NomoGaia

Established February 2008 in Denver, Colorado, NomoGaia is a nonprofit research and policy organization dedicated to clarifying the corporate role in human rights protection and facilitating corporate responsibility for communities impacted by capital projects. ^[1] This think tank’s official goal is to close the gap between high-level corporate declarations and on-the-ground investigation regarding human rights. The aim is not human rights activism but methodological human rights assessments.

Using a field-based approach, NomoGaia writes Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) ^[2], which are made public as case studies, for corporations, academics and consultants to critique as well as to use as guidance for social responsibility.

In 2005, United Nations appointed professor, John Ruggie (Special Representative on Human Rights and Business) made a mandate “to identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability for transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights.” In 2008, once again thanks to Ruggie, the UN established a set of Guiding Principles for companies and governments, where companies were asked to conduct human rights “due diligence.” The term “human rights due diligence” refers to the care and detail that goes into the investigation and mitigation of negative human rights impacts. In June of 2011, the UN voted to “endorse” the Guiding Principles. ^[3] Nomogaia’s methodology addresses this original mandate and the Guiding Principles in a clear, concise and effective manner.

Methodology

An HRIA is conducted in five phases: In Phases I and II, data is accumulated and an overview of the project is set. Human rights topics are identified using rightsholder engagement and classified using Context Catalogs. Impacts are established in Phase III and confirmed (or refuted) in Phase IV. Phase V consists of the final HRIA and several months of project re-visitation where the human rights changes are evaluated. ^[4]

References

1. ^ http://www.nomogaia.org/Welcome.html
2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Impact_Assessment
3. ^ http://business-ethics.com/2011/06/16/un-council-endorses-principles-on-business-and-human-rights/
4. ^ http://www.nomogaia.org/HRIA/Entries/2011/1/1_A_Methodology_for__Human_Rights_Impact_Assessment_files/Methodology%20for%20HRIA%202.0.pdf