Engagement and Remedy Forum 2023​
for Responsible Business Conduct

“Access to Remedy” is one of the main pillars of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and yet, it has been most neglected. This Forum was first launched in February 2020 with the aim of pushing this pillar to the fore. The special feature of the Forum has been the establishment of a new grievance mechanism, inspired by the Engagement & Remedy Guidelines. The Forum has been acting as a venue to deliver a progress of this new mechanism, among others, such as discussing and learning the latest developments on business and human rights – in particular, access to remedy, within and outside of Japan. Thanks to all relevant stakeholders which contributed to this important project, a launch of “Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights(JaCER)”, a non-judicial platform to support and promote redress of grievances by member companies, was finally announced at the last year’s Forum, and began its work in October 2022.
 

The theme of this year’s Forum is “A Way Forward”. The establishment of JaCER was commemorative, but it is not the end of the story - it is the beginning instead. As one panelist puts it last year, “JaCER is still a baby”. It should learn a great deal to become a truly effective mechanism. It should also be seen in a larger context. JaCER is not alone in this undertaking. Japanese Governments has been providing the National Action Plan and Guidelines. UN, EU, ILO, OECD, and other international organizations has also been very active. Civil organizations, and business enterprises are all struggling to move the agenda forward, and collaboration among different stakeholders is a prerequisite. 

In this Forum, key actors and experts both inside and outside Japan will address how to move forward "Access to Remedy" agenda. We hope that many of you will join us for this Forum.