The UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum for the Asia-Pacific region took place last week in Bangkok and what struck me most was rights holder frustration and a desire for less talk and more action.

Rights holders make up just 8% of the total number of speakers at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights over the past 6 years. This post, coming after the conclusion of the 12th UN Forum, updates previous data on rights holder speakers and calls for more efforts to include rights holder perspectives.

This post, coming after the conclusion of the 11th UN Forum, updates previous data on rights holder speakers to include the information from this year and reflects on what the rights holders spoke about at the Forum and what that suggests about the way forward to advance business respect for human rights.

Over the past four years, rights holders have comprised only 6% of the speakers at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights. This post provides several rights holders’ perspectives on the Forum and concludes that the Forum is failing to be inclusive.

This post examines data on who gets to speak at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, points to systematic issues that are sidelining rights holders at the Forum and ultimately seeks to spark conversations on how to make the Forum better.

The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights needs an overhaul. As the world’s largest annual gathering on business and human rights, it is an important venue for exchange of ideas and good practice — but one that has not provided sufficient space for rights holder expertise and input.

Human rights work is a praxis of possibility when it is based in learning from and collaborating with people directly impacted by systemic injustice and oppression. This isn’t happening enough. This post examines this issue through the lens of epistemology, drawing on Santos’ book The End of the Cognitive Empire.