Reaching the end of the 3-years project Vigilance, Sherpa, La Lumière NGO, RSE Bénin, RSE et Développement and RSE et Développement Togo unveil the report (in French): Corporate responsibility for the protection of human rights and the environment in Benin, Togo and Senegal – Overview of the political and legal framework and opportunities for advocacy (“Responsabilité des entreprises en matière de protection des droits humains et de l’environnement au Bénin, au Togo et au Sénégal – État des lieux du cadre politique et juridique et opportunités de plaidoyer”).
Initiated in 2021, the Vigilance project was based on the observation that in Benin, Senegal and Togo, the lack of supervision of the economic activities of multinationals and local economic actors is causing environmental damage and violating the rights of workers and local communities.
Through the sharing of experience, knowledge and skills between civil society organisations (CSOs), the project aimed to strengthen the capacity of Beninese, Senegalese and Togolese CSOs to advocate for policies, standards and regulations that better protect human rights and the environment in the context of economic activities.
Binding regulations, aiming at making parent companies of multinationals accountable for human rights and environmental violations along their value chains, are emerging at European and international level. In parallel, the organisations that took part in the Vigilance project stress the need to strengthen and better enforce the legal frameworks of the countries in which the subsidiaries and subcontractors of these multinationals, as well as national companies, operate.
First of all, during discussions within the project, it became clear that is was essential to identify the many existing legal provisions that CSOs, workers and local communities can already invoke to defend their rights and the environment.
Secondly, based on an analysis of the weaknesses of the Beninese, Senegalese and Togolese legal frameworks, “opportunities for advocacy and recourse” are also identified in the report, allowing national CSOs or any other actors to seize them.
The report rely on a transversal vision of tothe fight against impunity for economic actors, which does not compartmentalise sectors of activity, types of violation or legal matters. Starting with a broad focus, the work has nevertheless been narrowed down to certain “high-risk economic sectors”, and to different areas of law that are particularly affected by the activities of multinationals or major national companies.
This report has also been written from the perspective of improving the application of positive law to ensure effective access to justice and reparation for victims of human rights and environmental abuses.
A total of 30 civil society organisations, collectives and networks from Benin, Senegal and Togo were involved in the Vigilance project. Eleven contributed directly to the drafting of this report:
Contributing organisations:
Benin: RSE BÉNIN, Changement social Bénin (CSB), Nature tropicale
Togo: RSE et Développement Togo, Collectif des Associations Contre l’Impunité au Togo (CACIT), Nouvelles Alternatives pour le Développement Durable en Afrique (NADDAF), Together for Change (T4C)
Senegal: ONG La Lumière, Réseau Devoir de Vigilance Sénégal (RDVS), Actions pour la Justice Environnementale (AJE), Association des juristes sénégalaises (AJS), Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE), Lead Afrique francophone, Réseau national des Personnes affectées par les opérations minières (RN/PAPOM)
France: Sherpa, RSE et Développement
Webinar: What corporate responsibility in Benin, Togo and Senegal?
The report was presented during a webinar (in French) on 26 June 2024. The recording, is available on Youtube.
