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WeiserMazars and Mazars Group Join on Human Rights Survey

The New York-based accounting, tax and advisory services firm WeiserMazars LLP, its sister firm abroad Mazars Group and other business groups and government are collaborating on launching a global human rights survey.

They are working with The Economist Intelligence Unit to conduct research on businesses’ awareness of, commitment to and progress in improving human rights.

The survey will solicit responses from 750 businesses from around the world, with half the respondents C-suite executives and the other 50 percent senior managers in different business functions. The survey will investigate whether businesses have made a formal commitment to respecting human rights, how they approach implementation of that commitment, and the extent to which the environment in which businesses operate helps or hinders their ability to respect human rights.

An update on the survey will be presented this month at the 2014 United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights. The Economist Intelligence Unit  will then publish a research report in the first quarter of next year, including a full analysis of the survey results, along with insights from interviews with leading experts and businesspeople.

If the data provides valuable insights, the Human Rights in Business Survey will be conducted on an annual basis to help inform the strategies of businesses and other interested parties.

Other sponsors of the survey include the law firm DLA Piper, the government of Norway, the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights, the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, mobile telecommunications company Telenor, and the Universal Rights Group.

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