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Just Business, Not As Usual

2,748 views · Published 1 July 2013 · 1:12:40 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) · 2013 · Education

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10 June 2013 Public Lecture

Title of Event:
Just Business, Not As Usual 

Speaker: 
Prof. John G. Ruggie, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Time: 5:15 - 6:30pm
Venue: Lobby, Oei Tiong Ham Building, NUS Bukit Timah Campus, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772

Do the responsibilities of business include upholding human rights? What are the respective obligations of governments, brands and suppliers to protect and respect these rights, and to provide remedy when they are abused?

In light of the recent tragedies in garment factories in Bangladesh, where over 1,500 workers have died in building collapses and fires, these questions have become ever more pertinent and urgent.

Prof. John Ruggie was the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. He led the creation of the "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework that led to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In 2011, the Principles were unanimously endorsed, thereby establishing an authoritative global standard on the respective roles of business and governments for ensuring business respect for human rights.

Will these Guiding Principles change the way that business is conducted? Will they change the way governments regulate business? Prof. Ruggie will address these questions in his Public Lecture at the LKY School.

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