Grand Challenges lecture series ILAS 2016-2017 | Page 13

LECTURE SERIES GLOBAL BUSINESS AND THE CHALLENGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS PROFESSOR SALLY WHEELER 10 MAY 2017 | 6.30PM-7.30PM KEELE HALL | THE SALVIN ROOM The UN guiding principles on Business and Human Rights, were developed to safeguard developing countries which for a number of reasons; lower wage costs, lower infrastructure costs and often a shallower regulatory climate, have become the new sites of production for Western goods and raw materials. This lecture looks at how multi-national enterprises MNEs have responded to these Principles; what rights they assert that they respect, how they report on this respect and the place that they accord respect for Human Rights in their business structure. countries that have lower wage costs, lower infrastructure costs and often a shallower regulatory climate, have become the new sites of production for Western goods and raw materials Sally Wheeler OBE MIRA, FAcSS is Professor of Law, Business and Society and Head of the School of Law at Queen’s University Belfast. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and was elected to Royal Irish Academy in 2013. She has a wide range of academic interests and publications from Victorian Studies to Corporate Law. 13