Launch of the first international network of business and human rights, led by ICIP

On November 19, after four years of work, the International Research Network on Business, Conflict and Human Rights (BCHR Network) was established in Geneva, led by ICIP. It is the first network of its kind in the world and one of its major features is that it brings together members from universities around the world, NGOs and important research centers in the field of armed conflict and the promotion of peace. Participants include the universities of Georgetown, Quebec, Sorbonne, Leiden, Greenwich, Ottawa and Australia; and centers and foundations such as SIPRI, FAFO, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Global Witness, PeaceNexus and DCAF. A total of over eighty researchers from around the world have signed the Network Founding Document.
The network is part of the ICIP research program “Armed conflict: law and justice”, coordinated by the Professor of International Humanitarian Law and ICIP vice president, Antoni Pigrau. Its main objective is to investigate the causes, dynamics and consequences of business activity in the context of armed conflict, the impact of this participation on human rights and the legal responsibilities that may arise. Activities of the network are published in a monthly newsletter.
The initiative to create a research network of this nature arose in the autumn of 2011, when ICIP organized the first international seminar on business and armed conflict in Barcelona, with the intention of unifying the various agendas on this issue. The seminar has been followed up by subsequent editions: in Barcelona in 2013, London in 2014 and Geneva in November of this year, coinciding with the celebration of the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights.