A seminar by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (DHF) in cooperation with Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) and Pax et Bellum, co-funded by the Folke Bernadotte Academy.

Short report from the Seminar

The seminar looked into the
following issues:

• The influence of governmental priority to economic growth on the respect for and promotion of human rights,
• The influence of economic growth on human rights, especially on economic, social and cultural rights,
• How do trade and commercial profit interests influence the attitude of governments and corporations when trading and investing abroad?
• Why do governments, e.g. in the global South, often put economic and social rights ahead of civic and political rights? What do the latter really cost in budget terms?

Program

10.15

Words of Welcome by Professor Björn Wittrock, Principal of SCAS, Dr. Henning Melber, Executive Director, DHF, and Martijn Paalman, Chair person of Pax et Bellum.

10.30

Short introductions by panelists, followed by Ms. Rebecca Oliver, Project Director, the Tällberg Foundation, Is Free Speech also the Business of Free Enterprise?

Dr. Christina Johnsson, Head of the Research Department, Raoul Wallenberg Institute for International Law and Human Rights, Implications of a rights based state organization on state economy

Ambassador Magnus Schöldtz, Senior Advisor to the Chairman of SEB, Corporate Social Responsibility – an International Business Viewpoint

Discussion among the panelists and with the audience, moderated by Dr. Henning Melber.

12.30

Lunch (individual, except for the panelists)

14.00

Discussion, moderated by Ambassador Jan Axel Nordlander, DHF

Mr Mattias Broman, Deputy Director, Swedish Partnership for Global Responsibility, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The UN Global Compact Initiative and the OECD Guidelines for Multilateral Companies

Mr. Henrik Fröjmark, Chair of Swedwatch and Desk Officer for Peace and Security at the Church of Sweden, The role of corporate enterprise in international development

17.00

Conclusion, followed by a reception at SCAS.

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