Leading by Example: The U.S. National Action Plan for Responsible Business Conduct

As the U.S. Government begins drafting a landmark National Action Plan on business and human rights, it is facilitating a series of consultations across the country. One of four was hosted at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in January. An impressive mix of industry, government and civil society attended.

Companies with complex supply chains and financial institutions made important requests for “tools” that will equip them to evaluate their human rights impacts. This is a difficult request to parse. NomoGaia has been developing and publishing human rights due diligence tools for over 7 years, and organizations like BSR, GBI, DIHR and Foley Hoag have been privately supporting companies in assessment of human rights impacts. Practitioners have reached a level of consensus over what makes for adequate due diligence, which includes direct and ongoing engagement with rightsholders themselves. In general (though with important exceptions), corporations have been reluctant to acknowledge this central reality.

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Kendyl Salcito developed her expertise in human rights and business as a foreign reporter in Southeast Asia and North America. She has advised industry groups on corporate human rights performance and contributed to the development of the UN’s Guidance Principles for Human Rights and Business. Outside of NomoGaia, she writes research notes for CO2 Scorecard and conducts corporate HRIAs for environmental consulting firm NewFields. She holds a PhD from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Epidemiology, an MA in Journalism from the University of British Columbia and a BA in History from Princeton University.