Discussion: Human Rights and Business

The Wertevolle Zukunft Foundation, in collaboration with Info-Point Europa, invites you to a panel discussion on 9 February 2010 on the topic ‘Human Rights and Business – a European Export Hit?’. Together with our guests, we would like to discuss the extent to which companies prioritise the universal validity of human rights at the very start of their business activities, or whether human rights are instead an integral part of their CSR or management strategy.

Do European companies serve as role models in this regard, and how, if at all, do they fulfil this responsibility in concrete terms? Is the issue of human rights even relevant in practice to a company’s value creation, or is it merely a matter for PR departments and their engagement with civil society? What regulatory framework can policymakers provide? Or should companies themselves be responsible for ensuring respect for human rights?

This event takes as its starting point the work of the ‘Wertevolle Zukunft’ Foundation and the Journal of Human Rights on an issue dedicated to ‘Human Rights and Business’. The organisers’ aim is to use this event to stimulate a constructive discussion on the topic of human rights and business from a cross-sectoral perspective.

We are delighted to welcome the following guests to the panel:

• Prof. Dr von Gerkan, gmp von Gerkan, Mark und Partner
• Christiane Heller, Strategy/CSR, BASF
• Dr Monika Lüke, Secretary-General, Amnesty International e.V.
• Felix Roth, Research Fellow at the Centre for European Studies

The discussion will be moderated by Michael Schellberg, Managing Director of Freiherr Knigge OHG.

The event will take place in the beautiful event hall of the Alfred Schnittke Academy Hamburg, Max-Brauer-Allee 24, 22765 Hamburg, and begins at 7 pm. Following the presentations, you will have the opportunity to chat with the speakers and other guests over a glass of wine.

Please register for the event at manuela.mischinko@wertevolle-zukunft.de.