Getting the business
community to embrace good human rights practices has always been a challenge
that has raised as many questions as it has results.
For example, how can international
human rights protocols apply to companies, when they were created to work in a
state-based system? And how should
organizations -- from companies with competing priorities, to
resource-challenged NGOs, to the new U.N. Working Group on Business and Human
Rights -- best focus their limited time and capacity?
To help answer these
questions, the Kenan Institute for Ethics is recruiting graduating Duke seniors
to apply for a new one-year post-graduate fellowship in
business, law, and human rights.
"A position like this is
rare for graduating seniors," said Noah Pickus, Nannerl O. Keohane
Director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics. "I know of none that so
uniquely focus on the intersection of business, law, and ethics, a combination that
reflects the complexity and importance of the subjects and the way they're
intertwined across Duke."
Earlier this month, the Kenan
Institute for Ethics released The U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights: Analysis and Implementation, a report stemming from a meeting of two dozen experts at Duke
late last year. The group included investors, human rights advocates,
representatives from multinational corporations, and faculty from multiple
disciplines.
The meeting and relationship
with the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights were arranged by Kenan
Institute nonresident senior fellow Christine Bader, a former U.N. adviser who
worked on the Guiding Principles and wrote the above-mentioned report.
The Working Group and the Kenan
Institute are charged with building broad networks to analyze, promote and implement
the Principles. The post-graduate fellow will assist in coordinating and
staffing meetings around the world, conduct policy research and monitor
relevant legislation.
"The fellowship is
on-the-job training for aspiring lawyers, as well as public policy, social
science, and other majors," Pickus said. "It's real-world experience
for those who want to understand better the possibilities and limits of social
change and take seriously the role of different actors and institutions in
public life."
It's an exciting time to be
doing this kind of work, Pickus added, because much of great international interest in the topic and the large number
of open questions to be resolved.
After six years of debate, the U.N. has adopted core principles with regard to
business and human rights.
"Now the hard work of
collaborating with business, governments, and NGOs to determine how these
principles can be put into practice has begun," Pickus said.
Kenan is also considering linking
teams of Duke faculty and students with a global network of faculty to assist business,
governments and NGOS involved with the UN Working Group.
"We're also exploring
ways to leverage Duke's global footprint and the Institute's role as
facilitator of informed, multi-stakeholder dialogues," Pickus said.
The application deadline is
April 2. More information on the fellowship and the report is available on the Kenan Institute for Ethics website.