As part of the work of HRCSL to address Business and Human Rights issues in the country, a guideline document known as the Guidelines for Monitoring Business and Human Rights in Sierra Leone was developed in partnership with the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Danish Institute for Human Rights to provide a clear and consistent roadmap for monitoring the operations of business enterprises in Sierra Leone in line with its statutory mandate.

The Chief Executive Officer of SRL/ILUKA Robert Hattingh said during a meeting of the  Management staff and the HRCSL team that human right is critically involved in the operations of his company. The CEO further said it was an opportunity for them to be monitored and stated Sierra Leone has a great potential and if there were areas for them to improve on, they would would take steps to do that.

In his statement, Commissioner Rashid Dumbuya reckoned when human rights improves, investments will flourish and their will be peace and security thereby paving way for business to boom.

He warned the company that when businesses fail to respect human rights, it threatens their success and lifespan. The Commissioner used the opportunity to present the Guidelines for Monitoring Business and Human Rights in Sierra Leone to the CEO SRL/ILUKA.

Part of the HRCSL monitoring team are two Members of Parliament from the Parliamentary Oversight Committees on Mines and Mineral Resources and Human Rights respectively. There were also  officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, National Minerals Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Guideslines lays emphasis emphasis on the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework’ of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights standards to which Sierra Leone is a party, as well as domestic policies and laws relevant to operations of businesses in the country.

The team did a field visit for inspection of sites of human rights interest and had a debriefing meeting with the SRL/ILUKA for concerns and comments.