Doha: A workshop on commercial work and human rights started yesterday, with the participation of representatives from government entities and the business sector.
Organised by the Foreign Ministry’s Human Rights Department, the two-day workshop is being held in cooperation with the United Nations working group on business and human rights and the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for Southwest Asia and the Arab Region.
Speaking during the opening of the workshop, the Assistant Foreign Minister for International Cooperation H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdurrahman bin Jassim Al Thani stressed Qatar’s growing interest in the issues of commercial work and human rights and the UN’s guiding principles of the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework.
He said that enhancing and protecting human rights is a strategic choice for Qatar and forms the cornerstone of the country’s comprehensive reform policy.
He said that the relationship between businesses and human rights is one of the outcomes of globalisation, noting that governments are not solely responsible for human rights but legal entities such as companies and commercial institutions share part of it too.
Sessions of the workshop cover the UN guiding principles in the business sector and human rights in addition to responsibilities of governments and challenges facing companies in implementing them. The sessions are moderated by experts from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Office and the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for Southwest Asia and the Arab Region. QNA
