Human Rights Due Diligence and Mega Sporting Events
Mega sporting events bring significant economic activity to host cities, but they also introduce substantial human rights risks. From labor exploitation to forced displacement, the social footprint of these global spectacles requires rigorous management. Without enforceable safeguards, high-level commitments to human rights often fail to materialize on the ground.
Addressing these risks requires moving beyond performative pledges to a strategy of responsible contracting. We detail how host cities can utilize a five-element due diligence framework to embed human rights deeply into procurement workflows. This approach centers on translating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) into specific, contractual realities:
Clear Documentation Thresholds: Designed to match the speed of business while ensuring compliance.
Comprehensive Code of Conduct: Including explicit bans on forced labor and trafficking.
Supplier Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ): Targeted tools to flag geographic and sector-specific risks.
Worker Safeguards Addendums (WSA): Contractual protections built from local labor stakeholders' lived concerns.
Risk-Based Grading: A rubric that weights vendor responses to assign actionable risk ratings.
The difference between policy and practice comes down to execution. Early stakeholder engagement with unions and community groups builds co-created standards that reflect on the ground realities. Robust grievance mechanisms, independent worker interviews, and AI-driven monitoring turn commitments into accountability. But the real leverage lies in where these safeguards get embedded: Request for Proposals, vendor evaluation criteria, and contract termination clauses. When done right, human rights protections shift from aspirational language to contractual requirements with real consequences.
The complete article, detailing implementation strategies and contracting specifics, is available on Thomson Reuters.