About This Website

Welcome to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. This site is designed to raise awareness of the Voluntary Principles, which have been developed to guide companies in balancing the needs for safety while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On the site you will find the full text of the Voluntary Principles. You can also learn about the participants from government agencies, private companies, and non-governmental organizations.

60 Years: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

December 10th 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) In recognition of this critical milestone, the participants in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (Voluntary Principles) call on companies, governments and civil society to continue to work together to advance and protect human rights world-wide. Considerable progress has been made in the advancement and protection of human rights around the world, but many challenges yet remain. The Voluntary Principles have been successful in creating a platform for addressing complex human rights issues through collaboration between government, business and civil society organizations. Going forward, a strengthened governance framework will support and encourage participation of new host and home governments, companies and NGOs and facilitate dialogues on issues related to the Voluntary Principles in host countries. The Secretariat of the Voluntary Principles invites governments, companies and NGOs to join these efforts and to contribute to the advancement of practices and learning in this area. For questions on how to participate in the Voluntary Principles, please contact the Voluntary Principles Secretariat at volprinciples@bsr.org or at Birgit.Errath@iblf.org.