{"id":10903,"date":"2026-06-16T10:38:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alacpakistan.com\/event2024\/?page_id=10903"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:42:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:42:05","slug":"webinar-on-advancing-corporate-integrity-aligning-internal-grievance-redress-mechanisms-grms-with-pakistans-national-action-plan-on-business-and-human-rights-and-global-benchmarks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alacpakistan.com\/event2024\/webinar-on-advancing-corporate-integrity-aligning-internal-grievance-redress-mechanisms-grms-with-pakistans-national-action-plan-on-business-and-human-rights-and-global-benchmarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Webinar on Advancing Corporate Integrity: Aligning Internal Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs) with Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and Global Benchmarks"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Webinar on Advancing Corporate Integrity: Aligning Internal Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs) with Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and Global Benchmarks<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Event: Webinar on Advancing Corporate Integrity: Aligning Internal Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs) with Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and Global Benchmarks<\/strong>
Date: Monday, April 27, 2026<\/strong>
Venue: Online

<\/strong>Transparency International Pakistan in collaboration with ESG Nexus, and Ministry of Human Rights, Government of Pakistan organized a webinar titled \u201cAdvancing Corporate Integrity: Aligning Internal Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRMs) with Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and Global Benchmarks\u201d on Monday, April 27, 2026.<\/p>

The session built on the discussions from the previous\u00a0webinar<\/a>\u00a0and aimed to take the conversation forward by focusing on the role of effective internal grievance redress mechanisms (GRMs) as a key component of Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD).<\/p>

Experts from the Ministry of Human Rights, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Centre for Labour Research, Transparency International Pakistan, ESG Nexus and corporate sector shared their insights during the webinar. The session was attended by business leaders, representatives of public listed companies, and members of civil society.<\/p>

The webinar was moderated by Mr. Osman Masood, Director, ESG Nexus. He welcomed the participants and highlighted the objectives of the session. He provided an overview of discussions on Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR) and the evolving reporting practices related to corporate accountability and grievance redress mechanisms.<\/p>

Ms. Musarat Jabeen, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) delivered the opening remarks. She emphasized the shift from traditional CSR towards responsible business conduct, and noted that effective grievance redress mechanisms (GRMs) are central to responsible business operations, accountability, and building public trust. She highlighted the SECP\u2019s ongoing reform agenda aimed at strengthening corporate governance, transparency, accountability, and responsible business conduct in Pakistan. She informed the participants that the SECP has introduced several important reforms over the years, including strengthening the Code of Corporate Governance for listed companies with greater emphasis on board independence, diversity, female representation, and enhanced oversight responsibilities of directors. Ms. Jabeen further discussed the SECP\u2019s efforts to promote ESG integration and sustainable business practices through ESG disclosure guidelines, which were recently aligned with Pakistan\u2019s Green Taxonomy document prepared by the State Bank of Pakistan. She explained that these initiatives encourage companies to move beyond \u201ctick-box compliance\u201d towards meaningful disclosures and responsible decision-making processes.<\/p>

Highlighting institutional reforms, she shared that SECP has strengthened digitalization, corporate filing systems, risk-based supervision, and monitoring of non-financial disclosures to improve transparency and ease of doing business. Referring to Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR), she emphasized that effective grievance redress mechanisms (GRMs) are essential components of corporate governance systems and it is important for the companies to ensure that the GRMs are credible, accessible, and integrated into organizational decision-making processes.<\/p>

Next, Ms. Khaola Batool, Deputy Director (IC), Ministry of Human Rights, shared her perspectives on the importance of grievance redress mechanisms in advancing the business and human rights agenda. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ms. Khaola highlighted that Pakistan\u2019s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights has been implemented since December 2021 as an inclusive framework endorsed by federal and provincial stakeholders. The framework puts strong focus on access to remedy as a priority area. She emphasized protection of vulnerable groups, including women, children, transgender persons, and persons with disabilities, as a core principle running through the plan. She also highlighted the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Human Rights to strengthen implementation through collaboration with institutions, the private sector, and oversight bodies to identify gaps in access to remedy. Furthermore, she briefed the participants about the MoHR\u2019s ongoing initiatives to strengthen implementation of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR), including the development of a Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) roadmap for public sector entities and a HRDD checklist with voluntary guidelines that will be strengthened in the future. She appreciated the role of Transparency International Pakistan in strengthening the engagement with NAP-BHR and emphasized on more engagement with regulators such as SECP not only the listed companies but also SMEs and non-listed companies are aware about the importance of strong GRM systems.<\/p>

Moving forward, Mr. Kashif Ali, Executive Director, TI Pakistan shared key findings from TI Pakistan\u2019s assessment of listed companies namely Transparency in Corporate Reporting (TRAC). He noted that TRAC 2024 revealed an average integrity systems score of 47.28% among the top 70 companies, falling under the category of \u201cPartially Transparent\u201d. Mr. Kashif highlighted major gaps in corporate governance and grievance systems, including limited disclosure of anti\u2013facilitation payment policies, incomplete whistleblowing frameworks (often lacking two-way communication), and weak implementation of human rights due diligence and grievance redress mechanisms. He emphasized that these gaps pose significant legal, reputational, and financial risks for companies, especially as global regulations increasingly require strong GRMs and whistleblowing systems. He further stressed that strengthening GRM mechanisms is essential for improving accountability, compliance, and corporate integrity in Pakistan.<\/p>

Afterwards, Ms. Kinza Ejaz, Head of Sustainable Initiatives, Chottani Industries shared practical insights from the textile and fashion industry. She highlighted how sustainability, ESG reporting, and supply chain responsibility are increasingly linked to human rights and internal grievance mechanisms. She noted her organization\u2019s work on initiatives such as the \u201cGreen Project Pakistan\u201d and engagement with global frameworks like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), UN Global Compact, and UN Women reporting standards. She emphasized that while environmental sustainability often receives significant attention in the fashion industry, buyers and global brands are increasingly focused on social compliance, particularly worker welfare, fair wages, gender equality, workplace safety, and protection against harassment. She stressed that transparent grievance mechanisms and reporting systems are critical for meeting ESG expectations, strengthening buyer confidence, and ensuring ethical treatment of workers across supply chains.<\/p>

The last speaker of the webinar was Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed, Founder of the Centre for Labour Research. He spoke on labour rights and the importance of effective grievance redress mechanisms for worker protection and accountability. He explained the UNGP principle of effective GRMs, stressing its key benchmarks such as legitimacy (trust and protection from retaliation), accessibility (removing language, cost, time, and fear barriers), predictability (clear timelines and procedures), equitable access to information and support, transparency through regular updates on complaints, rights-compatibility with national and international labour standards, continuous learning to improve workplace systems, and engagement and dialogue with workers and trade unions. He further emphasized that GRMs should be embedded within broader workplace governance structures and supported by institutional mechanisms such as grievance committees. Referring to legislative context, he noted provisions within emerging labour frameworks for dedicated grievance redress committees on issues such as harassment and discrimination and highlighted that the business must implement these legal provisions.<\/p>

Towards the end of the session, participants asked various questions from the speaker including the specific type of grievance redress mechanisms required under Pakistan\u2019s labour laws for private companies and how these align with UNGP standards, and how leadership can promote a workplace culture where employees feel safe and encouraged to speak up without fear of retaliation.<\/p>

The session concluded with commitment from the industry, regulators and civil society who emphasized the importance of ethical leadership, strong organizational culture, establishment of internal committees and strict compliance with labour laws as key enabler of effective grievance redress mechanisms within workplaces.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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