'Human Rights Due Diligence and COVID-19: Rapid Self-Assessment for Business', 10 April 2020

...How businesses respond to the [COVID-19] crisis - especially those firms who receive state support to continue operations - will shape public attitudes towards the private sector for years to come.

[L]eading companies... know that they must... address any negative impacts recent changes in their operations may be having on society and the environment. These companies understand that demonstrating respect for human rights, especially in the midst of harsh economic circumstances, is a strong reflection on their core values. They understand that preventing, mitigating and addressing adverse human rights impacts is key to maintaining trust - with clients, consumers, employees, shareholders, and communities - long after the crisis has passed.

For this reason, UNDP has designed a simple and accessible tool... to help businesses consider and manage the human rights impacts of their operations... Importantly, the C19 Rapid Self-Assessment is not to be misunderstood as a comprehensive human rights due diligence tool as outlined under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Instead, this assessment is offered to companies as a partial but informative view of human rights actions in the specific context of COVID-19...