Good Governance and the Business Context

Pact develops tools—and convenes voluntary policy initiatives and dialogues—that improve governance where business is involved. Key among the issues the private sector can play a critical role in addressing are corruption and transparency; security and human rights; good local governance; and, resource revenues. A prime example of this is Pact's work with the private sector on implementing the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR)

The VPSHR are a set of guiding principles, designed specifically for the extractive industries, to promote the respect for human rights, and avoidance of human rights abuse, in all security operations.

They address three fundamental issues:

• How companies assess the risk of human rights abuses;
• How the company works with public security forces, both military and police; and,
• How the company manages its private and internal security arrangements.

The VPSHR are not only beneficial to the communities in which businesses operate, but also to the businesses themselves. Companies choose to sign up to the VPSHR because implementation genuinely improves security. And, learning how best to avoid, detect, report and resolve human rights abuses  improves relationships with community and other stakeholders.

However, once signed up, many companies find that they face challenges in determining how best to implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. Pact assists in the pragmatic, effective, measurable implementation of the VPSHR. Though only a brief sample, some of the ways in which Pact supports corporate integration of the VPSHR and human rights issues include :

• Confidential, third-party audits to determine priority areas for improvement and baselines against which to measure improvement;
• Specialized training for company staff, private security providers, and community stakeholders;
• Advice on developing protocols between the company and public security providers to cover areas of engagement where the VPSHR and human rights must be respected;
• Developing reporting formats to meet the evolving guidelines for official VPSHR participants;
• Support for corporate integration , such as creating communications plans, staff contracts, codes of conduct, etc; and,
  
• Identifying and building the capacity of key community structures to respond to locally identified security issues in order to improve the general security environment and include the whole community in human rights protection.

For more information on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, and how Pact helps implement them, download our brief overview. [PDF - Coming soon]