"New Handbook offers insights on how to address the impacts of business activities on human rights", 2 Dec 2019

While it is clear that business activities have profound impacts on human rights, both positive and negative, it is less clear how to assess and address these impacts. One method that has increasingly gained traction among state, business and civil society actors since the endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by the Human Rights Council in 2011, is human rights impact assessment (HRIA). 

The new “Handbook on Human Rights Impact Assessment” (Edward Elgar, 2019) provides state-of-the-art analysis by a diverse group of 35 leading academics and practitioners working with impact assessment. Collectively, their critical and insightful appraisals shed light on the role that HRIA can play in addressing the adverse human rights impacts of business activities and fostering sustainable development...

One of the key purposes of HRIA is to contribute to actual improvements for right-holders. Among other things, the authors point out that an important step for enhancing HRIA methodology and practice going forward, is to increase the focus on evaluation and monitoring of the effectiveness of HRIA processes undertaken...