The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

1. Key Data
Origin of the Initiative	Tripartite, multi-stakeholder initiative: Business For Social Responsibility (BSR), International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Colombia, and Switzerland, NGOs and companies operating in the extractive and energy sector.
Year of Development	2000; 2009 amendments on participation criteria and implementation of the Principles. Updated and revised version to be published within the next 6- 12 months.
Accessibility	Free
Availability	Free
Language	English, French, Spanish
Contact	volprinciples@bsr.org; volprinciples@iblf.org
Website	http://www.voluntaryprinciples.org/files/voluntary_principles.pdf

2. Aim and Function of the Tool
Type	Human Rights Risk Assessment
Specific Focus	Security, conflict zones
Aim	The aim of the Voluntary Principles is to guide companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within an operating framework that ensures respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Function	Guiding principles for human rights-consistent company conduct concerning: Risk assessments in the operating environment Interactions between companies and public security Interactions between companies and private security
Monitoring	No
Target Group	Companies According to LARRGE evaluation: also consultants

3. Practicability and Flexibility
Business Sector	Extractive and energy sectors
Region	All regions
Company Size	Large and medium-sized companies operating with security forces
Case Studies/Good Practice	No
Interactivity	The Principles are not conceived as an interactive tool. However, the Information Working Group has issued a report Overview of the Company Efforts to Implement the Voluntary Principles, which includes practical experiences of eleven member companies that have worked with the Principles over the last five years (see http://voluntaryprinciples.org/files/vp_company_efforts.pdf ). It covers: General implementation (strengths and weaknesses of the Principles) Risk assessment, and Engaging public and private security.
Human Rights Knowledge Required	Advanced
Flexibility	No. The Principles comprise a set of Guidelines that should be respected as a whole.

4. Normative Framework
Human Rights	Universal Declaration on Human Rights International Humanitarian Law (Geneva Conventions) UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials
Labour Rights	ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
National Laws	Compliance with national laws and regulations in the country of operation.

5. Scope of the Tool

Human Rights

Productive and freely chosen work

Right to work

Prohibition of forced or compulsory labour

Prohibition of child labour

Rights at work including the core labour standards

Right to equal treatment and non-discrimination between women and men, gender issues

Right to equal treatment and non-discrimination concerning all other groups

Diversity Management

Right to education

Right to safe and healthy working conditions

Right to fair wages

Right to equal pay for equal work

Right to decent living

Right to rest, leisure and annual leave

Right to reasonable limitation of working hours

Right to permanent employment relationship

Right to privacy

Right to strike

Right to form and join trade unions

Grievance procedures and remediation

Social protection

Right to social security including social insurance, pensions

Mitigation of adverse employment effects

Social dialogue

Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining

Tripartite consultation

External impact

Right to an adequate standard of living

Security issues, private property protection

Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Keywords

Conflict
Physical abuse
Property
Safety
Security forces and arrangements
Stakeholder engagement

6. Company Responsibility
Concepts of Sphere of Influence, Complicity	No
Supply Chain	No
Human Rights Impact Assessment	Yes, the Principles include general advice on the conduct of risk assessments.
Specific Guidance on Individual(Company)Responsibility	No

8. Concluding Evaluation

LARRGE Evaluation

The Voluntary Principles address specific human rights challenges in the context of security forces. The consistent multi-stakeholder approach means they are a key tool in the field of business, security and human rights. Yet there are still few implementation guidelines to support companies during the process.

Use the tool to set up policies and programs, and for interacting with stakeholders. See the overview of company efforts ( http://voluntaryprinciples.org/files/vp_company_efforts.pdf), which provides practical company feed back, and lessons learned, and may support you in the implementation process.

User Evaluation

From a practical perspective, the Voluntary Principles (VPSHR) certainly constitute the starting point of any effort to systematically address security and human rights issues in a business context. VPSHR's strength is the mix of a practical business perspective and a more principled human rights approach to security. By covering the different stages of elaborating a security policy - from risk assessment to engaging with different stakeholders - it leads users to consider the the relevant issues involved. The devil of implementing the VPSHR, however, lies in the detail; and it is hard to imagine that all of the demandingly high standards found therein are applicable everywhere; in particular those on engaging with public security. (This user evaluation was written from a perspective of legally trained human rights consultant)

Files
	voluntary_principles.pdf Evaluation_francaise_-_The_Voluntary_Principles_on_Security_and_Human_Rights.pdf

BSR Labour Migration Report

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