PRME Working Group on Business for Peace

Challenging Our Thinking on Peace and Development for a Better Future

The guest speaker shared new highlights and findings of the main reports that the Institute For Economics and Peace works on: Global Peace Index; Ecological Threat Register; Positive Peace Index.

The guest speaker, Renahan Gil, is helping to create a paradigm shift in the way the world thinks about peace. He is a Consultant for the Public and Private Sectors, in addition to supporting social and non-governmental organizations. He is a specialist in Development Agenda, implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and a Consultant in Human Rights, Security, and ESG.

Ukrainian political and economic landscape in the future: is there a place for women?

Daryna Dvornichenko, PhD, Ass. Professor shared her reflections on women’s engagement in politics and the economy before and after 24 February in Ukraine. Despite the introduction of various instruments for mainstreaming gender-balanced policies, their effectiveness was relatively low in pre-war Ukraine. The numerous persistent factors that hamper women’s political participation prove that Ukraine still had much to do to create a level playing field for men and women in politics and the economy. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has dramatically changed the political and economic landscape. There is a high risk of rollback of those not-so-numerous achievements gained before 24.02.2022. The findings from the interviews with women politicians and entrepreneurs presented at the meeting will provide a clear picture of the challenges women face in pre-war and post-invasion Ukraine.

Founding PRME B4P Working Group, Co-Chair John Katsos from the American University of Sharjah, and Sophie Kacki from PRME Secretariat also provided a few remarks.

Darina Dvornichenko is a Project Coordinator for the project entitled “Utilization and Implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine in the field of trade/EU4Business: SME Competitiveness and Internationalisation,” led by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Darina received her Ph.D. in political science from Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, where she also earned an M.A. and B.A. in international relations. Additionally, she earned certificates at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the European Academy of Diplomacy (Warsaw), and the British Law Centre. Before 24 February 2022, she worked as an associate professor at the National University Odesa Maritime Academy and as an adviser to the head of the Research Institute of Informatics and Law of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. In addition, she has been a guest lecturer at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, the University of Zagreb, and Ukrainian Catholic University. She is the author of over 40 publications on issues of European integration and gender. In 2021, Darina was affiliated with the University of Wroclaw as a Kirkland Research Fellow, and in 2022 she completed a year as a Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States doing research on the role of women in politics in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. She is also a founder of “Agents of Change!”—a nongovernmental organization that promotes women’s participation in decision-making and non-formal education in Ukraine.

Time For An Eleventh UN Global Compact Peace Principle? Exploring The Business Role In Securing & Maintaining Peace In An Incomplete And Fragile Global Governance Ecosystem

Dr. Kernaghan Webb, Law and Business, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, will explore the advantages and disadvantages of adding an eleventh peace principle to the existing ten UN Global Compact principles based on the evolving nature of the imperfect global governance ecosystem approach to creating and maintaining peace; and the changing role of business in this global governance ecosystem.

Dr. Kernaghan Webb is an Associate Professor in the Law and Business department at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Ted Rogers School of Management (TMU) and Director of TMU’s Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility. Dr. Webb has published extensively on regulatory and CSR issues. His work on regulatory offenses has been cited and followed by the Supreme Court of Canada. Dr. Webb has worked extensively with and advised government, the private sector, and civil society.

Strengthening the Nexus of Business and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

This webinar focuses on the intersection between business and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Dr. Christina Bache, Chair of the B4P Working Group and Research Affiliate at Queen's University and Ms. Benafsha Delgado, Senior Programme Manager, Business and Human Rights for Global Compact Network UK presents responsible business frameworks that can bolster the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. The webinar draws on conclusions as outlined in the Women, Peace and Security: Guidance for Business, a recent publication of the Global

Exploring the Intersectionality of Business, Peace, and Human Rights: The Case of Libya

The UN PRME, Working Group on Business for Peace organized a webinar on exploring the intersectionality of business, peace, and human rights: the case of Libya. Two experts from the United States Institute of Peace will offer insights into the powerful interplay of these themes, beginning with a regional overview of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region followed by a deeper dive into Libya as a case study.

Dr. Christina Bache, Chair of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education, Working Group on Business for Peace and Research Affiliate at Queen's University kicked off the webinar with an overview of the working group's mission and moderate the discussion.

Dr. Elie Abouaoun provided an overview of the nexus between the private sector and peace-building in the MENA region in general, and highlighted the various shortcomings, challenges, and opportunities that businesses in the region have in evolving their social corporate responsibility agendas beyond merely charity, towards meaningful local initiatives that have the potential to yield peaceful dividends in the communities where they are engaged.

