About

The objective of a baseline assessment is to identify legal and policy gaps and patterns of adverse human rights impacts by businesses. The findings in a baseline assessment can be used to:

• identify further research and data collection needs on business and human rights
• make recommendations for legal, policy and institutional changes
• prepare reporting to regional and international human rights bodies on business and human rights
• inform the formulation and prioritisation of actions in a national action plan on business and human rights.

The tool includes:

1. A questionnaire structured in 10 thematic domains to support users to identify relevant information regarding the implementation by the State of Pillars 1 and 3 of the UNGPs. The questionnaire consists of closed ended questions (e.g. with binary or multiple choice answers) in order to facilitate future efforts toward cross-country and across-time comparisons of implementation of business and human rights standards. The questionnaire includes background information and supporting resources on a variety of business and human rights topics.
2. A data portal hosting the country-level data and allowing queries across countries and thematic issues (to be implemented at a later stage depending on the uptake level of the questionnaire).

The project builds on previous DIHR resources such as the National Baseline Assessment template and the Human Rights and Business Country Guide. This tool aims to make the collection of data on business and human rights at the national level easier and more accessible.

Who is the tool for?

The tool can be of interest to any organisation who would like to assess the implementation of business and human rights frameworks in their country such as:

• national human rights institutions
• State bodies such as ministries and/or cross-ministerial working groups
• inter-governmental and regional organisations
• civil society organisations
• academic institutions.

Why should I use this tool?

• The questionnaire will allow you to evaluate to what extent the State has implemented the UNGPs and identify gaps in policy and practice. The questionnaire includes guidance, examples, and links to relevant resources.
• Once you have filled in the questionnaire, you will receive a final report that includes your answers to the questions, an index score and relevant contextual data from external sources such as ILO and UN. The report can be used in advocacy and research endeavours and shared with your stakeholders.
• If you agree to publishing the data, your responses will be featured in a public database along to other country entries from around the world, therefore contributing to a global data collection effort.

How can I get involved with further developing this tool?

We seek to expand the questionnaire with new business and human rights issue areas, as well as by incorporating questions assessing the implementation of the UNGPs by businesses. Get in touch if you would like to collaborate on these topics.

We seek to facilitate a wide uptake of the questionnaire to build a comprehensive data portal on business and human rights. Get in touch if you would like to spur regional initiatives to facilitate the data collection process.

 

FAQ

What does this tool consist of?

The tool has two elements:

• an online questionnaire that can be accessed by making a request for account creation here . The questionnaire seeks to assess the quality of implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at the national level.
• a publicly accessible data portal where the answers will be published upon the consent of respondents. The portal will be developed in the future once sufficient cross-country data has been collected.

How can this tool support my organisation in its business and human rights activities?

The questionnaire is very useful if you are engaged in conducting a national baseline assessment on business and human rights in your country in order to inform a national action plan on business and human rights.  The questionnaire can guide your research and data collection efforts by prompting you to answer questions informed by the key expectations outlined in Pillars 1 and 3 of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, i.e. expectations related to the State obligation under human rights law to prevent and remediate human rights abuses by third parties such as businesses. Based on those answers, you will be able to identify gaps in law and policies and patterns of business-related abuses that can help you make evidence-based recommendations.  

The questionnaire can also be useful for organisations pursuing other objectives. For example, the questionnaire can be used to:

• prepare reporting to regional and international human rights bodies
• build capacity on business and human rights for various stakeholders
• prepare for advocacy meetings with policy makers on business and human rights topics
• conduct research more broadly on business and human rights.

Are there any restrictions in accessing the questionnaire?

No, the questionnaire has been developed as a public domain resource that can be accessed by anyone who has an email address. The email address is needed in order to request the creation of an user account and use some of the functionalities of the tool. Your request for account creation needs to be reviewed and approved by DIHR before you can access the questionnaire. It is possible to download the questionnaire here without creating an account.

How long does it take to complete the questionnaire?

It is difficult to provide an estimate of the number of weeks it might take. The pace at which you can work depends on a number of factors such as the availability of data in the public domain, your familiarity with the business and human rights agenda as well as the level of interest to generate new data through additional research and stakeholder engagement. The platform allows users to skip questions which are not relevant and/or where there is insufficient data. This means that the length of the questionnaire will differ widely across respondents. There is no time limit to fill out the questionnaire and it is possible to save your work and return to the questionnaire at any time.

