No Longer Business as Usual: Citizens’ emerging role in enforcing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Zimbabwe
Prosper Maguchu | 18 Aug 2017
According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) the responsibility to respect human rights requires that business enterprises: “Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur.” Moreover, Principle 5 provides that “States should exercise adequate oversight in order to meet their international human rights obligations when they contract with, or legislate for, business enterprises to provide services that may impact upon the enjoyment of human rights.” This seems relevant in the case of the Government of Zimbabwe (Government) contracting a German private company, Giesecke and Devrient (G and D GmbH)‚ to print a surrogate currency “Bond Notes”.…