Scotland
NAP Development Process
Status
A Scottish National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights is being developed by the Scottish Government.
Process
The development of a NAP on Business and Human Rights in Scotland responds to a commitment in Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP).
A sub-group of the SNAP Better World Action Group is leading on this piece of work. Membership of the sub-group includes: the Scottish Government, Scottish Human Rights Commission, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, and Business in the Community Scotland.
In order to establish a robust evidence base to underpin a Scottish NAP, the business and human rights sub-group commissioned a National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights, which was funded by the Scottish Government. An academic at the University of St Andrews coordinated the baseline assessment using the approach and Toolkit developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable.
The National Baseline Assessment comprised desk-based research, consultation with businesses and civil society organisations, and engagement with experts in the field of business and human rights (see below).
The next phase consists of stakeholder consultations (see below).
The subsequent stage will draw on the above events to identify members of a group to draft the National Action Plan.
The draft will be made available for public consultation, with an intention to publish a final version in late 2018. The NAP will include both monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
Stakeholder Participation
The NAP process has an extensive public consultation phase, including online consultation of the NBA (December 2016), and consultation events with key stakeholder groups (Summer 2017 – Spring 2018).
The stakeholder consultations include several events targeted at specific audiences:
- Civil Society/ Third Sector – June 2017 (You can read more about this event in a report produced by the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, Voluntary Action Scotland and the Scottish Council on Deafness)
- Trade Unions – 8th November 2017 (You can read more about this event here)
- Business Sector – 1st March 2018 (You can read more about this event here).
- Responsible Business Workshop – 10th May 2018 (You can read more about this event in a report here).
- Children and Young People – 19th June 2018
The draft NAP will be also published online for further consultation.
Transparency
The NAP has its own website.
National Baseline Assessment (NBA)
In order to establish a robust evidence base to underpin a Scottish NAP, the business and human rights sub-group commissioned a National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights, which was funded by the Scottish Government. An academic at the University of St Andrews coordinated the baseline assessment using the approach and Toolkit developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable.
The NBA is available as:
Additional Resources
In June 2018, the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) at the University of St Andrews and the Danish Institute of Human Rights (DIHR) organized a workshop titled 