Corporations are under pressure to provide grievance mechanisms and procedures that offer fair, fast, and accessible remedies for harmful environmental, human rights, and social impacts. Between the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, and requirements of commercial banks, the International Finance Corporation, and others, corporations need to offer a sustained, committed plan to provide access to remedy. For those corporations that see this as more than box-checking or window-dressing but as a strategic opportunity to build value through community engagement, good-practice advice and expertise is required to make these mechanisms work to the mutual benefit of the corporation and affected communities.
Fostered by the ABA Center for Human Rights (though not formally affiliated with the ABA or CHR), the Access to Remedy Institute (ARI, also known as ARIstote) is a centralized, global talent resource for communities, companies, and states that seek effective protection of human rights, and prevention of environmental harm, in the conduct of business activity.
The ARI Board, comprised of world-leading experts in the field of business and human rights, selects associates with practical experience, cultural understanding, and legal and policy expertise who, with the Board’s support, develop and implement mechanisms, policies, and procedures that ensure human dignity, community support, and company well-being in shared prosperity.