The WGHR&C celebrates 10 years of commitment to the implementation of high standards in Human Rights (HR) and business
Valledupar, 14 May 2025
The Working Group on Human Rights and Coal (WGHR&C) commemorates its first 10 years of work and 100 sessions dedicated to promoting the highest standards in human rights.
For the event, held in the city of Valledupar, a discussion group was organized on the challenges in this area in Colombia. The meeting was attended by leading experts such as Alexandra Guáqueta, PhD in International Relations at Oxford University and a member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and Carlos Franco, former director of the Presidential Human Rights Program, who shared their vision of the challenges facing the country and business in managing human rights challenges.
During her speech, Alexandra Guáqueta said that “business challenges in Human Rights require constant reflection, especially in the face of the technological revolution and its impact on vulnerable populations. I am excited to see how the Working Group has matured, with clear, practical and adaptable protocols. It is vital that these are known and implemented at all levels of the company to achieve real transformations.”
Carlos Franco told the attendees that “to celebrate 10 years of the Working Group on Human Rights is to recognize a collective construction based on trust. The products developed are useful and relevant. From the private sector we must strengthen partnerships, promote inclusive strategies and actively contribute to a culture of respect for human rights throughout the country.”
As an active member of this group since its founding, Drummond reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability and the promotion of human rights in the territories where it operates.
“During these ten years of work, this collaborative initiative has promoted the constructive contribution of all participants to improve human rights performance, inspired by the best standards in the world, such as the UN’s “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” (UNGP) and the “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights” (VP),” said Pablo Urrutia, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at Drummond Ltd.
Carolina Gutierrez, director of sustainability at the Colombian Mining Association (ACM), highlighted: “It has been a decade of building, together with allies in the sector, paths that place the management and protection of human rights in the territories at the center.”
The event was also attended and participated by Pedro Micán, advisor to the Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights IHL, in charge of coordinating the business and human rights team. Micán thanked the Working Group on Human Rights and Coal for the invitation to celebrate the 10 years and 100 sessions of the working group and said: “Today here in Valledupar we had the opportunity, with the invitation of two experts, to reflect on the human rights challenges that Colombia has and specifically the challenges and opportunities that we have on the business and human rights agenda. Several proposals and elements that are very important to take into account, not only for companies, but also for the State, for the national government and for social organizations.”
The WGHR&C is comprised of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Mining Agency, the Colombian Mining Association, Cerrejón, CNR, Prodeco and Drummond. Its mission is to promote the best performance of all its members in human rights management, through the exchange of experiences, the elaboration of recommendations and the construction of synergies with other national and international initiatives.
Only in 2024, the WGHR&C achieved important milestones, such as issuing recommendations to prevent violence against the population leading and defending human rights, signing a Joint Declaration with other human rights business initiatives, and actively participating in the agenda of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights during its official visit to Colombia.
From Drummond Ltd., we reiterate our commitment to the promotion of human rights, convinced that working together between businesses, government and civil society is essential to building a more responsible and sustainable mining sector.