Expert support for the processing of stakeholder contributions concerning the development of the 2nd National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for Belgium

In 2017, Belgium published its first National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights on the basis of which the Belgian authorities have worked to implement UN principles on business and human rights (the UNGPs). In 2020-2021, a team from HIVA-KU Leuven (project director Huib Huyse) and the University of Antwerp (project director Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez), with the support of IPIS research institute, conducted a National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on Business and Human Rights at the request of the federal government. The purpose was to determine how the Belgian governments and companies are already implementing the UNGPs. Now, the CSR working group of the Interdepartmental Committee on Sustainable Development is tasked with (coordinating) the development of a second NAP, which will also be based on the NBA's recommendations. The societal stakeholders were asked to formulate proposals for action in a dashboard, which was organised on the basis of the 84 recommendations of the NBA, which in turn are divided into various clusters of UNGPs. The new project conducted by KUL Hiva and the Brussels School of Governance (VUB) will support the government in processing the stakeholder inputs, so that the actions of the second action plan can be identified.