Today, in the premises of the largest co-working space in Bosnia and Herzegovina “Tershouse”, ten new companies accepted and adopted the Charter on Business and Human Rights.
The Charter consists of 15 articles concerning the prevention of human rights violations, involving stakeholders to ensure their voices and needs are heard, expressing commitment to equality, positive work environment, no forced labor or involvement in human trafficking, the right to a communication system that offers all employees confidentiality when reporting.
The Charter on Business and Human Rights was developed with the financial support of the European Union within the project “Improvement of human rights in the business sector in BiH”, which is implemented by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, in cooperation with the Association of Employers of FBiH.
The companies that signed the Charter today are mainly engaged in the development of software and Internet technologies and mostly work in foreign markets. As they said in a joint statement, the foreign market requires respect for human rights in all business processes, this type of recognition is very meaningful for them, and thus makes it easier to harmonize their business with the principles of their market business. The signatories of the Charter are: Tershouse d.o.o., Pear Shadow, MKODE d.o.o. Sarajevo, OR SaCode, Ankeboot d.o.o., Light Sail Solution d.o.o., OD UNRAVEL, Aqua Digital BH d.o.o., Ministry of Programming and Flower Factory d.o.o.
“We are very glad that we joined other companies in BiH, other signatories to this Charter, but also because we were able to host representatives of the Institute and our members who have decided to adopt these principles in business. Since most of our members and we work in the international market, respect for these principles is implied in our work, and now it is nice to have confirmation of that,” said Nermin Šehić, director of Tershouse d.o.o.
The Charter on Business and Human Rights was created on the basis of the guiding principles of the United Nations and is the first step towards the creation of a national action plan on respect for human rights in the business sector. Prior to drafting the Charter itself, research was conducted to determine how much companies are generally aware of the importance of respecting human rights. The results of the research show that companies, especially small ones, are not aware that they can endanger human rights with their business.
“We decided to sign the Charter, given that it is one of the basic postulates of our business, but it should also be the core of good business of all companies in BiH and in the world. We are extremely honored that the Institute for Youth Development KULT managed to implement such an initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Sara Lerota, an employee of the Ministry of Programming.
The full text of the Charter is available here: www.mladi.org/myURL/povelja. The call for the adoption of the Charter is open to all companies in BiH that want to respect human rights in their business. This can be done by filling out a questionnaire that can be found here.
