Business and Human Rights in ASEAN: Case Study of Cambodia
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Abstract
This paper will focus on the existing initiatives in ASEAN to tackle human rights violations in business development with
Cambodia as a case study. Under international law, the promotion
and protection of huan rihts are first and foreost a state obligation. Businesses and other stakeholders are bound by the national law, either from their home country or the country in which
they operate, and should not take advantage of legal voids where they
may exist. Cognisant of this necessity, some stakeholders have set up
initiatives leading to the promotion and enforcement of the guiding
principles on business and human rights as well as corporate social
responsibility policies. By highlighting those initiatives, this paper
considers whether those initiatives could lead to a more sustainable
development, even in countries with a poor record of human rights
and/or economic development. Although Cambodia is one the poorest and most corrupt countries in ASEAN, it is also the only country
running an innovative program with the International Labor
Organisation called ILO Better Factories Cambodia. This plus the
ood access to first hand resources is hy the author chose aodia
as a case study. The body of evidence gathered in the paper leads to
the conclusions that ASEAN needs to enhance the development of
CSR policies and urge the region’s businesses to join regional and
global forums such as the UN Global Compact Initiative where they
would get the tools to do so. Fostering human rights protection in
business development will lead to more sustainable economic
development for the ASEAN countries.
Article Details
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