Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

As the world is celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is time for us at Finnfund to reflect on our work with human rights.

Thru our human rights due diligence processes, we have identified and mitigated the actual and potential adverse human rights impacts of our operations for quite some years already. Since 2016, our human rights approach has been guided mainly by the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

Today, we are eagerly waiting for EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It will require and support companies to integrate human rights due diligence in their business operations and in the entire value chain, upstream and downstream.

Our work in the past years has demonstrated how valuable the adequate management of human rights impacts is. Simultaneously, it has become clear how complex it can be to ensure the rights of workers or communities are respected, especially as one goes further up or down the value chain and in challenging contexts. In this respect, it is important that as many companies as possible are working towards the same goals, which is why we are happy to see the CSDDD being finalized.

In the recent years, we have seen some alarming developments in the field of human rights. However, as discussed in November at the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, the more peers and companies we are to work on these issues, the better human rights are likely to be respected.

Here’s to the next 75 years!

Sylvie Fraboulet-Jussila
Senior Environmental and Social Adviser

Päivi Michael
Environmental and Social Adviser

P.S. Should you be interested in learning more about our human rights work, please have a look at these articles and blog posts on our website:

Human rights – Finnfund

Human rights management system – our work in practice – Finnfund

Vipuvoimaa ihmisoikeuksiin – Finnfund  (in Finnish)

A tale of surveillance – investor’s role in dealing with data confidentiality – Finnfund

Client protection in microfinancing is part of financial inclusion – Finnfund

The fascinating (and long) journey of our human rights approach – Finnfund

Sylvie Fraboulet-Jussila Senior Environmental and Social Adviser sylvie.fraboulet-jussila@finnfund.fi

Päivi Michael Senior Environmental and Social Adviser paivi.michael@finnfund.fi