Session Description
2026 marks 15 years since the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and ever since the use if human rights impact assessment, HRIA, has been growing and developing. This session will have a short introduction to frame the topic and the session, followed by three debates of 20 minutes each. In each debate, one case study will be presented, and two panellists will argue why their approach is more adequate than their opponent for the identification, assessment and management of human rights impacts. The debates will discuss different approaches to HRIA adopted over the last 15 years: stand-alone HRIA vs human rights integrated in ESIAs; HRIA implemented by companies Vs community lead HRIAs; HRIA at project level vs HRIA of a whole sector in a country (SWIA).
The panellist will be invited among human rights and social impact assessment experts within the IAIA community, including Indigenous Peoples organizations, CSOs, practitioners, companies and financial institutions. The case studies will be developed based on anonymized real cases discussed in the last IAIA Conferences. The debates will guide reflections on the lessons learned from the past of human rights impact assessment and how can be strengthened to reflect the challenges and opportunities of the present and future, including emerging regulatory requirements and new forms of human rights challenges emerging form the energy and technology transitions.
The participation of the public will be sought to clarify, support or confront the arguments of the panellist and to discuss the future of HRIA during the last 20 minutes of the session.
Session Summary
Why Human Rights Impact Assessment? Who should lead it? Which approach to apply when and how? How should be done? Engage in the debate of the present and future of a HRIA in an age of transitions.
Session Chair
Gabriela Factor
Danish Institute for Human Rights
Denmark
Session Co-chair
Viviana Arango
CREER
Colombia