Nate Wilson discussed how Libya presents numerous opportunities for businesses, particularly those in the energy sector, to contribute meaningfully to peace outcomes in the country. Despite Libya’s many challenges, it has a young population and the recent political gains in stability create an environment in which the private sector can positively incentivize Libyan actors to consolidate those gains in December elections and beyond. This is also true in the Libyan South, the Fezzan, which has been historically marginalized but is ripe for inclusive development, economic and otherwise.

Thriving in Uncertainty and Crisis: Management Lessons from Companies in Conflict Zones

UN PRME Working Group on Business for Peace's webinar on: “Thriving in Uncertainty and Crisis: Management Lessons from Companies in Conflict Zones”

Three long-term trends - globalization, climate change, and increasing social inequalities - are simultaneously converging to create an era of global uncertainty and crisis. As one crisis ends, another seems to begin without an end in sight. How can companies manage this “new normal”? Research on businesses in conflict zones can provide needed answers. In conflict zones, crisis and uncertainty are part of a regular day that destroys many businesses, while others not only survive but thrive. This webinar examines the lessons companies globally can learn from their counterparts in conflict zones based on decades of research in the business for peace (B4P) field.

Speakers:

John E. Katsos, JD, MBA, Associate Professor of Business Law, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility School of Business Administration (SBA), American University of Sharjah, Research Affiliate Centre for Leadership, Ethics, and Organization (CLEO), Queen’s University Belfast, Visiting Research Fellow Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), the University of Oslo

Jason Miklian, Senior Researcher at the University of Oslo Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM)

Getting to “Us”: Nudges & Bridges for Peace at Work and Beyond

Professor Timothy L. Fort, one of the founding academics of the B4P space and Eveleigh Professorship in Business Ethics and Professor of Business Law & Ethics at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (USA), discusses how music, sports, movies and other cultural artifacts offer bridges for people who might otherwise disagree with each other on social and political issues. He argues that it is essential that we recover the capability of sharing bonds with those who politically differ from us even when these divides are historical and sharpened by the challenge of increasing diversity, social media (as well as network media) siloing of viewpoints and gerrymandered political districts.

The Complex Relationship between Corporations, Conflict Prevention, & Conflict Resolution

Speaker:

Molly M. Melin

Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis in 2008.

Private corporations are rarely discussed as playing a role in efforts to curb civil violence, even though they often have strong interests in maintaining stability. Violence often damages key infrastructure or directly targets companies. Corporations also have a normative obligation to conduct business in ways that promote peace. While there are historical examples of firm-instigated violence and firms benefiting from instability and conflict, there is also evidence that corporations proactively engage in peacebuilding. For example, firms devise programs to promote economic development, offer access to education, and employ former combatants.

Dr. Melin develops a theory of the conflicting roles corporations play in building and preventing peace. Dr. Melin shows that corporations engage in peacebuilding when the government lacks the capacity to do so, but they also weigh the opportunity costs of acting. Firms are uniquely able to raise the cost of violence, and proactive firms increase peace in a country. At the same time, an active private sector can make it harder for states with an ongoing conflict to reach an agreement by complicating the bargaining process.

Including original cross-national data of peacebuilding efforts and in-depth case analyses of corporate actions and outcomes, Dr. Melin shows that corporations help to prevent violence but not resolve it. In examining the corporate motives for peacebuilding and the implications of these activities for preventing violence and conflict resolution, the book builds a more holistic picture of the peace and conflict process. The findings also help explain why armed civil conflicts persist despite the multitude of diverse actors working to end them.

War, Law and Business

A conversation with Fauve Kurnadi, Legal Adviser, Australian Red Cross and Dr Jonathan Kolieb, Senior Lecturer in Law, RMIT University about corporate responsibility in international humanitarian law and how it can be translated into innovative business and management education – insights and tools.

Background:
In today’s globalised economy it is common for companies – their personnel, assets, supply chains and customers – to be present in areas of the world affected by armed conflict. No longer are these environments dominated by militaries and armed groups, but also private individuals with their own roles, rights and responsibilities. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights note the increased risk of business-related human rights abuses in armed conflict, and the need for heightened action on the part of corporate actors in these contexts. However, little attention is paid to the unique and universally-accepted set of rules that apply in situations of armed conflict – international humanitarian law (IHL). For the past four years, Australian Red Cross and RMIT University have sought to address that gap - working together to help familiarise businesses with IHL, in Australia and around the world.

Awareness of IHL and its applicability and relevance to modern businesses must therefore be a crucial element of responsible management education.