Can I skip certain questions, or do I need to fill in the whole questionnaire?

Yes, it is possible to skip questions if they are not relevant, there is insufficient data to answer them in a meaningful way or if the question is not clear. The platform allows you to select the reason for which a certain question has been skipped. We encourage you to answer as many questions as possible, especially if you’re interested in publishing the data on the DIHR portal.

Do I have to answer the questions in a pre-defined order?

The questions are organised in 10 thematic domains, and you can start with whichever domain you choose. It is possible to jump from one domain to the other without any restriction.

I don’t have the expertise to answer some questions. What should I do?

The questionnaire touches upon a variety of topic such as labour rights, environmental protection, land related issues, consumer protection, and it is unlikely that one respondent/organisation has expertise on all these issue areas. To overcome this challenge, respondents can invite co-respondents with complementary areas of expertise to fill in the questionnaire; request the support of expert organisations by sharing the questions from a certain domain (which can be downloaded at any time from the system) for input; and/or organise data-sharing and validation workshops with other expert organisations.

Can I decide not to publish my responses?

Yes, you can decide not to make your answers public. However, since one objective of the tool is to build a comprehensive data portal on business and human rights, we encourage you to consider making your answers public to contribute to this global data collection effort.

What happens if I would like to rectify an answer after it has been published on the DIHR website?

After you submitted the final questionnaire, it is no longer possible to edit your submission. Please contact us for more information.

Can I fill in the questionnaire as an anonymous respondent?

To access the questionnaire, you will be asked to provide some personal information such as your name, email address and organisation. This data will only be accessible to select staff at the DIHR and will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. If you opt for publishing your answers on the DIHR data portal, you can decide whether your name and/or organisation should be revealed and associated with the data collected.

Can I leave comments in my language?

The questionnaire is available in English, French and Spanish. If you are not comfortable writing in these languages, you can leave comments in the dedicated comment boxes in your own language.

I am being asked to invite another person to review my answers. Why?

A reviewer is a person from your or another organisation who is asked to assess the quality of your answers by checking whether the answers have been adequately substantiated, there are no inconsistencies across the answers and there are no omissions or inaccuracies. Ideally, the reviewer should have knowledge relevant to one or more of the subject matters covered in the questionnaire. The reviewer can flag questions in need of further work. You need to implement the changes requested by the reviewer before the final submission of the questionnaire.

Getting your submission reviewed is a condition for the publication of data on the DIHR portal.

Do I have access to my data after the completion of the questionnaire?

You can at any time access your submission and download a PDF copy of your answers by using your login details.

What happens if more than one organisation would like to answer and publish the questionnaire for the same country?

If more organisations are interested to collect data for the same country, it is recommended that they collaborate and work jointly on the questionnaire. The DIHR believes that one questionnaire submission per country is the most effective way to ensure the accessibility and dissemination of the data. The DIHR might revisit this approach at a later time based on feedback by respondents.

What is the role of the DIHR in reviewing the answers and the quality of data?

The DIHR is not responsible for verifying the quality, accuracy and reliability of the answers. The DIHR has a limited quality assurance role which involves:

• Checking whether the respondent has a genuine interest in business and human rights as well as the research capacity to fill out the questionnaire in a methodologically sound manner
• Checking that the text included in the comment boxes does not include personal data and is intelligible.

What is the DIHR’s approach to data protection in this project?

As an independent public institution, DIHR has legal powers to gather and process your personal data if it happens for a statistical or scientific purposes. For this project, we gather/process your personal information (i.e. name, email, organisation) when you create an account for the following purpose

• to be able to implement some of the functionalities of the tool such as the review and co-respondent functions
• to ensure that the organisations/individuals wishing to publish the data on the DIHR website have a genuine interest in business and human rights as well as the research capacity to fill out the questionnaire in a methodologically sound manner
• to maintain an overview of the type of users interested in the tool with a view to improving functionalities and further updates.

Only a few authorised employees at the DIHR have access to the personal data and will process it with the purpose of publishing it on the website when permitted by the respondent. For more information, read here.

I have technical problems in using the tool. What should I do?

Please read our technical user guide first and follow the instruction therein. If that is not helpful, you can contact us here.