Plugging the human rights knowledge gap
14 May
Even experienced human rights practitioners can struggle with foundational knowledge and skills. Here’s how Module 1 of ETI Human Rights Essentials is filling that gap.
Ask anyone working in business and human rights how confident they feel describing human rights laws and standards, and you might be surprised by the answer. In a survey of participants enrolling in ETI’s Human Rights Essentials training, many rated their confidence at 2 or 3 out of 5 – even those with several years in the field.
It’s not a failure of individual practitioners. Most people working in business and human rights have learned on the job, piecing together knowledge from colleagues, audit reports, and experience. But without training to underpin that knowledge, important gaps remain – particularly around legal frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and how international standards actually translate to the factory floor or field.
Learning by doing has limits
There’s no question that hands-on experience is by far the best way for most people to learn. Managing your first factory audit, negotiating with suppliers, responding to a compliance issue – these all build crucial practical skills. But experience alone doesn’t always fill the foundational gaps. Understanding where human rights originated, how they evolved into business frameworks, and why specific legislation exists helps practitioners move beyond following procedures to truly understanding the principles behind them.
ETI Human Rights Essentials, delivered by Inherently Human in partnership with Ethical Trading Initiative, addresses this directly. Module 1 is particularly useful if you’ve come from a procurement or commercial function and need to get a solid handle on human rights terminology and frameworks – or if you’ve been learning on the job and want structured knowledge to underpin your practical experience, whether you’re in your first year in the role or your fifth.
What changes in one day?
Post-course feedback from participants consistently highlights three areas where Module 1 makes a measurable difference:
Understanding who the key players are and how to work with them. Multi-stakeholder initiatives, certification bodies, trade unions, NGOs – the ecosystem is complex. Participants report that finally having a clear map of who does what improves their ability to identify the right partners for specific challenges.
Grasping the legal landscape. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights underpin modern due diligence. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and Forced Labour Regulations are reshaping compliance requirements. Module 1 provides current, structured understanding of frameworks that are difficult to piece together from articles and reports alone.
Applying the ETI Base Code with confidence. Many participants have been working with the Base Code for months or even years, but haven’t had time to really explore what each clause means in practice. The training creates space to dig into how it applies to real factories in real supply chains.
“I love teaching Module 1 because it’s all about the foundations,” says Gabbi Wass, Inherently Human’s Consultant and Module 1 trainer. “What is a human right? Where and why do they exist, and what does it mean to have them? Not only that – but you start to apply your knowledge straight away by exploring real-life case studies.”
