Supplemental Research on Business and Peace
Recommended Reading
The Business of Peace, International Alert, UK (2000)
This report presents frameworks to assist companies to analyze investment opportunities in unstable regions of the world and identifies strategies to help maximize their contribution to building peaceful relationships and long-term economic and social stability.
Money Makers as Peace Makers, Swiss Peace (2010)
The aim of this working paper is to shed light on the contributions of business actors to the mediation process by assessing: (1) the types of business actors that are involved in mediation processes; (2) the different roles that business actors can play in peace mediation; (3) how and when they can best be involved in the mediation process; and, (4) the specific circumstances and context factors that influence their involvement.
Private Sector Business involvement in Conflict Prevention, Katharina Felgenhauer (2007)
This paper outlines how businesses can powerfully contribute to peace building, the advantages which the companies could derive from peace building initiatives and the ways profit-oriented behavior possibly endangers peace.
Business in Armed Conflict Zones: How to Avoid Complicity and Comply with International Standards, Salil Tripathi (2010)
Businesses have operated in zones of conflict since time immemorial. This paper looks at the roles businesses have played in historical conflicts, their potential complicity and steps they and the international community should take to avoid contributing to conflict.
Selected Guidelines
Guidelines on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas, UN-PRI (2010)
The primary purpose of this guidance document is twofold: (1)To assist companies in implementing responsible business practices by living up to the Global Compact Ten Principles in conflict-affected and high-risk areas so they may maximize their long-term financial performance and make positive contributions to peace and development, while minimizing risks and negative impacts to both the business and society.(2) To provide a common reference point for constructive engagement in conflict affected and high-risk areas, as opposed to divestment, between companies and investors (specifically shareholders and potential shareholders).
Responsible Business Guide: A Toolkit for Winning Companies, CIPE (2010)
This toolkit looks at how corporate responsibility has evolved internationally over the past decade. The current, fourth generation is “smart to do” because new value creation opportunities are increasingly about the effective and innovative handling of scarce resources like water, carbon and energy, and will realise the potential of engaged, productive workers and value-based investors. Fourth generation companies will be the most successful businesses in tomorrow’s world and markets.
OECD Draft Guidelines on Mining in Conflict Zones, OECD (2010)
These guidelines define risk-based due diligence for companies throughout the entire mineral supply chain to detect and manage risks of directly or indirectly supporting conflict through the extraction and trade of minerals from conflict-affected areas. This due diligence guidance also helps companies address non-conflict specific risks associated with high-risk areas, including conditions of mining, corruption, financial crime, and tax evasion and puts forward a framework structured around the procedural steps that companies should take.
US Legislation on Conflict Minerals: RCS Private Sector Guidance on the Dodd-Frank Act Section 1502
The following briefing note presents the view of Resource Consulting Services (RCS) on section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which affects companies buying ‘conflict minerals’ from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries.
Some Case Studies
Doing Business with the Poor (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
Creating value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor (UNDP)
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