African Regional Civil Society Convening on Human Rights and Business

From 25 to 27 November 2013, Stephanie Booker of Natural Justice attended the African Regional Civil Society Convening on Human Rights and Business in Accra, Ghana. With at least 20 participants from central, eastern, southern and western Ghana, the objectives of the meeting included: 

• Sharing of learning and skills on practical strategies for influencing state and company practices and polices to realize human rights, and the complex system of mechanisms, both judicial and non-judicial, for effective remedy; 
• Build understanding and relationships among African CSOs working to protect human rights where business activities occur;
• Design an agenda for an African regional coalition on human rights and business and engage with the 9th Biennial Conference of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions; 

The establishment of the African Coalition on Corporate Accountability (ACCA) emerged from this meeting and ACCA's first declaration was presented at the UN's second Forum on Business and Human Rights from 2 to 4 December in Geneva. You may find the declaration in English and French here.