From Commitment to Practice: Corporate Responsibility, Human Rights and Sustainability in Kenyan Businesses
Technology is reaching millions of Kenyans faster than the rules meant to protect their rights and the environment.
On 29 October, Qhala will be hosting master’s students and faculty from the University of St.Gallen’s Institute for Business Ethics for an afternoon where we'll explore this main question: how do Kenyan businesses turn their commitment to corporate responsibility, human rights and sustainability into everyday practice?
Together, we’ll look at how digital tools, data and AI can expand access and strengthen accountability, and where they create new risks on people’s rights and the environment.
Session objectives
Move from commitment to practice: show how human rights and sustainability are, or are not, built into company governance, operations, products and value chains.
Examine the role of context: explore how Kenya’s institutional, cultural and political setting shapes what businesses are expected to carry.
Examine technology as risk and enabler: explore how digital tools, data and AI can widen access and accountability, and where they create new human rights and sustainability risks.
Compare approaches across sizes and sectors: contrast how startups, social enterprises and established companies handle similar challenges, and why their choices differ.
Test ideas against real practice: give students the chance to test their analysis with the people running these businesses.
Open lasting partnerships: lay the ground for continued collaboration between Kenyan businesses, Qhala and the University of St.Gallen on business, human rights and sustainability in Africa.
Who should apply
Are you embedding human rights, sustainability and ethical technology in your company, not just talking about it? A few places are open for founders and business leaders doing this work. You’ll join a room of students from law, management, political science and computer science, ready to ask hard questions.
Note:
Seats are limited, and registrations are reviewed before confirmation.
Parts of the session may be photographed and filmed for course and Qhala use. Consent forms will be available on the day.