-- Recognising the impact of business on human rights: challenges and opportunities for Pakistan
Between August and December 2016, Equidem carried out field research and prepared a policy paper for Democracy Reporting International's (DRI) project “Strategies for expanding respect for human rights in Pakistan’s business community”. The focus of the project was Pakistan's garment and textile export industries. Funded by the German government, the project involved extensive consultations with federal and provincial government authorities, parliamentarians, multi-national companies and local industrialists, labour rights activists, worker communities, and experts. Research and interviews were carried out in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Peshwar and Quetta - collectively the largest cities and centres of the garment and textile industries in Pakistan's four provinces. A key part of Equidem's work was analysing existing business practices against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and advising DRI on how to educate and promote the UNGPs to Pakistan's business community and state authorities. The policy paper and further project work will be launched in 2017.
