The Auschwitz Institute Launches 'Corporate Foundations of Atrocity Prevention', Its First-ever Course for the Business Sector

August 30, 2021 /3BL Media/ - At the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (AIPG), we understand that not only States but also non-State actors, including corporations, play a significant role in society's economic and social life. While corporations have, throughout history, contributed in various ways to human rights violations and mass atrocities, corporations can also play a meaningful role in preventing human rights violations and mass atrocities in a given society. They can do this by positively impacting critical risk areas such as levels of economic and social development, discrimination, and gender inequality.

With this in mind, AIPG is proud to announce its first-ever course for the business sector: Corporate Foundations of Atrocity Prevention, that will take place from October 25 to November 13, 2021. This course represents an important opportunity to examine, reinforce, and deepen existing knowledge on norms, policies, case-studies, and best practices regarding corporations' duty to respect human rights and prevent mass atrocities, recognizing that incorporating an atrocity-prevention lens into corporate practices is not an option but a responsibility.

This unique course aims to complement traditional “business and human rights” resources with a toolkit designed to help corporate leaders better understand the concepts of mass atrocities and their prevention. Participants will learn about risk factors, legal frameworks, and how they can approach and incorporate atrocity risk identification, assessment, and mitigation in their policies and practices, benefitting their companies, stakeholders, and society as a whole.

Through this course, participants will examine corporate involvement in past atrocities and the role of identity in corporate decision-making. They will also learn practical, innovative tools to incorporate an atrocity prevention perspective throughout their corporate policies and practices, including areas such as disclosure and measurement, managing supply chain risks, managing content on social media platforms, and managing diversity and inclusion challenges.

Corporate Foundations of Atrocity Prevention is a 3-week asynchronous online course designed for companies’ professionals interested in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), compliance, and business and human rights in general. This course does not require legal training or formal compliance training. The curriculum is divided into three distinct week-long sections, requiring 6 to 8 study hours per week. For the first edition, class sizes are limited to 25 participants to ensure that each person receives adequate feedback from her or his peers and the course instructor. (A Spanish version of the course is anticipated soon). Corporate Foundations was designed and will be led by AIPG's Academic Programs Associate and international law expert Mariana Salazar Albornoz. She explains:

Most corporations nowadays are either operating or trading with suppliers that do business in countries that are at risk of mass atrocities. This is an essential course for corporations willing to take their business and human rights practice one step further towards making a real impact in society and within their companies.

For more information (including course tuition fees) and to sign-up for the course please contact or visit:
stephanie.wright@auschwitzinstitute.org
www.auschwitzinstitute.org/new-corporate-foundations-of-atrocity-prevention

About the course instructor
Mariana Salazar Albornoz is AIPG’s Academic Programs Associate. Ms. Salazar is a Mexican lawyer who is also a Member of the Inter-American Juridical Committee of the Organization of American States, where she is a Rapporteur for Data Protection and International Law Applicable to Cyberspace. Ms. Salazar is also a Professor of International Law at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Previously, Ms. Salazar worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico where, among others, she served as Coordinator of International Law and Mexico’s Focal Point to international networks on the Responsibility to Protect. Prior to that, she was a practicing attorney in corporate law in the law firms of González Calvillo, S.C. and Forastieri Abogados, S.C. in Mexico City.

Ms. Salazar holds a Master’s Degree in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and a  degree in law from Universidad Iberoamericana. She writes on issues of international law, atrocity prevention, armed conflict, and human rights, and she is a member of the International Law Association, of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, of the Editorial Board for the International Review of the Red Cross, and of the ICRC’s Global Advisory Board on the International Legal and Policy Framework to Protect Civilians from Threats During Armed Conflicts.

About the Auschwitz Institute
The Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities is an international non-governmental organization founded in 2006 that supports States through education, training, and technical assistance programs to develop and strengthen policies and practices for the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocities. AIPG's core mission is based on the belief that preventing genocide and other atrocity crimes is an achievable goal. With a diverse network of more than 6,500 program alumni from 92 countries and offices in Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Kampala, New York, Oświęcim, and São Paulo. AIPG works directly with governments and institutions worldwide in regional and international programs in more than five languages.