This two-day intermediate level course is designed to provide professionals and decision makers who work in sectors with high risk for human rights, including digital technologies, with information and tools to understand and address human rights impacts, challenges, and opportunities related to the projects.

Through cases and exercises, the participants will discuss human rights impacts in the life cycle and value chain of projects and learn practical ways to operationalize the corporate responsibility to respect human rights as established in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The course includes reflections on the right to a clean and healthy environment and an overview of the regulatory landscape related to business and human rights, as well as reflections on gender dimensions and impacts on Indigenous peoples’ rights. The participants will learn and apply principles and methodologies for the identification and assessment of human rights risks and impacts and how to apply a human rights-based approach for a meaningful engagement with workers and communities during impact assessment. Finally, they will learn key considerations on the process and criteria for human rights impact assessment of digital activities, along with practical tools to use in practice.

Level: Intermediate

Prerequisites: Some knowledge or experience in developing, commissioning, or reviewing impact assessment or due diligence of physical projects and supply chain. Basic knowledge of human rights or business and human rights standards would be an advantage but is not required. Professionals and students with knowledge of human rights but no previous experience in impact assessment can also participate.

Language: English

Duration: 2 days (18-19 April)

Min/Max: 10-28

Price: $560

Instructors: Gabriela Factor, Chief Adviser, Human Rights, Tech and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark) and Ioana Tuta, Senior Adviser, Human Rights and Technology, Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark)

Gabriela Factor is a Chief Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is an Environmental, Social and Human Rights Impact specialist who has over 25 years of working experience in international environmental, energy and extractive projects worldwide. She is IAIA past president and is an experienced trainer and facilitator that have provided trainings for IAIA since 2013, and has developed numerous tailored training courses for, among others, Indigenous Peoples organizations, World Bank, EIB, IADB, IFC, DANIDA, FINIDA, SIDA and UNDP, University of Strathclyde and Groningen. Gabriela has co-developed the Masterclass in Human Rights in Impact Assessment course, participated in webinars for IAIA in Spanish and English and co-authored the Fast Tips Human Rights in Impact Assessment.

After working as a consultant leading and carrying out human rights, social and environmental impact assessments, due diligence and management plans, her current work focus on capacity development, advisory and research for responsible business conduct and policy development, promotion of multistakeholder initiatives and strengthening the role of states for a just energy transition with respect of human rights. Gabriela has a Masters in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and holds qualifications on human rights, gender, resettlement and health impact assessment.

Ioana Tuta is a Senior Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights with over a decade of experience leading research and capacity building projects at the intersection of business and human rights. At the DIHR, her work has focused on embedding human rights in the financial and technology sectors. Over the years, Ioana provided human rights trainings, including in respect to technology impacts, to a diverse audience including investors, companies, State actors and civil society organisations.

Ioana facilitates the Dansif Human Rights Network for ESG professionals and advised development finance institutions including the EIB, Swedfund, IFU and the European Association of Development Finance Institutions, on the alignment of environmental and social performance frameworks with human rights standards. Ioana leads the policy and regulatory work in respect to the tech sector and is currently involved in the development of guidance on human rights impact assessments of AI systems in the context of the EU AI Act.

Before joining the DIHR, she held positions at the International Organization for Migration, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Amnesty International. She holds a PhD in Political Science/International relations for which she conducted fieldwork on socio-environmental conflicts related to mining operations in Peru.