A Roadmap to Recovery Proposing a Forward-Thinking Commitment for Northern Ireland post Covid-19

Queen’s Policy Unit (QPOL)

The report is here.

In the international business and human rights legal world, policy documents, communications and reports from the OECD, ILO and the UN have all focused on the socio-economic recovery from Covid-19. They have all recognised the impact of the global pandemic, cautioned against diluting human rights and argued that Covid-19 has created a catalyst for change. To date, the response to the crisis by the Northern Ireland government is to react to unfolding economic crises with initiatives to stimulate the economy and protect business. Although we recognise that this is crucial, a more holistic approach to recovery can help future-proof the economy and ensure that recovery champions a better society. As such, we have proposed a draft roadmap that can help achieve this. We recognise that the rights impacted by Covid-19 stretch far beyond what we have proposed. We have focussed on the key areas that touch and concern the business and human rights movement. This is to start, not end the conversation on recovery and ensure the centrality of human rights protections. This framework would allow the Northern Ireland government, businesses registered, based, or with subsidiaries in Northern Ireland, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to collectively recover from theCovid-19 crisis in a way that maintains the key tenets of human rights for their citizens and stakeholders.