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MESSAGE FROM THE GCBHR TEAM:
Dear GCBHR friends,
For those of us working in business and human rights, the second half of the year always seems to shift into a higher gear — and this autumn is no exception.
The GCBHR will be contributing to key debates on implementing human rights in corporate practice at a range of events over the coming weeks, including the UN Forum for Business and Human Rights in Geneva, the Swiss Forum on Business and Human Rights in Bern, and the Resilience World Nexus Summit in London, as well as numerous bilateral meetings with companies. These gatherings give us a valuable opportunity to share insights from our forthcoming book — Transforming Business: Aligning Profits With Human Rights, co-authored by Dorothée Baumann-Pauly — and to introduce our new research service, The Bridge.
Our solutions-focused work on responsible sourcing continues apace, with ongoing projects on cocoa in West Africa and cobalt from the DRC. We are also expanding our training offer: for those in commodity trading, take a look at our executive education programme at UNIGE, and for procurement professionals, we have a dedicated training offer as well.
Our team has been growing to meet the demands of this work, and we very much look forward to connecting with many of you over the weeks ahead.
Thank you for your continued interest in our work.
Sincerely,
Doro, Berit, Sarah and Ginous
The GCBHR Core Team
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Earlier this month, Swiss newspaper Blick featured The Bridge research service and its role in helping companies integrate human rights considerations into business decision-making. The article highlights the importance of local perspectives and practical tools for understanding risks that may otherwise remain invisible to corporate leaders.
We created The Bridge to fill a need for independent, locally-grounded research to inform companies' human rights due diligence because we believe that understanding risks requires more than reviewing policies, supplier audits, publicly available reports or surface-level stakeholder engagement. The most difficult challenges are often those that emerge at the local level, where community perspectives, worker experiences, and contextual realities can be difficult to access through conventional due diligence processes.
Over recent months, we have also engaged with companies, experts, and potential partners interested in exploring how locally informed research can complement existing due diligence and sustainability efforts.
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Resilience World Nexus Summit Next Month |
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GCBHR is pleased to be a Thought Leadership Partner with the Resilience World Nexus Summit, which will take place on 6-7 October 2026 in London.
The summit brings together leaders from business, finance, government, academia, and civil society to explore the evolving challenges shaping organizational resilience in an increasingly complex global environment.
Director Dorothée Baumann-Pauly will contribute to summit discussions and the RWN community on strengthening the conversation around business, human rights and resilience.
📅 6–7 October 2026
📍 Church House Westminster, London
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November Book Launch & Apéro: Join Us! |
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We are delighted to announce our forthcoming book, Transforming Business: Aligning Profits with Human Rights, co-authored by Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly (GCBHR, University of Geneva), Professor Justine Nolan (Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW), and Dr. Andy Symington (Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW).
Drawing on five years of original field research across six industries and multiple geographies — from cobalt mining in the DRC to rubber sourcing in the Amazon, cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire to diamond cutting in Botswana — we distil five core components of business model transformation that place the workers and communities at the heart of global supply chains.
Register to join us at the book launch:
📅 23 November 2026
🕕 6–7 PM, followed by an apéro 7–8:30 PM
📍 Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la Paix, Room A2
Click here to learn more about the book.
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GBSN Business and Human Rights Impact Community Marks 10 Years |
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Celebrating a Decade of BHR Education
This November, GCBHR will host the 10th Annual Meeting of the GBSN Business and Human Rights Impact Community in Geneva. The milestone gathering will bring together business school leaders, researchers, and practitioners to reflect on a decade of advancing business and human rights education.
Held alongside the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, the event underscores the growing role of business schools in preparing leaders to navigate human rights challenges in a rapidly changing world.
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Learning Across Sectors to Address Child Labour |
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Cross-commodity workshop
Our field research in Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa-growing regions underscored the need for a cross-sector response to the systemic drivers of child labor. We convened stakeholders from industry, government, and civil society - in producing and buying countries - to explore collaborative solutions that promote resilient livelihoods and sustainable community development.
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New Executive Education on Human Rights in Commodity Trading |
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Commodity trader training
We developed an interactive e-learning on human rights in commodity trading for UNIGE's executive education. Combining theory, real-world examples, and expert interviews, the course explores key risks and emerging expectations while providing practical guidance for learners to navigate human rights risks in the commodity sector.
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Promoting Better Human Rights Impact Data in Responsible Investing Discussions |
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Sustainable finance
Our director continues to contribute keynote and panel discussions at leading sustainable finance conferences, helping shape the discussion on sustainable investing and responsible finance, and highlighting the need to more systematically integrate human rights considerations into sustainable investing and insist on better impact data.
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Welcome Ginous Alford to the GCBHR Team |
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Join us in welcoming Ginous 'Gigi' Alford as Research Associate and Project Coordinator at the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights. Ginous joins the Center following more than 15 years working across business and human rights, responsible governance, digital safety, athlete rights, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. At GCBHR, Gigi will support research, partnerships, communications, and the continued development of The Bridge research service. |
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Sarah Creedon Named Technology & Human Rights Fellow |
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Congratulations to Sarah Creedon on her appointment as a 2026-27 Technology & Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights, where she will examine how human rights and gender-responsive due diligence can be integrated into AI development. |
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🗓️ Thursday, 10 December 2026
8:30am
📍 CCIG Office
Blvd du Théâtre 4, Geneva
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🎯 Join GCBHR,
the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIG),
and the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030
for an interactive half-day training
on human rights due diligence in procurement. |
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🔔 More information
and registration details coming soon. |
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Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights
Uni Mail, 40, Boulevard du Pont-d’Arve
1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
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