Conflict-Sensitive Human Rights Due Diligence

Conflict sensitivity should be reflected in various aspects of human rights due diligence processes:

• The design of human rights due diligence process needs to include a conflict analysis, which should be informed by data gathered from the field. Companies may not always be aware of conflict risks associated with their contractors, business partners, assets and/or infrastructure. Companies should collect data on how the business relates to conflicts in the operating environment. Accordingly, the company should collect data from affected stakeholders and carefully analyse their financial and resource flows.  ‍
• Prioritization of which impacts to address first should be based on severity, which is judged by the scale, scope and irremediability of actual and potential impacts. In conflict situations, the likelihood and consequences of conflict form a crucial additional element in determining priority. How likely is the issue to create or exacerbate conflict? How severe are the human rights implications of the conflict risks identified? (For more information on prioritization of risks, (see Engagement with host governments in contexts of weak governance: avoiding (the perception of) complicity within Contexts with weak governance and transparency – Working with Host Governments)‍
• While volatile environments may make interactions with external stakeholders more complicated and potentially threatening, stakeholder engagement needs to be broad in conflict-affected contexts. In particular, the conflict may already cause a lack of information or may complicate engagement with communities due to their affiliations to the conflict. This can only be countered by collecting information from a wide variety of different stakeholders, including different groups and those with different stances on the conflict.

Key Resources:

• Human Rights Due Diligence in Conflict-Affected Settings (International Alert 2018)
• Conflict Prevention Tool: Developing Multistakeholder Strategies (Queen’s University, AngloGold Ashanti, International Committee of the Red Cross and Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance 2021)
• Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance and Toolbox (Danish Institute for Human Rights 2020)