The DFB Human Rights Congress is a first step in the process of active regular stakeholder inclusion in the organisation of high level sporting events on the theme of human rights. Much work remains to be done with regard to an effective implementation of human rights due diligence before, during and after the Qatar 2022 world cup just like the EURO 2024 in Germany.

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The participating experts included Jonas Burgheim, founder and director of the Cares Project who contributed in his voluntary role of president of the German Zentrum für Menschenrechte und Sport e.V. (German Centre for Human Rights and Sport). Other experts included Dr. Anette Niederfranke for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Wenzel Michalski for Human Rights Watch Germany (HRW), Friedhelm Julius Beucher for the German Paralympic Comittee, Maximilian Klein for Athleten Deutschland e.V., and Mary Harvey for the Centre for Sport and Human Rights in Geneva.

In his written submission and oral statements Jonas Burgheim pointed out the fact that currently German sporting organisations are not obliged by national regulation to respect human rights according to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP). Their “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework provides the internationally established framework for the integration of human rights due diligence in business action. Their German implementation in form of the human rights due diligence act and the national action plan on business and human rights (NAP) do currently not include professional sports organisations. Furthermore, there is no broader awareness for the fact that human rights challenges form a part of all sporting activities, on professional and amateur levels. Jonas Burgheim called on the political representatives present, to support training and education in this field and to require sporting organisations to live up to due diligence standards according to the UNGP.

The entire hearing can be streamed in the video recording embedded above.

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The German football federation’s (Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V., DFB) leadership adopted a DFB human rights policy in April 2021. This policy marks a major step on DFB’s road to implementation of its statutory commitment to respect “all internationally recognised human rights” (cf. DFB statutes § 2). The human rights policy comes as the organisation’s commitment to transpose the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP) and the German National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights (NAP) human rights due diligence framework into its activities. As a consultancy provider to DFB on human rights since March 2019, the Cares Project has taken an active role in drafting and completing the policy document in line with core requirements in this field and based on a broad stakeholder dialogue.

With the recent adoption of two resolutions centred on the strengthening of human rights in European sport policy, the Council of Europe has followed a route suggested by Cares Project founder and director Jonas Burgheim in a 2019 Analysis and Recommendations Report. The report included suggestions for the European Sport Charter revision process and laid out which content aspects should ideally be reinforced in the organisation’s sport policy approach in the future. The findings were presented to the Council of Europe and its stakeholders by Jonas Burgheim both in Brussels and Strasbourg. Core components of the report have now been taken up by a virtual Council of Europe conference of ministers responsible for sport and will shape European sport policy in the future.

A close consultation process with Athleten Deutschland e.V., a German high level athletes’ representation, culminated in the adoption and publication of a position on freedom of opinion and freedom of expression of high level athletes in the context of sporting competitions. This position, centred on an up-to-date approach to the much-debated rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, has been published by the organisation to great acclaim. A further positioning of Athleten Deutschland e.V. on the general theme of human rights has taken place subsequently. Regular consultancy services and expertise have been provided by the Cares Project to inform the decisions of the organisation.

Jonas Burgheim’s internationally recognised expertise on business and human rights was documented in an interview published in early April 2021 by the leading Spanish-language sustainability platform www.comunicarseweb.com. Burgheim therein points out core aspects of a German government regulatory proposal on mandatory human rights due diligence and provides his take on its initial perception as well as its relation to the European law-making initiative on the same issue. An increased impact of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation is to be expected for business activities in the future, including in the field of sport . Given its expertise in both business and human rights and sport policy, the Cares Project is well-placed to continuously provide successful consultancy services in this specialised domain.

For more information on the cited work samples, our consultancy services, and our expertise in general, please contact us here.

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Speakers at the forum largely agreed that there is a strong need for mandatory due diligence legislation on the national just like on the European level. There were also repeated calls for a new business model to be developed for the future. The commitment by BMZ leadership comes after years of attempts to enhance human rights due diligence among German companies based on the voluntary German National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) and its monitoring mechanism. This approach, as findings in annual stock-taking reports have shown in the past two years, has not produced the desired results.

Jonas Burgheim, founder and director of the Cares Project, was a participant to the forum. In his prior professional role as a BMZ senior policy officer, he contributed importantly to laying the basis for the implementation of the NAP during its initial years of application (as of 2016). Jonas Burgheim actually was among the first German government staff to identify and point to the need for a mandatory approach to human rights due diligence in the long-run. He also lobbied for a prominent inclusion of the human rights due diligence theme in the 2020 German EU presidency, of which today’s forum are a result. More than two years on, these efforts are now proving to have provided fertile ground for law-making processes on a German and an EU level.

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Jonas Burgheim, founder and director of the Cares Project, was among the contributors to the feature. A consultant for major actors in the German discourse on human rights in sport, including the German Football Federation (DFB) and the German athletes’ representation Athleten Deutschland e.V., Burgheim is a regular on the theme. He has also published on it repeatedly.

