Ensuring effective rights holder engagement in Multi-stakeholder initiatives
This paper addresses all stakeholders engaged in MSIs, in particular the German government, which may initiate, facilitate and participate in MSIs, as well as companies that are primarily responsible for involving rights holders. It illustrates the different dimensions of meaningful rights holder engagement in MSIs and highlights best practices developed by different German MSIs, thus showcasing how MSIs can contribute to due diligence implementation, at least in theory. In practice, however, rights holders have not yet been sufficiently involved in MSIs. This leads to a set of demands that need to be met by MSIs if they are to fully realize their potential. These demands are particularly pertinent as the German Supply Chain Act only offers up a vague definition of rights holder engagement in due diligence processes. This makes it all the more important for MSIs to ensure strict alignment of their objectives with the UNGPs in order to create tangible benefits when involving rights holders in practice. MSIs can support companies by pooling resources and helping them to implement effective due diligence measures at scale.
Area of focus: Coffee
Organisation/institution: INKOTA