This two-day course is designed to provide professionals and decision makers who work in sectors with high risk for human rights, including digital technologies, with information and tools to understand and address human rights impacts, challenges, and opportunities related to the projects.

Through cases and exercises, the participants will discuss human rights impacts in the life cycle and value chain of projects (including sourcing of critical minerals) and learn practical ways to operationalize the corporate responsibility to respect human rights as established in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The course includes an overview of the regulatory landscape related to business and human rights, as well as reflects on gender dimensions and the and impacts on Indigenous peoples’ rights and environmental/human rights defenders. A session will be specially dedicated to the human rights dimensions of disinformation, misinformation, and communication in both digital and physical spaces.

Finally, the participants will learn and apply principles and methodologies to ensure the identification and assessment of human rights risks and impacts and how to apply a human rights-based approach for a meaningful engagement with workers and communities including vulnerable groups during impact assessment phases and due diligence.

Level: Intermediate

Prerequisites: Some knowledge or experience in developing, commissioning, or reviewing impact assessment or due diligence of physical projects and supply chain. Basic knowledge of human rights or business and human rights standards would be an advantage but is not required. Professionals and students with knowledge of human rights but no previous experience in impact assessment can also participate.

Language: English

Duration: 2 days (17-18 May)

Min/Max: 10-28

Price: $485

Instructors:

Gabriela Factor, Chief Adviser, Human Rights, Tech and Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark);

Natalia Cuartas, Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark);

Nataly Sarmiento, Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark)

Gabriela Factor (Lead Trainer)

Gabriela is a Chief Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is an Environmental, Social and Human Rights Impact specialist who has over 20 years of working experience in international environmental, energy and extractive projects worldwide. She is IAIA past president and is an experienced trainer and facilitator that have provided trainings for IAIA since 2013, and has developed numerous tailored training courses for, among others, Indigenous Peoples organizations, World Bank, EIB, IADB, IFC, DANIDA, FINIDA, SIDA and UNDP, University of Strathclyde and Groningen. Gabriela has co-developed the Masterclass in Human Rights in Impact Assessment course, participated in webinars for IAIA in Spanish and English, and co-authored the Fast Tips Human Rights in Impact Assessment.

After working as a consultant leading and carrying out human rights, social and environmental impact assessments, due diligence and management plans, her current work focus on capacity development, advisory and research for responsible business conduct and policy development, promotion of multistakeholder initiatives and strengthening the role of states for a just energy transition with respect of human rights. Gabriela has a Masters in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and holds qualifications on human rights, gender, resettlement and health impact assessment.

Natalia Cuartas (Supporting Trainer)

Natalia Cuartas is an international human rights lawyer and Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) on human rights and business, development, and the energy transition. She supports governments, companies, and civil society in integrating human rights standards into public policy, impact assessment frameworks, and due diligence systems. Natalia is currently supporting the efforts of Colombia environmental licensing authority in integrating human rights in regulation and procedures,.

With over a decade of experience in international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and public international law, Natalia has worked extensively with diverse actors from rights holders and communities to private‑sector entities, public institutions, and oversight bodies. Her expertise spans armed conflict settings, protection of human rights defenders, gender equality, and the intersection of environment and human rights. She has strengthened participatory approaches and rights‑based methodologies to EIA and other processes in complex contexts such as renewable energy projects and post‑conflict territories.

Before joining DIHR, she worked at Colombia’s National Human Rights Institution, served as a consultant for national and international organizations, and held roles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, advising on multilateral and human rights policy. Natalia holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law and postgraduate studies in constitutional law, with academic distinctions and a strong focus on applied human rights methodologies.

Nataly Sarmiento (Supporting Trainer)

Nataly Sarmiento is the Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, based in Bogotá, Colombia. She has over 17 years of experience working at the intersection of human rights, environmental governance, impact assessment, and responsible business conduct in complex and high-risk contexts across Latin America.

Her work combines applied research, policy engagement, and hands-on advisory to companies, governments, development agencies, and civil society on integrating human rights into environmental and social impact assessments, due diligence processes, and sustainability strategies. She has led and contributed to human rights impact assessments, sectoral assessments, and multi-stakeholder initiatives related to extractives, energy transition, infrastructure, and climate change, with a strong focus on gender equality, Indigenous Peoples, and environmental human rights defenders.

Before joining DIHR, she held senior roles at Fundación Ideas para la Paz and USAID in Colombia, and worked with public institutions on peacebuilding, corporate accountability, and transitional justice. She is trained in political science and holds graduate studies in security studies, responsible business conduct, international humanitarian law, and gender and equity.