In case you are interested in more details with regard to the nexus of human rights and sport and/or the work of the Cares Project, please contact us here.

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DFB had previously committed to respecting “all internationally established human rights” in §2 of its statutory document in fall 2019. Required next steps to implement human rights due diligence in its activities and processes will now be supported by the Cares Project. This notably includes work in reference to the UN Guiding Principles (UNGP) and the German National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. On their basis the Cares Project will provide expertise and recommendations to the DFB human rights approach.

The Cares Project can draw on the experience of diverse prior assignments with regard to business and human, particularly, in a sporting environment. Recent consultancy mandates include an expertise for the Council of Europe on the European Sports Charter revision process just like a human rights risk assessment for the independent German athletes’ representation body Athleten Deutschland e.V. amongst others.

In his article “Human Rights Due Diligence in German High Level Sports“, which was published as part of the scientific compendium “Sport in the Context of International Cooperation and Development” in March 2020, Jonas Burgheim furthermore describes content and practical implementation challenges in this field of work.

In case of your additional interest, please feel free to contact us here.

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Providing consultancy services in business and human rights just like in human rights and sport, the Cares Project has been an advisor to leading actors in German and European high level sports. Latest clients include the Council of Europe, the German high level athletes’ representation Athleten Deutschland e.V., and the German Football Federation (DFB) among others. With the publication, Jonas Burgheim now provides a glimpse at subject-specific insights into content and challenges of business and human rights work in sports. Following an introductory part providing some foundational information on UNGP and NAP, Burgheim shares considerations on the specific nature of the current business model in high level sports. As centre piece of the article, he then addresses the state of play and the particular challenges faced in implementing human rights due diligence in (German) high level sports before providing an outlook at the potential future relevance of and approach to the theme in a larger policy setting.

Burgheim describes that German high level sports, just like large parts of private business in general, are still in the early stages of taking on business and human rights responsibilities. While first sporting organisations are re-calibrating their role thereto, this can only be considered an initial step of a so far hesitant implementation process. According to Burgheim’s analysis, the depth and intensity of human rights considerations in sports will increase along with a general business obligation to observe human rights requirements in the future. This development is assumed to be fueled by the expected legal steps on German and EU levels.

For more detailed information and individual consultancy services, please be in touch in making use of the Cares Project’s contact form.

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Results of the assessment were provided to Athleten Deutschland e.V. in a written report, which can serve as a basis for the future work of the organisation in this field. As an important part of this, major policy developments were analysed with regard to their future impact on sporting organisations. According to the author, it can well be expected that there will be an increasing relevance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in the nearer future. As a result of this, core findings from the assessment are likely to become relevant for other key actors in sport.

In case of your interest in a similar specialised review and/or our expertise with regard to the implementation of the UNGP in your organisation, please contact the Cares Project here.

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As a basis for the negotiations, the ILO Sectoral Policies Department had provided an Issues Paper on “Decent work in the world of sport” which provided an overview of a range of central questions and fundamental principles pertaining to workers’ rights in sports. As a part of this Issues Paper, central reference was also made to relevant legal cases and international instruments pertaining to workers’ rights and, more broadly, human rights in sport. Generally based on this preparatory work, the, according to ILO good practice, strictly formalised discussions were moderated by a presiding member state representative (Irish Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Michael Gaffey). A central theme of the negotiations, notably between athletes’ and employers’ organisations, came to be that of collective bargaining linked to the athletes’ freedom of association.

The core paragraph 4 of the Global Dialogue Forum’s eventually adopted outcome document “Points of Consensus” reads:

“All workers, including athletes, regardless of the type of employment relationship,require, as a minimum,to be protected by the fundamental principles and rights at work.Social dialogue is based on respect for freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.Social dialogue, including collective bargaining,has diverse forms and levels depending on the contexts and traditions of each country.Consultations, exchanges of information and other forms of dialoguebetween social partners and with governments and other stakeholdersare also important.“

The Global Dialogue Forum can, therefore, well be considered a first step toward a regularised professional working environment in sport with from a content point of view many more to come. Next to this general evolution, it was a noteworthy Forum development that the concept of “autonomy of sport” was deleted from the draft outcome document due to an intervention of the member state representatives’ speaker; her request for this deletion was duly accepted by both workers and employers. The IOC took part in the Forum without an active speaking role.

The Global Dialogue Forum was also attended by Mr Jonas Burgheim for the Cares Project. As founder and director he attend in his Sport Cares capacity due to the intrinsic link to and policy relevance in the human rights risk assessment for Athleten Deutschland e.V. The Global Dialogue Forum allowed for Jonas Burgheim to build on his existing network and continue the regular expert exchange with stakeholders in international sport policy and human rights.

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