About this Event
The last few decades have seen a shift in society’s understanding and awareness of the impact and role of business in society. However, viewing children as stakeholders with legitimate rights claims in the context of responsible business conduct is a relatively recent development. This development is both timely and necessary in light of global commitments to children’s rights, as part of the global UN Sustainable Development Goals. Nonetheless, as UNICEF observes, children have not been adequately considered by the business sector, and governments across many countries have not adequately taken the steps that are necessary to prevent and address abuses of children’s rights that may have resulted from business activities.
Following the release of the Children’s Rights and Business Principles (the Principles) in 2012, UNICEF has worked to raise awareness of children and youth as key stakeholders of business and has engaged in activities to better understand how the Principles should be applied in different sectors.
To learn more about this important aspect of the global Business and Human Rights agenda, join Simon Chorley, International Programs Manager at UNICEF Canada, in conversation with Dr. Priya Bala-Miller, Director of Partnerships and Program Development at the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute , on how these principles have been applied in the Mining Sector, and with what results.
Date and time:
Seminar: January 22, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm.
Audience participation welcome, Q & A to follow.
Light refreshments will be served.
Convening Partners:
The Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) is a centre of expertise on natural resource governance, housed at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA). This seminar, as part of a cross-campus seminar series on Mining and Minerals Extraction in a New Global Landscape. It is hosted by CIRDI with financial support from the SPPGA, and promotional support from the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics, within the Sauder School of Business, and the Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering.
Speaker Bios:
Simon Chorley is the International Programs Manager at UNICEF Canada. He leads the organization’s engagement with the Canadian private sector and the Government of Canada on corporate responsibility, sustainability, innovations and innovative financing. He has thirteen years of experience in human rights and international development, having previously worked for an international anti-human trafficking organization in London. He was born in England, grew up in East Africa, and lives in Ontario with his wife and two children.
Dr. Priya Bala-Miller is the Director of Partnerships and Program Development at CIRDI. She has over seventeen years of professional experience in sustainable development with specialist expertise on gender equality, human rights and sustainable finance. She has previously worked with UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector to advance corporate social responsibility from a rights-based lens in a variety of industry sectors. She earned an MA in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University, where her dissertation evaluated the role of global companies in the trade of conflict minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo. More recently, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of British Columbia for a thesis that examined the human rights policies and practices of large institutional investors, with case illustrations covering extractives projects in Burma, Sudan, Papua New Guinea and Western Sahara.
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