The International Seminar on Business and Human Rights, December 4-5 in Paris, France, serves as an opportunity to review global progress and discuss future developments in key areas such as water, climate change, food, health and energy. 

It is the third seminar this year to mark and raise awareness of the declaration, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted in Paris on December 10, 1948. Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson’s President and CEO, is one of the speakers at the opening plenary session.

“At Ericsson, we have taken the opportunity of the 60th anniversary to reinforce awareness of the relationship between human rights and mobile technology,” he says. “Businesses need to be responsible for respecting human rights in their operations, and many of us also play a role in enabling rights through our core business activities.”

The seminar will be chaired by Mary Robinson, Honorary Chair of the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR) and President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative.

Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Corporate Responsibility director at Ericsson, will participate in a panel discussion at the event, exploring the business case for incorporating human rights into company operations where poverty and discrimination are key issues.

Weidman-Grunewald will also present a case study from the Millennium Villages about giving access to health and education services using mobile connectivity. “Ericsson has become increasingly aware that our core technologies can promote economic and social rights such as the access to education or basic health services,” she says. “We are working with the Millennium Villages project to bring mobile communications and internet access to a total population of about half a million people in Africa.”

Another activity to mark the anniversary this year is the Every Human Has Rights campaign. This global initiative calls on people to support human rights by signing the campaign declaration and making them part of their daily lives. Over 35,000 individuals have signed so far.