Business & Human Rights Accelerator: Now Accepting 2027 Cohort Applications

The idea of human rights is as simple as it is powerful: That all people have a right to be treated with dignity.

Business is about people. Directly or indirectly, businesses often impact the human rights of their employees and contract workers, workers in their supply chains, the communities around their operations and the end users of their products or services. Businesses impact virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights.

As a result, companies have both a responsibility and an opportunity to advance human rights across their operations, supply chains and beyond. Is your company able to know and show that it supports and respects the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights, and that it is not complicit in human rights abuses?

The Business & Human Rights Accelerator is a six-month programme activating companies participating in the UN Global Compact across industries and regions. The objective is to help businesses swiftly move from commitment to action on human rights and labour rights through establishing an ongoing human rights due diligence process.

What Will You Gain

An understanding of where your company is on their human rights journey
An assessment of actual and potential adverse human rights impacts and the ability to prioritize action
The knowledge about steps to take to mitigate your human rights impacts, including grievance mechanisms and remedy
Ways to effectively engage stakeholders on operational impacts on people
An action plan to advance human rights in your company and beyond
A network of peers, UN partners and experts to support your human rights journey and work collectively to tackle persistent barriers to human rights due diligence.
A certificate demonstrating completion of programme

What Will You Learn?

How to identify your responsibilities in respecting human rights and labour rights, expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
How to establish an ongoing human rights due diligence process in line with international standards
How to prepare organizations for evolving human rights due diligence legislation that is aligned with international standards
How to report and communicate on your human rights due diligence outcomes, including through the Communication on Progress, the annual public disclosure requirement for all UN Global Compact participants
How to connect human rights and the human rights due diligence process with social sustainability initiatives

Information Session

We invite you to register for our virtual live Q&A session on 22 October 2026 to help you better understand the inner workings of the Accelerator, what you can expect to learn and achieve, and provide answers to any other questions you might have. Select the session that works best for your time zone:

Session 1: 22 October 2026, 9 a.m. CET

Session 2: 22 October 2026, 10 a.m. ET

Business and Human Rights FAQ

Business and Human Rights Brochure

The Learning Experience in 4 Stages

The programme offers a detailed roadmap structured around 6 key stages. Each stage consists of multiple activities designed to foster both theoretical understanding and practical implementation of your human rights action plan.

Stage 1: Build your foundation and assess your starting point

Stage 2: Focus risks, prioritization and taking action

Stage 3: Regional and in-country peer-learning

Stage 4: Complete your Action Plan and prepare to implement

Eligibility

Active Participants of the UN Global Compact
Companies willing to identify human rights impacts and focus on a core area of their value chain
Companies able to appoint two representatives for the Accelerator activities

Timeline

The newly condensed 4-month programme comprises 4 key stages, each with a unique focus from understanding UN Global Compact principles to developing a comprehensive remedy plan.

Ready to Join?

Application Deadline:
30 November 2026

Accelerator Begins:
February 2027

Accelerator Ends:
May 2027

2027 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

Join the ranks of responsible businesses making a tangible difference in human rights. For more information, contact our Lead, Social Sustainability, Megan Grace Halferty at megan@unglobalcompact.ca.