Business and Human Rights Conference

Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania, Mykolas Romeris University and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania are kindly inviting you to participate in the
international conference “Business and Human Rights” on 10 September 2020. The conference will explore and discuss business impact on human rights and its management in business as well as implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the Nordic- Baltic region. Among the conference topics are presentations on human rights due diligence, impact of artificial intelligence towards working relations and other topics.

During the conference the Lithuanian national action plan on business and human rights (2020-2024) will be presented. The conference will work as a platform for businesses and other stakeholders to share ideas.

Conference keynote speaker – Karin Buhmann, who is a Professor at Copenhagen Business School and founder of the academic network The BHRights Initiative. During two conference sessions experts from academia, business and public sectors will share their experience.

Among the conference speakers are representatives from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Mykolas Romeris University, Danish Institute for Human Rights, European Economic and Social Committee, European Coalition for Corporate Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Parliament of the Republic of Latvia, Swedbank, and more.

Registration: https://forms.gle/5Rd8TFU2LBQg9n1KA

Conference online streaming:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81502528664?pwd=dVNmajR5SnZqS2ZpS0E0eFlUVG1Pdz09

PROGRAMME

9:00 – 9:15 Opening of the Conference, Neris Germanas, Viceminister of Foreign Affairs (TBC). Helén Nilsson, Director, the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania.

9:15 – 10:00 Keynote speech: professor Karin Buhmann Towards mandatory human rights due diligence: benefits, challenges and balances to ponder with a view to ensuring improved access to remedy for victims (Copenhagen Business School)

10:00 – 11:30 Tendencies in Business and Human Rights Area
Christopher Patz The legislative trend toward mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in the EU (Policy Officer, European Coalition for Corporate Justice). Indre Vareikytė Challenges for human rights with new forms of work (Member of the European Economic and Social Committee). Andrius Bambalas When soft commitments crack hard violations – importance of responsible business conduct in protection of human rights (National Contact Point, Lithuania). Beate Ekeløve-Slydal Implementation of business and human rights and the OECD guidelines – How are Norwegian businesses doing? – And what is the status of developing a national human rights due diligence legislation? (National Contact Point, Norway).

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break

12:30 – 14:00 Implementation of UNGP on Business and Human Rights in Nordic-Baltic countries.
Dirk Hoffmann Global overview to NAPs on Business and Human Rights (Senior Advisor, Danish institute for Human Rights). Kent Wilska Implementation of the UNGP National Action Plan in Finland (Commercial Counsellor, Ministry of Foreigh Affairs of Finland). Martins Birgelis Business and Human rights agenda in Latvia (Legal Advisor, Saeima, Latvia).

14:00 – 14:15 Coffee break

14.15 – 15.30 Lithuanian National Action Plan: challenges and opportunities. Presentation and discussion (in Lithuanian).
Lyra Jakulevičienė (Mykolas Romeris University); Aistė Jakštienė (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania). Andrius Bambalas (National Contact Point, Lithuania); Other panelists TBC.

15:30 – 16.30 Panel discussion How can we better align business interests with human rights?
Panel Speakers:
Sandra Atler (Director of Enact Human Rights and Business Practice Group)
Lina Žemaitytė-Kirkman (Head of Career Centre at Swedbank)
Eimantas Norkūnas (Cofounder & Developer at Mailer.lt)
Richard Martin-Nielsen (Head of the Office of the Embassy of Canada in Lithuania)

Moderator: Darius Matas (LRT and News radio (Žinių radijas) journalist)