Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

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The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) today celebrates its 10th anniversary at Lancaster House in London. Since its launch in 2000, the VPs have provided guidance to extractives companies on maintaining the security of their operations in a manner that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms. In recognition of this milestone, founding members and other participants of the VPs put forward a vision for the future—a vision shared by governments, companies, and civil society organizations.

VPs Vision Statement

Strengthen the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights significance as a business and human rights best practice framework by: increasing our participants' base, strengthening accountability, and actively promoting universal respect for human rights.

Considerable progress has been made in the past decade to advance global human rights, but many challenges remain. While not a panacea, multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the VPs can play an important role in guiding and promoting respect for human rights in business operations. Since their inception, the VPs have been used by extractive companies to strengthen their capacity to address complex security and human rights issues in their operations around the world.

Participation in the initiative is voluntary. Currently, there are five member governments, 17 companies, nine NGOs, and three observers. This year, the VPs are delighted to welcome the governments of Colombia and Switzerland and the NGO Search for Common Ground as new members.

For more information about the VPs, visit www.voluntaryprinciples.org.

For questions on how to participate, contact the Secretariat at volprinciples@bsr.org or VoluntaryPrinciples@iblf.org.

Background on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

The VPs provide guidance to extractive companies on ensuring the safety of their personnel and the security of their installations in insecure environments while also respecting human rights. The initiative provides practical guidance to companies on how to do this:

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of human rights risks associated with security, with a particular focus on complicity.
• Institute proactive human rights screenings of and trainings for public and private security forces.
• Ensure that the use of force is proportional and lawful.
• Develop systems for reporting and investigating allegations of human rights abuses.

By ensuring that human rights are upheld, the VPs aim to mitigate potential tensions between extractive companies and the communities within which they work. They were established in 2000 by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the U.S. Department of State. The International Business Leaders Forum (London) and BSR (San Francisco) serve as the Secretariat to manage the initiative.

For more information, visit www.voluntaryprinciples.org.

Governments:
Canada
Colombia
The Netherlands
Norway
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States

Corporations:
Anglo American
AngloGold Ashanti
BG Group
BHP Billiton
BP
Chevron
ConocoPhillips
ExxonMobil
Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold
Hess Corporation
Marathon Oil
Newmont Mining Corporation
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Rio Tinto
Shell
Statoil
Talisman Energy

NGOs:
Amnesty International
The Fund for Peace
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
IKV Pax Christi
International Alert
Oxfam
Pact, Inc.
Search for Common Ground

Observers:
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Council on Mining & Metals
International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association

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