Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

We frequently see in the news that a mining or an oil and gas operation in some remote area has been either attacked by insurgents or has had their security arrangements linked with a human rights incident. The extractive industries have the dual responsibility of protecting their people and operations as well as respecting the human rights of their employees and the members of the communities in which they work. Often operating in increasingly unstable areas and with human rights growing as a salient topic, industries face significant challenges in balancing these two crucial responsibilities.

Developed jointly by industry, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) have increasingly become the industry guideline for achieving this balance. The VPSHR's three components provide a set of guiding principles on how companies should manage:

• risk assessments
• relations with public security forces
• relations with private security providers

This course introduces you to the VPSHR, discusses risk assessment in the context of providing a secure working environment and protecting the human rights of employees and surrounding communities, and responsibilities concerned with human rights abuse allegations and the procedures for managing those allegations. It goes on to discuss the roles and responsibilities of public and private security forces and their relationship to management.

Authors

• Tom Green

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