The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has been conducting activities in the field of business and human rights in cooperation with domestic and international organisations since 2013. They include, notably, the development of the Human Rights and Business Country Guide Serbia, published in 2013 and updated in 2016; the development of the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights Draft for Discussion published in 2016; the unofficial translation into Serbian of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and their promotion across Serbia through individual consultations with representatives of the state, business community and non-government sector and the organisation of small and larger events and debates for representatives of various sectors in the 2013-2017 period (in cooperation with the Danish Institute for Human Rights) and contribution to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency thematic report in 2019.
We have been regularly participating in regional and international conferences and forums, such as the UNDP Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in East Europe and Central Asia and the UN Forums on Business and Human Rights organised by the OHCHR.
Numerous ongoing reforms in Serbia aimed at aligning the national legislation with EU standards involve the adoption of regulations, policies and other strategic documents. Many of them, such as the introduction of the non-financial corporate reporting obligation and the inclusion of social and environmental criteria in the public procurement process, have direct implications in the field of business and human rights. A very dynamic development of regulations and standards in the field of business and human rights has at the same time been taking place beyond Serbia’s borders as well. The UN has been discussing the adoption of a binding treaty, the EU has been intensively working on adopting regulations and including business and human rights in the existing strategic documents and diplomatic relations, while an increasing number of states have been adopting national regulations obligating companies to analyse and foresee their own impact on human rights.
The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has been actively cooperating with the relevant state authorities on facilitating Serbia’s adoption of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights in line with the modern trends, a recommendation made also by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
