiver for business is under obligation to respect human rights in all operations. Similarly, specialized banks and other financial institutions such as Bank of Agriculture, bank of Industry, and Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation etc. must ensure that as part of their risk assessment and due diligence the client must show that it has a human rights policy and that it has taken measures to conduct human rights due diligence and human rights impact assessment.” (p.158) F. ENVIRONMENT N. SECURITY PILLAR 2 – CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTSHuman rights impact assessments
…
“i. Lack of Adequate human rights, conflict and environmental impact assessment when land is being acquired for development or business purpose.” (p.154)
ACTIONABLE ITEMS
A. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL WORKING GROUP ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS (NWGBHR)
“The Working Group will have the following responsibilities, among others;
…
vii. Oversight companies’ human rights Due Diligence activities and Human Rights Impact Assessment.” (p.157)
“Government shall improve human rights protection in business through legislation, policy initiatives, programmes and seminars interventions in the following ways:
…
b. Ensure that all businesses carry out Human Rights Impact Assessment before commencement of business while those already in business should do so within 2 years.” (p.157)
“Regulatory bodies and agencies shall endure the conduct of Human Rights Due Diligence and Human Rights Impact Assessment in all business operations.
“When acquiring land for development or business, government must ensure the conduct of human rights conflict and environmental impact assessment. In respect of environmental hazards and workplace safety, there will be periodic monitoring and inspection of company premises, operations and surroundings of manufacturing, construction, and extractive industries among others to ascertain their compliance with environmental standards.” (p.158)
“When businesses conduct risk assessment, the focus is mainly on the risk posed to their operation within the community without considering the risk their operations pose to communities. This makes them design their security apparatus without community input and consultation.
In addressing the issue of security and human rights in business operations, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights provides a useful guide. To this end;
i. Government shall fulfill its obligation as the primary provider of security.
ii. Communities will be involved in the design and management of company security.
iii. Government shall provide human rights training for security providers, logistic support and general oversight.
iv. Government shall monitor and ensure that human rights are protected in the provision of security.
v. Security arrangement will be all inclusive and offer protection to business facilities as well as employees, suppliers, contractors and the community.” (p.160)
ACTIONABLE ITEMS
F. COMMUNITY RELATIONS
“Business must have a Community Relations Guidelines. This will be developed in conjunction with the community stakeholders. The Community Relations Guidelines shall draw from the report of the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) and Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA). The company is also expected to conduct Peace and Conflict Assessment (PCAI) as part of their entry strategy. They extent of these assessments will depend on the kind of business the company is involved in. The Community Relations Guidelines shall provide for such things as employment, community development, contracts, scholarships etc. to ensure inclusiveness, gender consideration and board representation of all interest shall be taken into account.” (p.163)
